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TV Station Apologizes for Calling Minorities ‘Colored’ on Air

It says anchor Cory Stark made a slip of the tongue while discussing racial discrimination.

A St. Louis news station is apologizing for a segment in which a white anchor referred to minority homeowners as “colored” on air. KMOV management said Cory Stark’s use of the Jim Crow-era word while reporting on racial discrimination was a slip of the tongue but unacceptable. “It was in an original script as ‘homeowners of color’ and was inadvertently changed and mistakenly read on air,” General Manager JD Sosnoff said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We regret the error and apologized to our viewers.” Stark delivered an on-air apology: “The word should have never come out of my mouth, and it does not reflect who I am or what First Alert 4 represents.” Among those who blasted KMOV for the broadcast was the National Association of Black Journalists, which called the term “outdated, offensive and racist” and said it was concerned that no one in the newsroom caught the mistake. “Given that St. Louis’ population is 43% Black, and the city is no stranger to racial strife, we would hope KMOV would be more sensitive in how it covers the Black community,” the association said.