This article is neither for nor against the firing of former anchor Wendy Bell from WTAE. It just seeks to lay out a few thought provoking facts and ideas. The main purpose is to strike your passion on one side or the other so that you do more research and find your own conclusion.

5. The Original Post

The clearly racist line can be seen in the second paragraph. Ms. Bell states that "they are young black men, likely teens or in their early 20s. They have multiple siblings from multiple fathers and their mothers work multiple jobs." While more racism exists in the post, this is the one that lit the largest public outcry on the web. Ms. Bell associates that the killers are young black men with no contributing evidence. It seems as though she is making an assumption. What do you think?

4. The Edited Post

While I was unable to find a screenshot of it, Ms. Bell later edited her post in order to make it politically correct after a public backlash occurred accusing her of racism.

3. The Apology

Ms. Bell later apologized for the post. She claims that she was insensitive and what she put could be viewed as racist. While she seems sincere in the apology, some on the web thought she was not. Should her acknowledgement of her mistake be enough, or should some further action have been taken?

2. The Firing

WTAE announced that they were ending their relationship with Ms. Bell, and her Facebook page was deleted. Essentially she had been fired for insinuating the Wilkensburg shooters had been black. Pittsburgh has been torn by this decision. Ms. Bell had been with the station for 18 years and many people had grown up with her as their anchor for the news. She had also won 21 regional Emmy awards. Ms. Bell was loved by the city of Pittsburgh and its people. Many took the blow very hard, and a backlash hit the web over her firing.

1. What do You Think?

Ms. Bell stated some things that were inappropriate, there is no denying that. However, do you think she should have been fired for it? Would another disciplinary action have been more appropriate? Perhaps suspension, a fine, or some other avenue would have gotten the message across that it wasn't acceptable to post what she posted, but it would have potentially kept both sides happy and kept viewers for WTAE. Many people are claiming that they are switching stations to competitors KDKA or Channel 11 given the end result. Even those that called out Ms. Bell on racism, such as the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, didn't want her to get fired. This is a very complex issue that has, in an essence, caused the city of Pittsburgh to break down into Civil War. WTAE can't seem to escape it as people are relentlessly verbally abusing their other Facebook anchors and reporters. It will be interesting to watch if protests are formed in opposition to the firing and if Pittsburgh will become the next battleground for the racial divide that has struck our country.