Gray’s WGEM (Quincy) General Manager Ben Van Ness issued an apology on behalf of the station for comments made by Reporter Mike Miletich.

This was his statement:

“If you were watching our Wednesday WGEM News at Six report on the Illinois assault weapons ban lawsuit filed by attorney Tom DeVore, we owe you an apology.

Reporter Mike Miletich ad-libbed while reporting live from Effingham to say in part, ‘…we are in downstate Illinois where they hate the media.’ That is not a fact. The facts show we have many loyal viewers who are very supportive of this television station.

Mike chose to express his opinion, which is not acceptable for a journalist working for this news organization. Our news division is disappointed by what was said, and our leadership team is addressing the matter.”

I think we know how station leadership addressed the problem; Miletich’s bio has been scrubbed from the station’s website.

Ouch!