Reporter resigns after jokingly using ‘N-word’ in private Twitter message

A reporter in Atlanta was forced to resign after she jokingly quoted a black man’s use of the “N-word” in a direct message to him on Twitter. “Pat & Stu” had the story on Tuesday’s show.

Valerie Hoff, a reporter for 11Alive, contacted the offended Twitter user while trying to get permission to use a video he captured of a white police officer punching a black motorist.

At first, the station suspended her for two weeks, but Hoff ended up resigning in the aftermath of the message, in which Hoff called herself as a “news n****” in reference to one of the source’s public tweets. The man had said in a tweet that a lot of "news n****s" were reaching out to him about the video, which was breaking news at the time.

“Everyone involved in the story knows that she was not calling him the N-word; everyone knows including the guy, including the station,” Stu Burguiere said. “They all know she was quoting him and mocking herself.”

Jeffy Fisher noted that Hoff wasn’t even tweeting in a public conversation but asking a question over direct messages, which were captured and publicly tweeted by the man.

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