Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple called on CNN’s Carol Costello to apologize to the Palin family in the same venue where she mocked audio of Bristol Palin reporting a physical assault: on-air.
Although Costello herself called for an ESPN anchor to be suspended for comments he made about a assault on a woman (after he had apologized on-air), thus far Costello has only issued a short written apology through CNN.
Costello apologized quickly and in airtight fashion: “Over the past few days I have been roundly criticized for joking about a brawl involving the Palin family. In retrospect, I deserve such criticism and would like to apologize.” That statement was sent to Politico, but not said on-air.
The Erik Wemple Blog catches Costello’s CNN show daily — and thinks sky-highly of her anchoring work — but didn’t catch any moment of regret mirroring what she told Politico. A CNN spokeswoman confirms no such event has taken place. It must. CNN surely has more regard for its audience than to pass along such an important message through a bunch of media blogs.
Carol Costello is white. Numerous CNN staffers have had to make on-air apologies for much less, and have been suspended for much less. The ESPN anchor Costello and CNN called to be suspended is black.
Currently, CNN is being sued for racial discrimination. For more than a year the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) have publicly complained about the treatment of black staffers at the left-wing cable news network. CNN’s response to the NABJ has been retaliatory.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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