The Weather Channel has issued an apology after a derogatory racial slur that appeared during a broadcast in Des Moines, Iowa, last week left viewers reeling.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based company apologized after its channel, Local on the 8s, displayed a graphic that used the n-word during a segment.
Eagle-eyed journalist Matthew Keys first noticed the slur and posted a screenshot of the slur to Twitter last week.
“I’ve blurred it, but I’m pretty sure you can figure out what it said,” Keys captioned the post.
The company acknowledged the graphic in a Facebook post on July 22, saying “We removed this graphic as soon as we learned of it.”
The company apologized in the post, but also said that the graphic “did not originate with us.” They said they are investigating how it was aired.
In a follow-up tweet, Keys postulated that the graphic “likely originated at the cable head-end, according to a source, though the network is still trying to figure it out.”
Twitter users weren’t having it, however, and voiced their anger.
The Weather Channel has remained mum on the incident since their original statement.
The 24-hour cable weather network was obtained by Black-owned Allen Media in 2018.