"Weatherman" fired for MLK slur.....

[Miss Mary]

To our current and future S2K Met's, be careful what you say on-air! Not that anyone who belongs to S2K would say such a thing.....

http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/4 ... etail.html

Weatherman Fired For On-Air Slur Against Martin Luther King Jr.

POSTED: 3:16 pm EST January 17, 2005

LAS VEGAS -- A television weatherman was fired after referring to slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. as "Martin Luther Coon King" on the air, station officials said.

Rob Blair, of KTNV-TV, was delivering the extended forecast Saturday morning when he said: "Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s."

Jim Prather, vice president and general manager of the ABC affiliate, said Blair stumbled when he uttered the remark, but the excuse was not enough to save his job.

"This kind of incident is not acceptable under any circumstances, and I'm truly sorry that this event occurred," Prather said.

Blair, who worked at the station for about three months, apologized during the station's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts Saturday.

"I in no way intended to offend anyone," he said in the apology. "I'm very sorry."

According to Blair's biography on KNWT's Web site, he started a radio career at the age of 14 in Indianapolis before moving moving to Orange County, Calif., to attend Chapman University. Blair has reportedly worked as a weather broadcaster in Palm Springs, Calif., Monterey and Chico, Calif.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Skywatch_NC]

Gee...just an innocent slip of the tongue IMO...others have done much worse in the media at times!

For heavens sake...maybe a suspension without pay...but FIRED?

I mean...was he trying to say King but it came out Coon

Eric

[Miss Mary]

Eric - at first I thought it seemed harsh. Then I began to think of the word he used. I despise racism so it's a word I've never heard of. In a racial way. Of course we've heard of coon hats (Daniel Boone). So maybe someone can post and explain if this man was intentionally using a racial slur or stumbling over the word King. Then again, pronouncing King correctly, isn't difficult.

I was also confused about his job title. By referring to him as weatherman, does that mean he doesn't have a degree in Meteorology?

Mary

[chadtm80]

Coon is a term used for racism.. Was he doing that? I guess only he knows

[Miss Mary]

Thanks Chad. I've never heard that word used up here.

I've heard plenty, but not that word.

If it was intentional, then that's setting a very poor example. And I say the decision to fire him, was justified. For all we know this 'weatherman' may have had a cocky attitude anyway, and this was just the last straw.

Mary

[Lindaloo]

Sounds to me like it was a mistake and a slip of the tongue. The news station is too PC.

[Skywatch_NC]

Coon is a term used for racism.. Was he doing that? I guess only he knows

Thank you Chad...I never knew that either. I've heard of other slang racial terms...but not coon.

Eric

[Miss Mary]

Here's another link for the story I found:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 78882.html

Mary

[vbhoutex]

Sounds to me like it was a mistake and a slip of the tongue. The news station is too PC.

I'm not so sure it was innocent. As I presume you well know Lindaloo "coon" is a racially derogatory word used all across the south in reference to blacks in general and especially poor blacks. IMO, it is hard to "slip up" llike that.

[Lindaloo]

But it is a possibility right David? Why on earth would a man in his field say something like that knowing he would be fired? Makes no sense to me. ESPECIALLY since this is MLK day.

[chadtm80]

But it is a possibility right David? Why on earth would a man in his field say something like that knowing he would be fired? Makes no sense to me. ESPECIALLY since this is MLK day.

Me think if it was a "slip" up.. It was a slip up in this way: He uses the term Luther Coon outside of work, and when talking about him on air he slipped and used his "out of work" term..

[Miss Mary]

Sounds to me like it was a mistake and a slip of the tongue. The news station is too PC.

I'm not so sure it was innocent. As I presume you well know Lindaloo "coon" is a racially derogatory word used all across the south in reference to blacks in general and especially poor blacks. IMO, it is hard to "slip up" llike that.

I have to side with David here. How can you accidentally misprounce King, to sound like coon? In the other link I provided he tried saying it came out like Kong. Now come on!!! King is very common last name! Much like Smith, Jones, Johnson!!! If you're on air, you should have a good command of the English language.

Sometimes it's just best to tell the truth (ie Ashley Simpson). If he were to say this was intentioanl but he wants to mend his ways and overcome his racial opinions, then we're talking. But to shove it under the carpet, saying it was a slip of the tongue.....that's unbelievable!!!

Hey maybe the guy had been drinking or far worse, not thinking clearly.

Mary

[Skywatch_NC]

But it is a possibility right David? Why on earth would a man in his field say something like that knowing he would be fired? Makes no sense to me. ESPECIALLY since this is MLK day.

I don't understand it either, Linda...sometimes the mouth gets way ahead and leaves the noggin behind.

[chadtm80]

Sounds to me like it was a mistake and a slip of the tongue. The news station is too PC.

I'm not so sure it was innocent. As I presume you well know Lindaloo "coon" is a racially derogatory word used all across the south in reference to blacks in general and especially poor blacks. IMO, it is hard to "slip up" llike that.

I have to side with David here. How can you accidentally misprounce King, to sound like coon? In the other link I provided he tried saying it came out like Kong. Now come on!!! King is very common last name! Much like Smith, Jones, Johnson!!! If you're on air, you should have a good command of the English language.

Sometimes it's just best to tell the truth (ie Ashley Simpson). If he were to say this was intentioanl but he wants to mend his ways and overcome his racial opinions, then we're talking. But to shove it under the carpet, saying it was a slip of the tongue.....that's unbelievable!!!

Mary

Well I believe (for his career anyway) it was in his bet interest to say it was a slip up no matter what

[Skywatch_NC]

Blair will probably have alot of trouble finding future employment in his field of work...or like in general...when one's been fired it's always an ugly mark on the resume and applications.

Eric

[vbhoutex]

Let's presume it was a slip up. If it was, why did he not correct it IMMEDIATELY and APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY for his slip of the tongue?? I know I would have-on the air and immediately-if I were him(and I wouldn't be!!).

I do find the other suggestion above intriging and in fact probable-there very well could be alcohol and/or drugs involved in this. I've seen that here in Houston many years ago when one of the then most liked Weathermen here in Houston had to admit to a cocaine problem and go into rehab. But he never slipped up like that guy did!!(if it was a slip up)

[Cookiely]

But it is a possibility right David? Why on earth would a man in his field say something like that knowing he would be fired? Makes no sense to me. ESPECIALLY since this is MLK day.

The reason he slipped is because he probably says it all the time and it was natural for him to say it. It is an extremely horrible racial term used in the south.

[Miss Mary]

Wow it's been a while since I started a topic that generated this much interest. But no matter, we all seem to have strong opinions on this story. I thought it was appropriate since we have many young, in training Met's that belong to S2K. You just can't be too careful these days in how you conduct yourself in public.

Since I won't stand for racism and if this is terribly offensive racial word (I believe all of you that it is), then his termination was justified.

Just my opinion though...don't hate me for it.

In the end, the guy really screwed up. This will go on his record and good luck finding his next on-air assignment huh?

Mary

[Skywatch_NC]

According to Blair's biography on KNWT's Web site, he started a radio career at the age of 14 in Indianapolis before moving moving to Orange County, Calif., to attend Chapman University. Blair has reportedly worked as a weather broadcaster in Palm Springs, Calif., Monterey and Chico, Calif.

Would make one wonder where he picked up the term coon from being it cities that he worked in...Indy, Orange Co, Palm Springs, Monterey and Chico, CA and Las Vegas, NV are not Southern cities.

Eric

[GulfBreezer]

Sounds to me like it was a mistake and a slip of the tongue. The news station is too PC.

I'm not so sure it was innocent. As I presume you well know Lindaloo "coon" is a racially derogatory word used all across the south in reference to blacks in general and especially poor blacks. IMO, it is hard to "slip up" llike that.

I agree........imagine being that ignorant to think you could even come close to getting away with that.