A radio station in Houltonm NMaine has fired two announcers after they were caught mocking the weight of players during a livestream of a high school girl’s basketball game in Maine.
Fox News reports Jim Carter and Steve Shaw were fired following outrage and numerous complaints from community members and parents, WHOU 100.9 FM owner Fred Grant told the Portland Press-Herald.
The announcers – who apparently didn't realize their microphones were on -- made their comments during a game between Easton High School and Central Aroostook High School, located near the Canadian border.
"Two girls out here extremely overweight," one of them apparently says on a hot mic, the Press-Herald reported. "Awful." Other comments were also made, followed by the sound of laughter, the paper reported.
Shaw specifically talked about finding "uniforms that fit the girls," while Carter identified a girl by her uniform number, Portland's WCSH-TV reported
"Wow," Carter said at one point, according to the station. "Would you look at her."
Grant fired Carter and Shaw after the broadcast on Thursday, he said. The owner noted that announcers hired by WHOU are trained to focus on the game and refrain from "commenting negatively about players, coaches, or officials."
"It’s in writing. It’s verbalized. It’s repeated," Grant said. "They knew the deal. It’s a colossal failure by them."
The station posted an apology on its website:
Our mission has been to highlight the best of our communities, our schools, the programs we love, and most importantly – our students. Last night, two broadcasters made comments that were not only inappropriate, they were also blatantly wrong. Those broadcasters were terminated.
For the last 11 years we’ve had the privilege of broadcasting students as they participate in the sports and events that they are passionate about with the people, teams and ensembles they love. We see the pride their families have for their students and the team as a whole. We collectively swell with pride when they perform their best regardless of the outcome. Every night students go out and give it their all, they learn, they pick themselves and each other up when things get tough. We might be disappointed when they lose, but we’re inspired by their resilience when they come back to give it another shot. That’s what is important and that’s what we embrace.
In all the events we cover, every single one of our students gets better, they learn and they grow. Every day they face the challenges of their situation, whether it be on the court, at home or at school, but the important part is that they keep going. All of our students deserve our respect. Our students are living through the most challenging times in our history. Not only are they struggling through a pandemic, they also have the challenges of living in an age of social media which many of us would say that’s even worse than the pandemic
I apologize that the broadcasters failed to see this fundamental belief and I apologize for their behavior. I know they are remorseful and I believe they, too, will continue to learn from their mistakes.
We’ve heard from many of you, and many have shared clips of the event in question. While it’s wrong that it happened, I’m going to ask each of you to help us shift the focus back on the excellence we see every day in our students. If you’ve shared the video post, I’m hoping you will take it down, not to downplay the incident, but to better help all of our students move on to the important work and events in their lives.
Thank you,
Fred Grant Owner, WHOU.live
Both Shaw and Carter had been broadcasting games for WHOU for roughly a month, the Press-Herald reported. Shaw previously worked as athletic director at Easton High School, while Carter is a retired teacher and coach from another school.
On Friday, Carter said he apologized to the superintendent of the school that has players he mocked.
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