PORTLAND, Ore. — We deeply regret and apologize for the distress caused by the inadvertent airing of offensive content during Thursday evening's broadcast of The Good Stuff program on KGW.
During a segment inviting viewers to share their "Throwback Thursday" photos via social media platforms, we unfortunately aired a photo featuring deeply racist imagery and language. The image, seemingly from the 1950s, depicted children throwing balls towards a sign prominently displaying the N-word.
Despite our rigorous policy of thoroughly screening all content for standards and accuracy before broadcast, we acknowledge our failure to uphold our own standards in this instance.
We understand the profound hurt this image inflicted upon our viewers and staff, particularly members of our Black community. To those who were exposed to the image and were hurt by it, we offer our sincerest apologies.
We have reevaluated our policies regarding the airing of user-submitted content from social media and taken internal steps to address the mistake. Additionally, KGW leadership has actively engaged with Black community leaders and government officials to acknowledge our failure and extend our apology for the harm caused.
As a company, we are dedicated to fostering inclusivity and compassion. While we acknowledge our failure on this occasion, we are committed to earning back the trust that has been compromised by the broadcast of this offensive photo. We recognize the importance of accountability and will work diligently to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
Portland leaders react
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Portland NAACP leaders issued statements Friday morning responding to the image that aired Thursday night on KGW:
"This morning I met with Portland Chapter NAACP leaders, James Posey and Pastor Hennessee, to discuss the deeply disturbing graphic shared by KGW news. Together, we are calling on KGW to immediately address this issue and ensure changes are made to prevent anything like this from happening in the future," Wheeler said.
"We are appalled by the slide shared by KGW news yesterday evening that displayed an explicitly racist image. We are looking to KGW leadership to immediately provide clarity on how and why this happened. We will provide an updated response once more information is gathered and ask that the community walk with us as we learn more," said Portland Chapter NAACP leaders James Posey and Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee.
KGW management met Friday with Black pastors, NAACP leaders, Mayor Ted Wheeler and government staff to discuss the incident. Pastor Hennessee of the NAACP gave a follow-up statement on camera after the meeting, which was aired at the top of all Friday evening broadcasts:
"It's really saddened us, number one, that a person decided that one of their best memories had to do with something that's so disparaging to Black people, and using a word that has a really unfortunate kind of impact on our community. We have been traumatized in a number of ways and all this does is trigger that again.
"Secondly, I'm really sorry that that was not caught, and we have had the opportunity to talk with KGW about what happened to understand how something like that could go on the air. We accept the apology; we accept the fact that this is something that ... is not at all consistent with what KGW stands for.
"What is very important as we go forward is to remember that every one of us makes mistakes. Every one of us has had moments where we wish we could have re-done something and be able to kind of course-correct."