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| Michael Scott |
A veteran African American television anchor who has worked in Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City and Charlotte, N.C., was ousted Tuesday from his latest job in Huntsville, Ala., after reportedly calling an African American producer the N-word.
Keith Lowhorne, interim news director, confirmed on Wednesday that, "Michael Scott is no longer with WAAY-TV." He said the action took place Tuesday, but would not elaborate, saying, "It's a personnel issue."
However, another newsroom employee confirmed the substance of an account on the NewsBlues subscription-only Web site on Monday.
"Tipsters at Calkins-owned WAAY-31-ABC in Huntsville (Market #83) say primary news anchor Michael Scott has been suspended after openly berating news producer Jabaree [Prewitt], who abruptly quit," the item said.
"According to those who witnessed the incident, Scott, during a commercial break in the 10 p.m. newscast, referred to [Prewitt] as a Negro. When [Prewitt] ask him not to use that word, Scott called him a '***.' Both men are black."
Prewitt told Journal-isms that contrary to that report, he had not quit over the Thursday incident, that he had already given notice that he was taking a new job in Louisiana. He referred other questions to station management.
The incident is but the latest censure of the N-word's use in a professional setting.
In September, Chicago news cameraman Ken Bedford of WLS-TV used theterm as he and another black photographer were vying for a shot. He received a five-day suspension and told Journal-isms the word would never pass through his lips again
. In 2006, the Chicago Defender asked on its front page, "Take a Stand: Black America, Isn't it time we make up our minds about using the word ***?"
In January 2007, Ebony magazine ran an editorial, "Enough! Why Blacks — and Whites — should never use the 'N-Word' again."
Earl Graves Sr., founder of Black Enterprise magazine, turned off the microphone as 1,200 were gathered in September for the Black Enterprise/Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge when comedian Eddie Griffin used the word.
And this month, the rapper Nas finally decided against naming his ninth studio album with that word, after showing up at the Grammy awards with it emblazoned on his shirt. "The pressure on Nas to change the title of his album came from all corners: his label's parent company, political figures, talk show pundits, other rappers and even some hip-hop aficionados," James Braxton Peterson wrote on theRoot.com. A New York state assemblyman threatened to pull $84 million in state pension fund money out of an investment in the record firm's parent company.
Scott, then 52, arrived in Huntsville after suddenly leaving Kansas City's KCTV-TV, where he was co-anchor, in December 2006.
Prior to the "N word" incident, Scott was perhaps best known for "the attack of the gecko," Chris Welch recalled Wednesday in the Huntsville Times. "He was interviewing a snake wrangler on the air in 2002 for KAXS-TV, the NBC-affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, when a gecko lizard jumped on him from a nearby table. He screamed, yelled an expletive and has been immortalized on YouTube."
The development — and this column — prompted a discussion with callers on David Person's show on Huntsville's WEUP-AM. Much of the conversation focused on the familiar pros and cons of African Americans' use of the word. Person is also an editorial writer and columnist at the Huntsville Times.
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