Tegna’s Weirdness with People of Color goes Much Deeper

Last week, FTVLive told you how a proposed Tegna board member withdrew his nomination, pointing to an incident with Tegna CEO Dave Lougee as one of the reasons why.

In a statement Adonis Hoffman sent to the Tegna board, he pointed to an incident in 2014 with Lougee. He says that he and Lougee were seated at the same table at an industry event and spoke over lunch; afterward, Lougee mistook Hoffman for a valet, deeply offending Hoffman.

A former Tegna Reporter sent FTVLive an email about an incident that he witnessed first hand while working at the station.

Here is a his email below:

A few years ago I was a reporter for one of Tegna’s larger stations, late 2017. We were going to be one of the first to debut new newscast graphics and several people from the corporate marketing team came to town.

Many people from our station were in the meeting where the head of marketing explained the philosophy of the new graphics. Specifically the colors they chose and the new theme music we would be using. She explained that the colors would be well received by our audience. She specifically mentioned the use of purple, which she said our African American audiences would enjoy. She attempted to validate this remark by saying and I quote “You know, like The Color Purple” (a novel and movie). She referred to the theme music as “the sound of the street.” Once again, she used a broad example of my culture to validate why the music would resonate with Black people: because of stomp music. She stomped her hands and feet.

The room was stunned and silent.

The head of marketing, who is still in that position today, is a white woman. The rest of the team sent to assist also white. I am a person of color. I don't know what street she thinks I live on, but my house does not have a touch of purple and I prefer classic rock.. If I had to guess, decisions based on what audiences of people who look like me were based on data and in consultation with people who probably do not look like me.

I voiced my concerns of that presentation to my white manager, that it might be taken the wrong way, but was told her words did not mean anything and corporate would be gone soon. Words do mean something. Unconscious bias. Unconscious understanding of others. I have since left Tegna and I will be the first to admit that I appreciate what they’re doing to improve inclusion, it comes from an honest place. But maybe start at the top #tegnasowhite