From Richard Doutre Jones, General Manager of KTVX:
As many of our viewers know, on Thursday evening while attempting to prepare residents of the area for risks associated with a dangerous winter storm system, meteorologist Dan Pope made what we would all call an unfortunate and thoughtless comment that demonstrated an insensitivity to people in the Native American community.
In speaking with him immediately afterwards, Dan readily acknowledged his poor choice of words and voiced his sincere remorse for what his words conveyed and how they were certain to make many people feel. Clearly there is no excuse for that choice of words even if, as we know to be the case, it was made with no malicious intent.
As station General Manager, I want to reiterate our station’s deepest apologies for this insensitive comment and assure you that we are using this experience as a teachable moment to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again and more importantly, that everyone at ABC4 embraces the highest principles of sensitivity and respect in both our work and our personal lives.
