TV station 'ends relationship' with anchor after online post

TV station 'ends relationship' with anchor after online post

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh television station WTAE said it has ended its relationship with anchorwoman Wendy Bell over racial comments she posted on Facebook about an ambush shooting at a cookout that left five people and an unborn baby dead.

In a statement Wednesday, parent company Hearst Television said Bell's comments were "inconsistent with the company's ethics and journalistic standards."

In her March 21 post on her anchor Facebook page, she said in part: You needn't be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts two weeks ago Wednesday. ...

After a social media backlash, Bell apologized, saying her words "were insensitive and could be viewed as racist."

Siblings Jerry Michael Shelton, 35, Brittany Powell, 27, and Chanetta Powell, 25, along with two cousins, Tina Shelton, 37, and Shada Mahone, 26, were killed in the ambush shooting, police said.