KFSN Fresno GM Resigns After Court Comments About Hispanics
Made off-hand comment about Hispanics while under consideration for jury duty.
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/24/2008 5:51:00 AM
KFSN Fresno President/General Manager Bob Hall has resigned following comments he made in court while under consideration for jury duty. According to the Fresno Bee, Hall told a judge he did not think he could be a fair juror on a carjacking trial involving a Hispanic defendant because he’d viewed station research that showed a propensity for Hispanic males to commit violent crimes.
Hall had told the judge the station’s court reporter was using the case he was being considered for to report a story on Hispanic males and crime. “It has to do with, without going into the details of it, the propensity of a person to commit violent crimes from socioeconomic groups,” he said.
A KFSN statement to the newspaper said the research Hall referred to was his own and not the station’s. The statement stressed that KFSN was not working on a story related to Hispanics and crime.
Hall’s comments prompted the judge to dismiss not only the GM, but everyone in the jury pool who’d heard the statements.
Hall apologized on-air Friday and resigned yesterday.
KFSN is an ABC O&O and the leading station in the #55 market, based revenue figures from BIA Financial.
Hispanic activist groups plan to protest Tuesday in front of the station.
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