An Iowa weather station sparked a firestorm of criticism after an inflammatory racial epithet emerged in one of its forecast images last Thursday. Journalist Matthew Keys pointed out the meteorological error in a now-viral tweet on Friday.
I’ve blurred it, but I’m pretty sure you can figure out what it said,” he said about the disturbing racial image that aired on the Des Moines-based Weather Channel’s “Local on the 8s” program.
The picture, which read: “Hello Des Moines, This is your weather my N—-s,” is shown in an attached screenshot.
The Weather Channel, on the other hand, denies that it was responsible for the slur.
The Weather Channel confirms this graphic accidentally made it on air in the Des Moines market on Thursday during a "Locals on the 8s" segment. I've blurred it, but I'm pretty sure you can figure out what it said. pic.twitter.com/hDVcomawGp
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) July 22, 2022
“This did not originate with us, and we are in the process of investigating it further,” a spokesperson told Keys in a tweet.
TWC reportedly erased the offensive visual and apologized on Facebook for the situation.
“A graphic during the Weather Channel cable network’s ‘Local on the 8s’ presentation in Des Moines last evening included a racial slur,” the post read. “We removed this graphic as soon as we learned of it. This did not originate with us, and we are in the process of investigating it further. We apologize to our viewers.”
