Weatherman Weathers Storm

March 16th, 2007

Rob Blair is back on the air:

A shade over two years after he was fired by KTNV Channel 13 for using a racial slur during a weather report, Blair has been rehired by KHSL Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Chico, Calif.

He starts work at 5:30 a.m. Monday during the early morning broadcast and will also appear weekdays at noon. Blair worked at the Chico station for three years before being hired by KTNV.

“People here have really supported Rob,” KHSL News Director Trisha Coder said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve been running promos all week and have had nothing but positive feedback.”

Blair worked for just three months at KTNV, but still managed to spark a veritable hailstorm during his brief stint at the ABC affiliate. During a newscast on Jan. 15, 2005, Blair inserted the word “coon” into Martin Luther King Jr.’s name when giving the forecast for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The word was substituted for “King.” Blair apologized on air three times for the remark, saying he had let the word slip unintentionally as he stumbled through the report.

The controversial broadcast aired on a Saturday morning, and by the end of the weekend the station had issued a statement announcing Blair had been fired. He has not worked in the media since, and was toiling in sales in Los Angeles when the Chico station brought him back.

“He’s very modest and humble,” Coder said. “He just made a mistake. We don’t see it as part of a pattern.”

Agreed.

Personally speaking, Blair is not a bigot — and he has suffered enough. Best wishes to him as he resumes his broadcasting career.