Video contains adult language.
Speaking profanities in the work place can be deemed frowned upon to inappropriate to unacceptable and grounds for termination. It really depends on the job and the context, I suppose. But for news anchors at a local network station, it's surely a big no-no. One news anchor in North Dakota is making headlines due to a slip during broadcast, during which he uttered a one-two-punch of back-to-back swearwords just before his co-anchor introduced him to viewers. Watch the video above. It happens right away.
It seems the new guy at KFYR, A.J. Clemente, started off his first day with two of the words you can't say on network television. Co-anchor Van Tieu awkwardly plows through the introduction after A.J. mutters, "fucking shit." just as the evening report is getting started. In the video, it's not entirely clear why he's swearing, but according to a Twitter exchange he had with a viewer afterward, he was trying to pronounce the London Marathon winner's name.
Clemente has also tweeted an apology for his slip-up, saying:
(Via Daily News) News Director Monica Hannan posted an apology on the KFYR-TV Facebook page to viewers on behalf of the station.
To all of you who are writing in...I want to apologize for an incident that occurred prior to our early newscast this evening, when one of our employees used profanity on the air.He did not realize his microphone was on, but still, that's no excuse. WE train our reporters to always assume that any microphone is live at any time. Unfortunately, that was not enough in this case. WE can't take back what was said. The person involved has been suspended until we resolve the situation. All we can do at this point is ask for your forgiveness, and I can offer my personal assurance that I will do my best to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again under my watch.
So, the guy slipped up. It happens. In fact, news anchors mess up frequently enough that you can usually find some pretty amusing blooper videos on YouTube if you're so inclined. With that in mind, hopefully the suspension is the worst of his punishment for the infraction and he's allowed to return to the desk for a second shot. I'm sure there are plenty of viewers who find that language offensive, however, we all make mistakes. Hopefully this one won't cost him his job. What do you think? Does he deserve another shot?
Update: It looks like he's been fired. Clemente tweeted the following this afternoon:
