A California news anchor with an adopted Black daughter was suspended after telling his bosses he wanted to discuss “missing white woman syndrome” at the end of his news segment.
Frank Somerville, 63, was suspended from Oakland-based KTVU after he told station executives he wanted to discuss the disparities between missing Black and missing white women who receive more news coverage.
Somerville is the adoptive father of a Black teenage daughter whom he often posts on social media.
He was reportedly suspended a day after he got into a shouting match with News Director Amber Eikel about Gabby Petito news coverage, according to the Mercury News.
The three-time Emmy winner had planned to piggyback off of the remarks made by MSNBC most Joy Reid who said the news media eagerly covers stories about missing white women like Petito, the 22-year-old Youtuber whose body was found in a Wyoming park on Sept. 19.
Reid said news outlets often ignore missing Black women because they do not look like the daughters and granddaughters of newsroom executives.
Petito was laid to rest in a televised funeral on Sunday. A massive manhunt is underway for her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who is considered the prime suspect in her murder.
The term “missing white woman syndrome” was coined by late journalist Gwen Ifill, who became the first Black woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program.
