Fired Host Apologizes to First Lady, Denies Bigotry
“Rodner Figueroa wants Michelle Obama to know that he’s sorry for what he said about her. And that he’s not a racist,” Tim Kenneally wrote Friday for the Wrap.
“Figueroa, who was fired from Univision’s ‘El Gordo y la Flaca’ after he said that First Lady Obama ‘looks like she’s from the cast of “Planet of the Apes,” ‘ has issued a profuse apology to Obama in an open letter obtained by TheWrap.
“ ‘I offer my sincere apology for an unfortunate comment I made about a makeup artist’s depiction of you on Univision’s show “El Gordo y La Flaca” yesterday. It was clearly in bad taste and misunderstood,’ Figueroa’s letter began. ‘I would like to explain that my remark was not directed at you, but at the result of an artist’s depiction of you that I found wasn’t accurate. The entire video clip in context corroborates this.’
“Nonetheless, despite the apparent misinterpretation, Figueroa admitted that “there is no justification for someone at my level to make any kind of comment that could be interpreted as offensive or disrespectful to you personally, or to any minority in the times we live.”
“Figueroa, who had been with Univision for 17 years, went on to deny that he’s bigoted, noting that that he comes from ‘a multi-racial Hispanic family’ with an Afro- Latino father, and that he himself is “the first openly gay Hispanic TV host.”
“The letter ended with a dig at Univision, which Figueroa claims smeared him in the media without giving him a chance to explain himself. . . .”
- Jasmine Garsd, NPR: Questions About Diversity In Latino Media
Blacks, Latinos More Likely to Follow Local Crime News
“Crime consistently ranks as one of the most followed and discussed topics by the public, and it receives more attention in local news media than almost any other subject,” Paul Hitlin and Katerina Eva reported for the Pew Research Center. “A recent Pew Research Center report reinforces these findings but also suggests that certain groups of residents pay closer attention to local crime than others in the three cities studied. A difference that particularly stands out is between racial and ethnic groups.
“A deep analysis of local news in Denver, Macon, Ga., and Sioux City, Iowa, finds that in each city at least three-in-ten people follow crime very closely and more than half of residents often discuss crime with others.
“Interest in crime, though, is not equal across all residents in these cities, as seen in Denver and Macon, where racial and ethnic subgroups were large enough to analyze.
“In Denver, Hispanics (19% of the city’s population) follow crime news very closely at nearly twice the rate of whites, 49% versus 26%. And seven-in-ten Hispanics in Denver often discuss crime news, compared with 49% of whites.
“In Macon, blacks (41% of the city’s residents) differ from whites in the amount of attention they devote to crime news to nearly the same degree. About six-in-ten blacks very closely follow crime news, compared with less than half (43%) of whites. And, while a vast majority of both blacks and whites discuss crime, blacks do so at higher rates (86% vs. 76%). . . .”
The Real Lakshmi Singh Could Make His Day
“An unusual hat has been making the rounds among public radio personalities in New York. It’s rested on the heads of some esteemed hosts: Leonard Lopate, Brooke Gladstone and Kurt Andersen, among others,” Mike Janssen reported Feb. 17 for Current.org
“On their heads, the beat-up trucker-style cap makes an obviously false claim: ‘I AM LAKSHMI SINGH.’ In photos of the hat and its wearers, the real Lakshmi Singh, NPR newscaster, is nowhere in sight.
“The hat has already made the trek from California to New York, and its travels aren’t over yet. Its owner, Studio 360 producer Sean Rameswaram, wants it to end up on the head of the real Lakshmi Singh. Its appearances on WNYC hosts, Rameswaram’s friends and even a Taylor Swift cutout are just a warmup and an effort to get Singh’s attention.
“Lakshmi Singh wearing the ‘I AM LAKSHMI SINGH’ hat — it’s Rameswaram’s dream. ‘This is a celebration of her and her work,’ he said.
“But time could be running out. ‘It’s falling apart,’ Rameswaram said, ‘and I would love to get a photo of her wearing the hat before it’s completely crumbled.’ . . .”
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