Canadian Radio Station Apologizes for ‘Crude, Racist and Hateful Tweets’ From Hacked Account
“We at NEWS 95.7 sincerely apologize for the abhorrent content, and are working to ensure this does not happen again,” the station says
Jon Levine | January 16, 2019 @ 5:55 AM
Last Updated: January 16, 2019 @ 5:58 AM
A Canadian radio station apologized Wednesday morning after its Twitter account was hacked and “racist and hateful” content was posted.
“As many of you know, our Twitter account was hacked late last night. While the group had access to it, a number of crude, racist and hateful tweets were posted,”Halifax, Nova Scotia’s NEWS 95.7 said in a statement. “We at NEWS 95.7 sincerely apologize for the abhorrent content, and are working to ensure this does not happen again.”
The station also pinned the apology to the top of its account to ensure it received maximum visibility. NEWS 95.7 did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from TheWrap.
The hacked tweet wasn’t there for long, but it was up long enough for eagle-eyed followers of the station to take screenshots — and it wasn’t pretty.
“URGENT NEWS ALERT: Justin Trudeau has ordered that all n—–s across the country be immediately and swiftly executed,” read the tweet. ‘They’re dirtying my country,’ says PM Trudeau,” it continued.
In a follow-up tweet, the hackers declared themselves working for the Twitter account @realiceposeidon, an account belonging to popular YouTube personality Paul Denino. While it’s unclear whether Denino was personally involved, his fans have been known to cause trouble for him in the past.
In 2017, he was banned from the live streaming service Twitch after one of his followers called in a bomb threat to an airline in his name. The practice, commonly known as swatting, has resulted in several accidental deaths over the years.
In the comments of NEWS 95.7’s apology tweet, Howard University lecturer Victoria Walker offered some unsolicited advice.
“Two-step verification, folks,” she said. “Turn it on.”
11 Media Losers of 2018, From Les Moonves to Michael Avenatti (Photos)
2018 was hard for a lot of media folks, but particularly so for this rogues' gallery. For some, it was MeToo. For others, industry headwinds were too much. And for more still, disgrace and ignominy came after just saying the wrong thing.
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Les Moonves: Once celebrated for his leadership at CBS, Moonves faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct for which he was ultimately fired. CBS said in December that it would seek to deny him a roughly $120-million severance package.
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Laura Ingraham: Long a divisive figure (even on the right), the Fox News host might have avoided the losers' column were it not for a sponsor boycott launched against her by Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg in March. Months later, advertisers are still wary of appearing on the program.
Michael Ferro/Tronc: The leadership of Michael Ferro has now made Tronc synonymous with mismanagement. In addition to leaving the top job with a #MeToo scandal over his head, Ferro is now facing accusations of making anti-semitic remarks and paying off an LA Times editor who reportedly had the comments on tape.
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Media Publishers: From Mic.com on the left to The Weekly Standard on the right, publishers came in for a beating, with some closing up entirely. With few exceptions, legacy shops saw print sales decline, while digital-first properties continue to face the crushing economics of turning pageviews into profits.
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Breitbart: It's a name you probably haven't heard for a while. Once a key part of the engine which powered Trump's improbable election, the website had long fallen off most radars. A sustained pressure campaign against advertisers on the site by Sleeping Giants has also taken a bite out of revenue.
Marc Lamont Hill: Once a CNN regular, Hill lost his job as a contributor on the network after making remarks about Israel and Palestine at the UN that many called anti-semitic. A chummy photo with Louis Farrakhan -- who has compared Jews to termites -- didn't help matters for him either. He remains a tenured professor at Temple University.
CBS and "60 Minutes": Both the network and its marquee news program took a beating this year. "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager was forced out in a MeToo scandal, while details of an investigation launched by the network generally hit the press before reaching top management.
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Michael Avenatti: Just months ago, the lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Donald Trump was considered a serious presidential contender. But his reputation took a hit after taking on a questionable MeToo claim against Brett Kavanaugh, and he disappeared for good after being booked on felony domestic violence charges in November (though he was not charged).
Andy Lack: The MSNBC/NBC News chief had a rough 2018. His network's decision to pass on Ronan Farrow's historic MeToo reporting continues to reverberate. His big bet on Megyn Kelly also flopped and became a multi-million dollar ulcer which still remains far from resolved.
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Gavin McInnes: Always on the fringes, McInnes had nevertheless carved a niche for himself as an online provocateur, a host on CRTV and as the head of his own (occasionally violent/racist) fraternal organization, The Proud Boys. By the end of 2018, he was banned from Twitter, dropped by CRTV and had resigned from The Proud Boys.
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Univision: Univision spent $135 million on Gawker Media back in 2016 and has spent most of the time since mismanaging the former properties and being called out by its own writers. Amid buyouts to editorial and broad layoffs elsewhere, Univision revealed it is looking to cut its losses and unload the websites once and for all.
2018 was a rough year for media, and for this rogues’ gallery, the damage was particularly catastrophic
2018 was hard for a lot of media folks, but particularly so for this rogues' gallery. For some, it was MeToo. For others, industry headwinds were too much. And for more still, disgrace and ignominy came after just saying the wrong thing.
Wrap
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