It might finally be the end of the long story around Frank Somerville, the longtime KTVU anchor.
The anchor has broken his silence after he was abruptly suspended at his former station over the alleged internal conflict on the Gabby Petito case coverage. Somerville has shared his first statement in an interview with the Bay Area News Group, SFGATE reported.
“All indications are that I’m never going to anchor at Channel 2 again,” he said in an interview published Tuesday.
He also said his regret over the “drama” that emerged because he wanted to include the “missing white woman syndrome” on the tagline, a phenomenon termed by Journalist Gwen Ifill to describe the attention media is giving on missing white women over their counterparts of color.
A father to a Black daughter himself, Somerville wanted to include statistics on Black women victimized by domestic violence in America in any news about Petito, according to an SFGATE source, who added that Somerville’s request was rejected by KTVU news director Amber Eikel.
“I wish I could apologize to all of them in person,” according to Somerville. “They’re the backbone of Channel 2. I appreciate and admire what they do every day.”
The saga climaxed when the KTVU’s suspension of Somerville was slammed by the Oakland chapter of the NAACP. It said that KTVU has been “elevating his example” rather than suspending the anchor.
Somerville has also shared on Tuesday’s interview of the long years he became the station’s anchor before he was suddenly suspended. His career at the station began in 1992 as an anchor, and in 2008, he became a co-anchor on evening shows in lieu of Dennis Richmond, the longtime local newscaster.
His suspension came shortly after his return to the station in August after his exit during a broadcast in May during the 10 p.m. show, which triggered speculation regarding his health.
