KATV has selected a news director to replace Nick Genty, who was dismissed by station owner Sinclair in the fallout after meteorologist Barry Brandt and anchor Chris May appeared on a newscast in black curly wigs, a 1970s throwback that drew condemnation from the National Association of Black Journalists and others for racial appropriation and insensitivity.
Amy Sullivan, a Sinclair news director for six years in Texas and Oklahoma, is the pick, according to Channel 7 insiders. Since March 2019, she has led the newsroom at KVEO-TV, serving Harlingen, Brownsville and South Padre Island. Her first day at KATV was scheduled Monday.
Sullivan was packing last week for her move to KATV, where Genty was seen by many as a scapegoat. He was quickly out as news director; May and Brandt, popular on-air figures, apologized on air and saved their jobs. Both thanked viewers for getting a second chance.
Sullivan, who describes herself as a journalist, grandma, U.S. Air Force veteran and “Army mom,” is a 2010 graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and she studied journalism and communications at Louisiana College in Pineville, which just this month renamed itself Louisiana Christian University.
