Employee fired after local NBC newscast gets interrupted by vulgar audio clip
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An employee at a Corpus Christi, Texas news station has been fired, and others suspended or reprimanded, after a live broadcast was interrupted with a vulgar and disturbing audio clip.
"We sincerely regret the error and apologize to our viewers that were watching on Monday evening," KRIS Communications, an NBC affiliate, wrote in a statement. “We immediately began an investigation of the mistake and how it occurred. We learned that a series of technical and human errors lead to the mistake."
During a report about the area’s new Harbor Bridge, the screen abruptly cut to black in the middle of Monday night's broadcast, and a male voice could be heard whispering obscenities.
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“Smell it, finger it, f--- it, lick it, smell it,” the voice says in the video below.
[WARNING: The below video contains graphic language.]
The statement noted that it was a male station reporter’s voice in the audio, but did not give further details as to his identity. It did, however, mention that actions were taken, including a termination of one employee as well as a suspension and reprimands to an undisclosed number of employees. Additionally, the station is reviewing its editing workflow to prevent similar future incidents.
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News Director Paul Alexander told The Caller Times, “Mistakes like this cannot happen again.”
The moment in question was recorded and posted to Facebook by a user named Korbin Boomer Matthews.