KQRS Reaches Agreement
Citadel Classic Rocker KQRS Minneapolis will air an apology for remarks made on Tom Barnard’s morning show last month associating high teen suicide rates in Beltrami County, MN, with “incest” among American Indians on two reservations in the county.
During a September 18 discussion of a Minnesota Health Department report on teen suicide rates, the Bemidji and Red Lake Indian Reservations were mentioned, then morning co-host Terri Traen suggested the problem might be “genetic” due to “incest” on the reservations.
Barnard also reportedly said the Shakopee Sioux, who own a casino in the area, don’t contribute to the support of the tribes on the reservations.
Clyde Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement called the remarks “ignorant” and compared them to the notorious comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team that got Don Imus fired earlier this year. Bellecourt also said the Shakopee tribe has given nearly $4 million in grants to the Red Lake Reservation since 2004.
Along with the apology, KQRS will devote airtime to positive Indian community issues, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, and will invite members of the Shakopee and Red Lake tribes to appear on the morning show. The station has also agreed to work to hire American Indian interns and to continue to air PSAs for a suicide hotline.
Source: RadioInk
