News anchor curses on air, gets the boot

MANILA, Philippines – AJ Clemente, a rookie news anchor for NBC North Dakota News was fired after saying the words “f*cking sh*t” on his first on-air newscast, reports Gawker.

Clemente unintentionally said the words at the very start of his segment, thinking his microphone was switched off.

The news network has expressed sincere apology to the viewers, saying that their anchors are trained “to always assume that any microphone is live at any time,” therefore Clemente’s blunder was inexcusable.

KFYR-TV news director Monica Hannan posted this statement on the KFYR-TV Facebook page:

“To all of you who are writing in…I want to apologize for an incident that occurred prior to our early newscast this evening, when one of our employees used profanity on the air.

“He did not realize his microphone was on, but still, that’s no excuse. WE train our reporters to always assume that any microphone is live at any time. Unfortunately, that was not enough in this case. WE can’t take back what was said. The person involved has been suspended until we resolve the situation. All we can do at this point is ask for your forgiveness, and I can offer my personal assurance that I will do my best to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again under my watch.”

Watch the slip-up here:

On his Twitter account (@ClementeAJ), Clemente confirmed that he has been let go from the job yet he remains thankful to the network.

He tweeted:

Unfortunately KFYRTV has decided to let me go. Thank you to them and everyone in ND for the opportunity and everyone for the support.

— A.J. Clemente (@ClementeAJ) April 22, 2013

Despite the incident, Clemente remains positive. A follow-up tweet read:

Rookie mistake. I’m a free agent.Cant help but laugh at myself and stay positive.Wish i didnt trip over my “Freaking Shoes” out of the gate.

— A.J. Clemente (@ClementeAJ) April 22, 2013

– Rappler.com