Washington, D.C. (June 2, 2018) – The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) applauds ABC President Channing Dungey for her leadership in response to a recent social media post by Roseanne Barr, which Dungey described as “abhorrent” and “repugnant.”

NABJ consistently challenges racial stereotypes, slurs and hurtful language and images in the media. ABC, CMT, Paramount and other media outlets acted appropriately in addressing Ms. Barr’s comments.

Ms. Barr’s social media posts ripped open a scab on the issues of race, religion, and gender in our country. While she has every right to express herself and her views in a public forum, hurtful and demeaning language such as the words used in her tweet has consequences, and in this case, resulted in the cancellation of the Roseanne sitcom reboot.

NABJ encourages media enterprises, journalists, editors and all contributors to public discourse to be cognizant of the words and images they project, and the impact they have on communities of color.