Chicken-Fried News: Bad look

A KOCO anchor compared her black co-anchor to a baby gorilla, and she got to keep her job. But it’s 2019 and a white supremacist-enabling narcissist is running the country, so we can’t be too surprised.

Despite being one of the more diverse news stations in Oklahoma City (which really isn’t saying much at all), KOCO employees could definitely benefit from some intensive diversity training. Oh, and accountability. That would be good too.

Morning anchor Alex Housden seemed to think it was harmless to compare co-anchor Jason Hackett to a baby gorilla during a segment meant to be fun and entertaining. It didn’t seem to be intentionally harmful or racist, but that is part of the problem. It is no longer acceptable to be tone-deaf or ignorant to historically racist tropes and stereotypes — especially when working in broadcast news.

“Kind of looks like you when you take a picture," Housden said at the end of the segment where a baby gorilla was shown taking a video selfie.

Read more: https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/chicken-fried-news-bad-look/Content?oid=6530453