President and General manager of KABC TV sent an email to Asbarez, in which she said that the cameraman that insulted Armenians while interviewing Turkish Genocide deniers on April 24 will not be used in the future by the channel’s news operations, Asbarez newspaper reported.
“We thank the community for bringing this video to our attention. ABC7 does not condone what was said on the video and apologizes to those offended. The photographer in question was not a staff employee of ABC7 and the station has determined his services will no longer be used,” said KABC TV President and General Manager, Cheryl Kunin Fair, in an email in response to an Asbarez article exposing a cameraman hired by ABC7 Eyewitness news who called Armenians “thug-like idiots” while conducting an interview with Ergun Kirlikovali, the former president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and another Turkish Genocide denier Nur Hostetler on April 24 during the Armenian Genocide Rally for Justice in front of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles.
ABC7 also said: “Most importantly, ABC7 believes the story that resulted from the coverage that day is fair and accurate. We would appreciate it if you watch the story and judge for yourself.”
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region and the Armenian Youth Federation framed the issue properly, by thanking ABC7 for its prompt response to the insult, but also pointing out that featuring Armenian Genocide deniers on its air is not “fair” coverage of the issue.
“Just like Nazis would not be given the platform in media coverage of a Holocaust commemoration event, the same standards must be applied to the Armenian Genocide. ABC 7 is headquartered in Glendale, CA where over 95,000 Armenians who are descendants of Genocide survivors live and to highlight the perpetrator is to condone its actions. The utter lack of sensitivity toward such a large segment of the community is deeply concerning to us, and we expect ABC7 to take appropriate measures to address and rectify this situation. The ANCA-WR and the AYF-WR request an immediate meeting with the station leadership to further discuss this issue. We look forward to your prompt response,” concluded the statement.
