ST. LOUIS _ A St. Louis newscaster apologized on air Thursday morning, saying that his mispronunciation of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s name that included a racial slur was "not intentional in any way."
KTVI newscaster Kevin Steincross was speaking on the station's morning news show about 5:34 a.m. when he said an upcoming tribute to the civil rights icon at St. Louis University would honor "Martin Luther coon Jr.," speaking a racial slur that has been used against black people.
"I want to take a moment to apologize," Steincross said on air a little after 9 a.m. "We have heard from a viewer about a mistake I made in our 5 a.m. newscast. In our story about the tribute to Dr. King, I unfortunately mispronounced his name. Please know I have total respect for Dr. King, what he meant and what he continues to mean to our country. This was not intentional in any way, and I sincerely apologize."
A representative for Tribune Broadcasting said it was an unfortunate mistake, and the station will not take additional disciplinary measures against Steincross.
"The Fox2 management team spoke to Kevin following the mistake and we believe that it was truly inadvertent and does not reflect Kevin's core beliefs," a Tribune spokesperson said a written statement. "Kevin is extremely upset by the mistake and regrets it deeply."
The St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP weighed in on the mispronunciation Thursday, calling it "unacceptable and very disappointing" in a social media post.
Steincross has been working at KTVI since 1996 in roles as a general assignment reporter, co-anchor and morning newscaster, according to his bio on Fox2Now.com.
