WTAE Finally Addresses Bell's Comment in On Air Editorial
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FTVLive was FIRST to tell you that WTAE was finally going to make a public comment about their Anchor Wendy Bell's racist Facebook post.
FTVLive even told you what the station was going to say, before the comments aired.
It wasn't until the outcry from viewers and Bell's post went viral, that WTAE management finally made a public comment. The right thing to do, would have been to address this issue right from the get go. Tell Bell to remove the post, say she was sorry and then deal with her.
The station dragged their feet and now even more damage is done to its reputation.
As for Bell, some inside the station has said that the station has protected her for years. This isn't the first time that she has had to say she was sorry for insensitive remarks towards black people.
This time, insiders think that Bell cannot (and should not) be saved. "It is clear that Bell has some issues regarding African Americans and she needs to be fired," said one station insider to FTVLive.
As for now, Bell is on vacation in Disney World with her family.
Here is the on air editorial that WTAE GM Charles Wolfertz made in regards to the Bell incident:
WTAE EditorialWe at WTAE would like to apologize for the actions of one of our anchors earlier this week. Wendy Bell posted a message on her Facebook page that offended many of our viewers.Her post offended us. Wendy has since apologized for what she wrote and acknowledged it was insensitive.Wendy is sorry for the words she chose, and so are we.It was an egregious lack of judgment.WTAE regrets it happened and is committed to making sure something like this doesn’t happen again.Now that the post is down, WTAE management is initiating a comprehensive examination of the issue and will take appropriate actionWe are committed to working with local community organizations to further the dialogue around these important issues.We believe what happened at WTAE this week should be something we all learn from.We can and will be better.
Posted by WTAE-TV Pittsburgh on Thursday, March 24, 2016
