Two Michigan TV Station EPs Ousted Over Criticism Of Memo About Pride Month Coverage

deadline.com:

It has been a tumultuous few days at Nexstar Media Group-owned NBC affiliate WOOD-TV8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Madeline Odle and Luke Stier, executive producers at WOOD-TV8, were ousted Thursday after criticizing a company memo on Pride Month coverage, the two revealed on Twitter.

They had been critical of a memo circulated by the station’s news director Stanton Tang and assistant news director Amy Fox that urged reporters to scale back on coverage of Pride Month-related events because LGBTQ issues were “polarizing in our community.” According to the memo first reported by The Desk, Fox wrote “We need to recognize that some stories related to LGBTQ issues are going to be controversial and polarizing in our community.

While you personally may not agree with a certain position, people are entitled to their opinions and they are our viewers.” In their joint statement Friday on Twitter, Odle and Stier wrote they were “waking up reading the news instead of writing it.” “We have been told our non-compete clauses remain in effect, which means we are looking at unexpected career changes,” according to their statement. “This memo does not reflect our views,” Odle posted about the memo. “It has not and will not change how we cover members of our community.” The two were ousted for violating the company’s confidentiality agreement by openly criticizing the memo on Twitter, according to The Detroit News, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

Tang and Fox also were let go Thursday, according to CNN, citing a source close to the situation. A Nexstar spokesperson told CNN that the company had made changes to the station’s newsroom leadership team to “ensure its ability to continue providing outstanding local news