WGN-TV Chicago issued an apology Wednesday after the Tribune owned station used a Nazi emblem for a report on Yom Kippur.
The image, which was the same insignia Nazis used to identify Jews during their regime, accompanied a story that recognized the Jewish holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement, during the network’s 9 p.m. news cast on Tuesday.
“Regrettably, we failed to recognize that the artwork we chose to accompany the story contained an offensive symbol,” said GM Greg Easterly and News Director Jennifer Lyons in a statement. “This was an unfortunate mistake. Ignorance is not an excuse. We are extremely embarrassed and we deeply apologize to our viewers and to the Jewish community for this mistake.”
The station went on to say that they are investigating how the art work ended up on the air and that they “promise to do better.”
The “mistake” was first pointed out on Twitter by Marc Karlinsky, an editor at Chicago Lawyer magazine.
“Holy crap, @WGNNews, this is your stock photo for a Jewish holiday?? Nobody thought that's a bad choice of photo?” he tweeted along with a still of the newscast.
The station quickly apologized on Twitter before issuing a formal apology Wednesday.
