Bay Area anchor Frank Somerville reportedly ‘suspended indefinitely’ by KTVU



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KTVU presenter Frank Somerville has been taken off the air again, according to reports from The Mercury News.

Somerville, 63, has reportedly been “suspended indefinitely” by the management of Channel 2, following a disagreement over the ongoing coverage of the missing person case and the homicide of Gabby Petito.

The conflict is believed to have come to a head after Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming earlier this week, after she was reported missing on a camping trip across the country with her boyfriend.

Petito’s research sparked a nationwide media frenzy, although some in the journalism industry, including MSNBC’s Joy Reid, argued that the attention he received was undue. Roy is among those who believe that the coverage of Petito’s disappearance is an example of the media phenomenon that the late journalist and presenter Gwen Ifill has described as the ‘missing white woman syndrome’, in which the media puts the spotlight on the media. focus on missing white women and girls without providing equal coverage. for similar cases of missing women of color.

Somerville, who is the father of a black adopted daughter, reportedly shared these beliefs, wishing to add a brief slogan criticizing the extraordinary media coverage the Petito story had garnered at the end of a scheduled report updating the details. of the case. His request reportedly sparked a disagreement with KTVU news director Amber Eikel, who said the slogan was inappropriate. Somerville was reportedly informed by station management of his “indefinite suspension” the next day.

The news comes just weeks after Somerville returned to KTVU after an unexplained nine-week absence from the station’s “The Ten O’Clock News”. Immediately before his summer absence, Somerville repeatedly stammered and tripped over his words while reading a teleprompter on a May 30 newscast.


A spokesperson for KTVU could not be reached for comment.



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