News station in hot water for tweet during Ferguson press conference
WTVC, a local TV station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has apologized for posting a "poorly worded" tweet during the Darren Wilson grand jury verdict press conference in Ferguson, Missouri.
The ABC affiliate tweeted: "Don't worry, Dancing with the Stars will be back on after the special report. #Ferguson."
Many social media users fired back at the station, calling its tweet racist and insensitive about the events taking place in Ferguson.
.@newschannelnine fire your social media manager. Signed, a social media manager.
— Cristine Ciana (@xSANKOFA) November 25, 2014
The station replied back to several upset followers, but that only spurred more anger.
.@lovesickglee yes - we were just anticipating people complaining. but we handled in a completely lunkheaded way. we're sorry.
— WTVC NewsChannel 9 (@newschannelnine) November 25, 2014
WTVC has taken down the tweet and has tweeted multiple apologies to its viewers.
We did not mean to be insensitive with our previous tweet about DWTS vs. Ferguson. We apologize if it was perceived that way.
— WTVC NewsChannel 9 (@newschannelnine) November 25, 2014
Yahoo News reached out for a statement from WTVC. General manager Mike Costa told us "We didn’t mean to be insensitive with our tweet. We apologize."