Two news directors at a Michigan NBC affiliate were ousted on Thursday following the circulation of an internal memo calling for scaled-back coverage of Pride Month events and directing the station’s journalists to “get both sides” on LGBTQ issues, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
The email, sent earlier this month by Stanton Tang, news director of Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV, and Amy Fox, the station’s assistant news director, said the “polarizing” nature of Pride events had upset some of its conservative viewers, CNN previously reported.
“We need to recognize that some stories related to LGBTQ issues are going to be controversial and polarizing in our community,” the memo sent by Fox said. “While you personally may not agree with a certain position, people are entitled to their opinions and they are our viewers.”
“If we are covering Pride events we need to consider how to make the story balanced and get both sides of the issue,” she added.
The memo sparked fierce backlash from the newsroom’s staff, prompting the station’s owner, Texas-based Nexstar, to launch an investigation into the matter. In a statement to CNN earlier this month, Nexstar said the email was “not consistent with Nexstar’s values, the way we cover the news, or the respect we have for our viewers” and apologized for offending members of the LGBTQ community and WOOD-TV’s viewers.
On Thursday, Gary Weitman, a Nexstar spokesperson, confirmed to CNN that the company had made changes to WOOD-TV’s newsroom leadership team to “ensure its ability to continue providing outstanding local news coverage and service to the Grand Rapids community and surrounding area.”
“As these are internal personnel decisions involving matters of personal privacy, we will decline further comment,” Weitman said.
Two of the station’s executive producers, Luke Stier and Madeline Odle — who had, among others, publicly voiced their concern over the directive — were fired, the pair announced Friday on Twitter.
“We’ve had a front row seat to history for countless events in the city we love, working with the best journalists in the industry,” Stier and Odle wrote. “We are heartbroken to not be with our team today continuing the incredible legacy we have fought so hard for.”