Courtesy of The Frisky
Update: HuffPost has a copy of an email sent by KTBS to employees regarding the company’s “guidelines” (as they put it) for using social media — which Lee confirmed she did actually read. So, while she cannot claim she was totally unaware of how she was not supposed to respond to Facebook comments, they are only phrased as “guidelines” and “social media best practices,” not rules. You can read the email at the link. [Huffington Post]
Meteorologist Rhonda Lee has been fired by KTBS-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana, for responding to racist Facebook posts, including one about her hair. Lee was told she violated the company’s new social media policy which had been verbally announced one month prior at a meeting she did not attend. One comment Lee responded to was by a viewer griping that all the kids who won a KTBS holiday shopping spree were black. The other comment Lee responded to was by a viewer who told her to grow some hair or wear a wig.
Clutch Magazine describes how on October 1, a viewer wrote a comment on a KTBS’ Facebook page about Lee’s hair. Oh, did I mention it is RUDE? Emmit Sascocu wrote:
“the black lady that does the news is a very nice lady.the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv. what about letting someone a male have waist long hair do the news.what about that (cq).”
Yup, this guy actually told a black woman with short hair that she needs to wear a wig. Not conforming to white European standards of beauty is hurting his eyes when he watches the TV, everyone. Oh, and here is some crazy shit — THE NETWORK “LIKED” THAT COMMENT ON FACEBOOK. You guys. Really.
Continue reading at The Frisky
