US News
Published March 6, 2024, 12:08 a.m. ET
A St. Louis television station is under fire after a host “incorrectly” referred to minority homeowners with an “outdated, offensive and racist” term.
Television station KMOV reportedly apologized on February 26 for using the term while watching a report on racial bias in home appraisals.
“Tonight, homeowners of color are sounding the alarm about undervalued home valuations,” white host Cory Stark said on air.
St. Louis television station KMOV was forced to apologize after Cory Stark referred to minority homeowners as “colored homeowners” on the show. Cory Stark Facebook
JD Sosnoff, vice president and general manager of KMOV, and Stark attempted to do damage control for the apparent gaffe as criticism of the vile remark mounted.
“It was an original script called 'Homeowners of Color' and was accidentally changed and read incorrectly on air,” Sosnoff said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The broadcaster regretted the mistake and quickly apologized to viewers in two broadcasts last week, he added.
Television station KMOV apologized to viewers in two broadcasts last week. Getty Images
One of those apologies came from Stark.
“The word should never have come out of my mouth, and it does not reflect who I am or what First Alert 4 represents,” the newspaper reported.
The National Association of Black Journalists criticized the error, calling it “outdated, offensive and racist” and noting that St. Louis' population is 43% black.
The organization said that while the station has apologized multiple times, it wants to retrain employees and wants KMOV to do a better job of recruiting and retaining Black employees.
“We look forward to these discussions with KMOV management,” NABJ President Ken Lemon and Vice President of Broadcast Walter Smith Randolph said in a statement.
“However, this shows even more that the fight for equal treatment and fair coverage is not yet over. We hope that these discussions will be fruitful and produce documentable results.”
While St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman condemned the incident, he does not believe there was any offensive intent behind it.
“Trust me, I have enough experience dealing with people who intentionally engage in discrimination or racist behavior,” Bowman said, according to the Post-Dispatch.
“But I've interacted with Cory Stark, and at no point have I ever felt anything like that about him.”
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