KTVA, the Alaska station which fired two producers last week, canceled its 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. evening news program Nov. 10 for an ethics meeting, the Associated Press reported.
The two producers were fired after they accidentally left a voicemail on the phone for a spokesperson for Joe Miller, Republician candidate for U.S. Senate. The message is somewhat garbled, but you can hear the journalists discussed “child molesters.”
“Events over the last week and a half have been challenging for our station,” general manager Jerry Bever is quoted as saying. “As the result of a conversation within our newsroom that was accidentally recorded and released to the public, our newsroom credibility has been called into question, and the public’s trust in us has been tested.
“Our job as journalists carry a far greater responsibility than that of media personalities and pundits,” Bever reportedly said. “We have been given the public’s trust … now we must keep it.”