Veteran Milwaukee newsman Ted Perry

YouTube screenshot: Ted Perry '86 Congratulates UW–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication Class of 2020

News anchor suspended for nasty social media post: asked why 2020 “took” Trebek and not McConnell

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MILWAUKEE, WI– Thanks to a mean-spirited social media post, the main anchor at WITI-TV (Channel 6) for it’s 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, Ted Perry, has not been on the air all week.

Perry was suspended by the F0x-owned and operated station for his tasteless joke on social media about the death of “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, questioning why he died, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell keeps on ticking.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that sources say that it is not yet clear if he will return to the evening news on Monday. Perry has not been available for comment. Along with the suspension, Perry shut down his Twitter account and his personal Facebook page, where the post first appeared. It has since been deleted.

The post originally said:

“2020 takes Alex Trebek, but leaves Mitch McConnell? Just end already.”

Perry does still have a Facebook page that is tied to his work at Fox 6. He last posted there on Saturday, November 7th. 

Perry apologized for the post, which led to blowback both on Facebook and Twitter, including from conservatives who said the comment revealed the anchor’s “bias,” while others called for him to be fired. Dan O’Donnell of WISN-AM (1130) tweeted:

“He wished the Republican Senate Majority Leader was dead, in case anyone was wondering.”

McConnell’s own health was questioned last month when he was spotted on Capitol Hill with bruised and bandaged hands as well as swelling around his mouth. McConnell told reporters he was not having health issues, but offered no further explanation. 

McConnell was just re-elected to his seat for his seventh term. Allegedly, during his time in office, he picked up the nickname, “The Grim Reaper” due to his ability to kill off political initiatives brought forth by other politicians. 

Hours after Perry posted the apology, he reportedly took it down.

His apology read:

“I made a statement on my personal page that was insensitive and does not reflect my journalist values and I was not speaking on behalf of my employer. I deeply apologize for my inappropriate and outrageous comments and have deleted them accordingly.”

Perry, an Illinois native, joined the station back in 1993. It is unclear whether he will be paid during his “time off.” 

Reportedly, Perry is not the first Fox 6 personality in recent years to find himself making the news instead of covering it. Brad Hicks, a night-time news anchor, left in March 2019 after 15 years with the station. He claimed that he left to take care of ill family members. The station even released a statement:

“After much deliberation and 30 years anchoring newscasts, Brad Hicks has decided to step away and focus on his family. As many people may know, Brad’s brother and parents in California all face difficult health challenges.”

The statement continued:

“We at FOX 6 have known for some time that Brad may need to leave us to help care for these family members. Brad feels that now is the time. Brad has made many contributions to FOX 6 in his over 15 years here. We will miss him and wish him the best.”

However, an industry blog said he was let go after he called out the Milwaukee Bucks on Twitter, for not tweeting out support in response to the shooting death of Milwaukee police officer Matthew Rittner in early February. 

On March 27th, he tweeted:

“My mom is in the end stage of COPD. My dad is nearing the end of his battle w/ Parkinson’s. My brother has ALS. My other brother died 15 months ago. They’re all in CA. I left so I could spend what little time they have left with them. Please stop messaging me that stupid rumor.”

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WASHINGTON D.C. – During a recent broadcast on Fox News on November 9th, Fox News Channel anchor Neil Cavuto simply cut off the feed where President Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany was speaking about the Trump campaign’s ongoing disputes regarding alleged voter fraud. 

His stated reason for doing so was because Cavuto thinks what McEnany was saying shouldn’t be put on the air. 

Here’s the details behind the instance of selective journalism. 

During the Trump campaign press conference, McEnany  stated the following: 

“There is only one party in America trying to keep observers out of the count room, that party my friends is the Democrat party. You don’t take these positions because you want an honest election.

“You don’t oppose an audit of the vote because you want an accurate count. You don’t oppose our effort at sunlight at transparency because you have nothing to hide.

“You take these positions because you are a welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting.”

It was after these comments that Cavuto began clutching his proverbial pearls, delivering the following in a seemingly flabbergasted tone: 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I just think we have to be very clear. She’s charging the other side is welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting, unless she has more details to back that up, I can’t in good countenance continue showing you this.”

While having proclaimed that he couldn’t “in good countenance” continue to air the press conference, Cavuto likely meant that he couldn’t ‘in good conscience‘, considering the context he used the word in. 

Dissecting semantics aside, Cavuto claimed that he wouldn’t allow such a display on the airwaves unless there was proof to back up what McEnany was proclaiming: 

“I want to make sure that maybe they do have something back that up. That is an explosive charge to make at the other side is effectively rigging and cheating. If she does bring proof of that, of course, we will take you back.”

In a manner of delivery akin to a parent scolding a child, Cavuto capped his comments on McEnany with: 

“So far, she started saying right at the outset welcoming fraud, welcoming illegal voting, not so fast.”

Now, what’s curious in all of this is exactly when did Fox News all the sudden become an arbiter of what should and should not be broadcasted when it pertains to comments coming directly from the White House Press Secretary engaging in her official capacity? 

This happens to be coming from the network that seemed to have zero issues with their own news anchors speculating on whether Joe Biden was suffering from some sort of health issues or debilitating mental capacity. 

Now, while many outside of newsrooms have certainly speculated about Biden’s mental health – these too technically fall under the umbrella of not having anything to “back that up” outside of silly gaffes compliments of Biden himself. 

And yet those hit the air without fail. 

Or looking back in 2017, when Fox News decided to run a story alleging that Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich, who had been killed in 2016 during what police cited as a random robbery, had leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks. 

That report turned out to be completely fabricated and was run with nothing to “back that up.”

Now, what’s all the more odd in Cavuto asserting that McEnany is needing for there to be proof to back up her speculation that “the other side is effectively rigging and cheating,” as Cavuto put it – is that there have been numerous sworn affidavits alleging voter fraud in recent days. 

In Michigan, two polls workers came forward swearing ballot fraud transpired in Detroit. 

And in Texas, a retired police officer and Texas poll watcher issued an affidavit saying that a Houston precinct judge and staff illegally used a stack of driver’s licenses in their possession to allow people to vote illegally in the 2020 election at a drive-through voting window. 

But then again, Fox News has been facing all sorts of backlash, and it’s not solely related to cutting off the White House Press Secretary. 

Here’s that previous report. 

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For years, Fox News has been considered the bastion of conservative-leaning viewers of news. In a sense, Fox News has even portrayed themselves as being different from the likes of CNN, MSNBC, CBS and the ilk.

But recently, things seem to have been changing when it relates to the viewer base’s perception of the network. And with the recent deletion of a single tweet by Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, this sentiment is only becoming more solidified.

On November 7th, Baier shared a simple tweet requesting a call to action of his followers to tune into Fox News at 8:00 p.m. that evening where he’d be joined by Martha MacCallum.

Nothing too crazy or over the top, just simply asking his followers to watch Fox News.

And then, sometime after the tweet was posted, it was deleted.

Now, while there’s no official reason being touted by Baier (or anyone else from Fox News) about why such an innocuous tweet would be deleted – it might have had something to do with the sort of responses it garnered.

Breitbart’s John Nolte has crafted such a theory, claiming that his “good faith search of the replies shows 100-to-1 negative.” According to Nolte, he’d observed the following sort of replies to Baier’s tweet asking his followers to tune into Fox News:

“Uh…no way! [Newsmax and Rob Schmitt] ALL THE WAY!”

“No thanks.”

“Nope.”

“That’s a big negative.”

“Nope – done with Fox!”

“BOYCOTT FOX NEWS! WATCH OAN, NEWSMAX.”

“You have lost this loyal viewer! Trying to influence an outcome that is clearly not legitimate!”

“How about no! Done with Fox!!”

“I’d rather get another vasectomy without anesthesia sir.”

“Done with Fox! You sold out on us! Good luck!”

“Sorry Bret. Fox has jumped the shark. We won’t forget.”

“Yikes the ratio on this. May want to pass that along to Murdoch’s.”

And simply looking at other mentions of Fox News on tweets that are still on Twitter, it seems like that sentiment is running all over.

Apparently, this disdain from Fox News’ standard viewership seems to stem from the network having taken a negative slant toward the president.

One Twitter user wrote on November 9th:

“Fox has done irreversible damage to their reputation with Republicans in the last week.”

To which someone replied with:

“[I’m] done with Fox News!! Except Tucker, Sean, Jessie!”

It seems as though those who were once ardent viewers of Fox News have set their sights on other outlets, with mentions of OANN and Newsmax having been cited numerous times online.

Another aspect that seems to be getting mentioned often regarding the exodus of viewership from Fox News is the fact that the network had called Arizona for Biden very prematurely:

“I switched them off when they called AZ. Nothing they can do to get me back now. BTW Newsmax, OANN, and Blaze TV are free on Pluto TV.”

Others online are claiming that Fox News is “dead” and has lost it’s boasted credibility of being “fair and balanced”:

“Fox News is dead. It should be taken off the air permanently. It’s no longer Fair and Balanced like they claim now. We need to get new news networks available to all citizens that isn’t the mainstream news media: Newsmax, One America News, The First to name a few examples.”

Now whether Fox News does suffer a long-term, debilitating ratings drop in the coming weeks is unclear, but reports have noted that viewership is already starting to suffer significantly.

One will simply have to wait and see if a mass migration of viewership begins to trend and carries on.

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, MS, is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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