Weather Channel Apologizes for Snarky Tweet About Bullying
The Weather Channel got in trouble Monday for sending out a snarky tweet to a gay Texas politician mocking his efforts to crack down on bullying, eventually apologizing for the offending tweet. The Weather Channel received some Twitter complaints from former Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns, who is perhaps best known nationally for an impassioned, emotional speech he gave back in 2010.
For a refresher, you can watch Burns’ speech here:
Burns took to Twitter to complain about how the Weather Channel features photos of Dallas when you input Fort Worth into their app. Here’s the exchange between Burns and the Weather Channel (and to the Weather Channel’s credit, as of this posting, the original tweet has not been taken down).
Dear @weatherchannel I SWEAR I'm deleting your aggravating app if you don't STOP SHOWING DALLAS pics for Fort Worth pic.twitter.com/Rx36gZoI2K
— Councilm. Joel Burns (@JoelBurns) May 12, 2014
Hey snoozing @weatherchannel social media team, see anything missing now?
CC @YahooWeather @wfaaweathertoo pic.twitter.com/KxsgAwLLnR
— Councilm. Joel Burns (@JoelBurns) May 12, 2014
@JoelBurns Sorry to see you go. Good luck on ending bullying.
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) May 12, 2014
It’s probably not wise to get snarky with someone for their advocacy to stop bullying of all children, especially gay and lesbian children.
Fort Worth residents started tweeting out photos with the hashtag #THISIsFortWorth to show they are a distinct and unique city from Dallas.
Hours later, the Weather Channel issued an apology.
.@JoelBurns we apologize for our reply this morning. Our response was inappropriate & we're taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) May 12, 2014
And Burns also posted on his Facebook page later in the day that he spoke with a Weather Channel executive who said they would update their app with pictures of Fort Worth, and in addition to that, “They are making a contribution to The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and The Trevor Project.”
[h/t Gawker]
[image via The Weather Channel]
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