St. Louis news anchor Kevin Steincross is on indefinite leave after using a racial slur during a report on a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute in the city last week.
On Jan. 17, the KTVI Channel 2 anchor mispronounced King’s last name as “c—n,” a racial slur used against black people during a report about a St. Louis University tribute to the late Civil Rights leader at about 5:30 a.m.
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A few hours later, Steincross apologized to viewers, insisting it was “not intentional in any way.”
Here we go again, in less than a week! KTVI’s Kevin Steincross said that it was “not intentional in any way” when he said “Martin Luther co*n Jr.,” during a news report about an upcoming tribute on the civil rights leader… //t.co/qaQrwxRskD [🎥:… pic.twitter.com/WqqhT0OHIA
— Kinnette Myrick (@MrsCEOMyrick) January 18, 2019
“I want to take a moment to apologize,” he said, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We have heard from a viewer about a mistake I made in our 5 a.m. newscast. In our story about the tribute to Dr. King, I unfortunately mispronounced his name. Please know I have total respect for Dr. King, what he meant and what he continues to mean to our country. This was not intentional in any way, and I sincerely apologize.”
Tribune Broadcasting, which owns KTVI, said management at the channel spoke with Steincross and accepted that it was a “truly inadvertent mistake” that “does not reflect Kevin’s core beliefs.”
“Kevin is extremely upset by the mistake and regrets it deeply,” Tribune added.
The St. Louis County NAACP called the incident “unacceptable and very disappointing.”
Although Tribune accepted Steincross’ apology, the anchor announced on Friday afternoon he will be taking an indefinite leave of absence.
“Station management and I have agreed that I need to step away from the anchor desk for now. I will begin working to regain your trust. I know the work I need to do will take time, and I will do everything I can to address the pain I caused,” he said.
St. Louis County NAACP President John Gaskin said the suspension only happened because of the pressure they put on KTVI to fire Steincross.
“Had we not called for his termination we genuinely believe that they would not have done anything in the first place,” Gaskin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I think the Tribune needs to do some very in-depth soul searching.”
Gaskin added, “It is very unfortunate what occurred, however, I think there is an opportunity to move forward in terms of how we can learn from this, I hope we don’t forget this, but that we can learn from this, and move the region and community forward so that this never happens again.”
Steincross was the second news anchor to use the same slur when mentioning King. Rochester, New York meteorologist Jeremy Kappell was fired after he said “Martin Luther c—n King Jr. Park.” However, Koppel later received support from Today Show meteorologist Al Roker and King’s daughter, Dr. Bernice King, who both said he should not have been fired.
Photo credit: KTVI
