Charlo Greene ended her report from an Alaska television station Sunday nighty with four words: “F*** it, I quit.”
Greene’s resounding “send-off” message to her employer has amassed millions of views online and raised an important question: Why?
The simple answer Greene took care of Sunday night — she was leaving KTVA, a CBS-affiliated station in Anchorage, to focus her efforts on the Alaska Cannabis Club.
Greene, whose real name is Charlene Egbe, revealed she was the club’s president and CEO after an entire news package on the organization. A follow-up explainer video surfaced on YouTube late Monday.
“There comes a time in each and every one of our lives where we must choose to continue to spectate or stand up for what’s right,” Egbe begins the nearly four minute video.
TheGrio | Reporter quits job on-air to help legalize marijuana in Alaska
She rattles off statistics on arrest rates for marijuana usage in Alaska before raising a series of questions.
“If responsible adults should be allowed to choose how they would like to drink, why differentiate my toke from your beer?” Egbe asks.
Egbe added a “Public Figure” Facebook page Monday, gaining nearly 30,000 likes in less than 24 hours. Her club is encouraging Alaskans to vote on November 2 on an initiative to “regulate the production, sale and use of marijuana.”
Advocating for freedom and fairness should be everyone’s duty. I’m making it my life’s work to uphold what America stands for truly: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — ideals that now need to be defended.
Egbe’s former station, KTVA, issued an official statement late Monday providing a more in-depth reaction to her actions:
By now many of you have seen one of our reporters use inappropriate language and quit her job during Sunday night’s newscast. We apologize.
In addition, she had a personal and business stake in the issue she was reporting but did not disclose that interest to us. This betrayed the basic bedrock of responsible journalism.
At KTVA, we strive to live up to the highest journalistic standards of fairness and transparency. Sunday’s breach of those standards is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.
Thank you for watching our news broadcasts, and be reassured our mission is to present the kind of journalism that lets you make informed decisions about the community in which we all live.
Bert Rudman
News Director
KTVA 11 News
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