Sportswriter is ‘no longer an employee’ of Denver Post after ‘disrespectful’ Indy 500 tweet
Quote:
Denver Post publisher Mac Tully and editor Lee Ann Colacioppo issued a statement on Monday that sportswriter Terry Frei is no longer an employee of the newspaper one day after he tweeted that he was “very uncomfortable” with Japanese driver Takuma Sato winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend.
“Nothing specifically personal, but I am very uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend,” wrote Terry Frei, of the Denver Post.
A hail-mary apology couldn’t save former ESPN and, now, former Denver Post columnist Terry Frei after the seven-time state sportswriter of the year tweeted his disapproval of Japanese driver Takuma Sato winning yesterday’s Indy 500.
Frei’s apology, which originally featured a plug for one of his books before he revised that, again, was a clear attempt at damage control aimed at satisfying his employer; clearly, it didn’t work, as KUSA says the Post fired him today:
“We apologize for the disrespectful and unacceptable tweet that was sent by one of our reporters,” the statement reads. “Terry Frei is no longer an employee of The Denver Post. It’s our policy not to comment further on personnel issues. The tweet doesn’t represent what we believe nor what we stand for. We hope you will accept our profound apologies.”
Frei said in the apology the source of his anti-Japan angst was rooted in his father having fought in World War II. He then thanked someone who defended his original tweet.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...f31e7#comments
http://deadspin.com/denver-post-colu...-in-1795634687
Professional journalists inform - Tweets have to be retweetable. If journalists did not learn by now that social media stupidity leads to firings, they deserve to be on the street.
I cannot believe Frei's original apology included a plug for one of his books - What an moron - All the way around.