Somerville did reply to local media commentator Rich Lieberman on Monday saying he'd be back on the air that night and that the incident was simply a mistake regarding his prescription medication. "I feel like a total idiot," Somerville allegedly said. Somervilles next hearing will take place May 6. In November, Somerville insisted he was right to push for the commentary, but he publicly apologized for all the drama because of the way it affected people who work at the station. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy. I appreciate and admire what they do every day.. MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case on her showon September 20. Somerville was pulled off the air over his coverage of Gabby's case, MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case. FRANK Somerville has reportedly been pulled off the air at KTVU over his coverage of the Gabby Petito case. But as community groups voice frustration, questions also remain over Somervilles suspension. When I saw Will Smith stand up for his wife, it reminded me of what I didnt do 30 years ago, he says in the video. "[11], On December 30, 2021, Somerville was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after an automobile collision. While Somerville was attending San Francisco State University in 1981, he interned at KTVU. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Stay up to date! Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? The public silence from Channel 2 and Fox, its parent network, has fueled community frustration over the ostensible reason he was suspended a reported dispute over his push to add a brief commentary on racial inequity to the end of a straight-news story about the disappearance of social media influencer Gabby Petito, whose case had attracted a firestorm of media coverage. As of Thursday afternoon, officials at KTVU and at Fox had not responded to repeated emails asking about Somervilles departure or about whether they had offically signed a replacement. 2. According to The Mercury News, Somerville wanted to add a tagline to a segment about the case to point out the disparity in the coverage of missing persons cases of white women relative to women of color. Sources said that Somerville was informed by station management the next day that he was being suspended. Sources said Eikel was willing to assign a reporter to do a separate, more in-depth story. Somerville, now 64, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 2200 block of Broadway following a collision between his 2014 Porsche 911 and a silver Audi, according to a probable cause statement by Officer Natalie Windham. He added that the decision was made long before December, when the alleged DUI took place. Somervilles Bay Area roots helped make him popular with viewers. All rights reserved, with driving under the influence following an arrest in late December in Oakland. KTVU suspended veteran anchor Frank Somerville after the station news director nixed his proposal to add commentary about racial justice to coverage of the Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito homicide . Woman suspected of making threats toward Christian schools campus in Walnut Creek arrested Before moving to Frank's current city of Somerville, MA, Frank lived in Bolton MA.In the past, Frank has also been known as Frank J Bacci. About Frank; Contact Information; Court Records; Frank Bacci is 50 years old today because Frank's birthday is on 09/10/1972. The California native first started at KTVU as an intern in 1981 while attending San Francisco State University. He has worked as an online coordinator and, before that, a copy editor and page designer for Bay Area-based newspapers and magazines. The crash had nothing to do with it, Somerville said, saying managers had decided to cut him loose months earlier. That's a shivering duck sheltering a puppy with its wings. The case of Gabby has sparked a national outcry as her fianc Brian Laundrie continues to evade authorities. frank somerville house. After the collision, the Audis driver managed to get out of their car, according to the statement, but Somerville kept driving east on West Grand, pushing the Audi across the intersectionuntil it hit a pole on the southwest corner. [13], In December 2022, Somerville went public about his dismissal from the station on a Facebook post. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. A picture of him styling his Black, adopted daughter's hair went viral on the Internet. They had told me long before that.. Somerville reportedly told the producer that Eikel had approved a shortened version, a source said. And I guess thats the issue, isnt it?. The ABC News report also said that onlyabout one-fifth of missing person cases involving minorities are covered by the news, according to a 2016 analysis published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. "No one at the station Fox/KTVU has contacted me. In interviews this week, Somerville declined to say anything more about his departure from KTVU, his arrest or his plans. Get all the latest & greatest posts delivered straight to your inbox, Longtime Bay Area Anchor Frank Somerville Off Air Since Slurred-Speech Broadcast On Sunday, AdWeek's TVSpy blog is covering his disappearance, fake names of the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, Day Around the Bay: San Jose Man Arrested In Connection With PG&E Transformer Explosions, Berkeley Poised to Close Famed Anthropology Library, Angry Students In Full Occupy Mode, The SFPD Brags About Busting Johns Seeking Sex Workers on Capp Street. Frank Somerville's 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Area's most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his. Somerville's attorney said that he is "attending meetings and working on himself. He said it was deeply concerning that KTVU wasnt even willing to have a conversation about media coverage when it serves the Bay Areas diverse viewers. Leslie Shawn Rayburn posted this. The veteran anchor was told that the tagline was inappropriate and he apparently pushed back on it. "The Petito family certainly deserves answers and justice. ", Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. I would give anything to work there. In 2008, he was named co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond. The couple has two daughters - one of which, Callie, who was adopted in 2005 when she was a baby. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! For whatever reason, they decided not to re-sign me.. As Somerville has pointed out on social media, he is the father of an adopted Black daughter. She has previously reported or edited for Bay Area news and lifestyle publications, including Walnut Creek Patch, and Diablo, Oakland and Alameda magazines, as well as The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand and The Economist. KTVU's "Ten O'Clock News" has long held the top spot for the Bay Area's highest rated news broadcast. Somervilles last newscast for KTVU was on Sept. 21. Somerville has reportedly been "suspended indefinitely" after a behind-the-scenes disagreement about his coverage of the22-year-old vlogger's disappearance. But he wouldn't be back on the air until August, and then within weeks, this controversy erupted behind the scenes about the Petito case. Mr. She'd now be 8 years old, and her case got little national attention at the time and she remains unaccounted for. I would give anything to work there. Somerville does not believe that his Dec. 30 arrest in Oakland on suspicion of driving under the influence was a factor in the stations decision. The venerated KTVU anchor spoke to the Bay Area News Group in an interview published . So I am done at Channel 2, Somerville said in a brief phone interview this week with the Bay Area News Group. He was off air for much of the summer, following his now-infamous May 30 newscast, when he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. Write by: . This latest incident, coming just six weeks after Somervilles return to the anchor desk, will undoubtedly trigger speculation about his future with the station. Frank Somerville, a veteran TV newscaster suspended from KTVU following a dispute over coverage of the Gabby Petito homicide case, said Tuesday that he believes he is not returning to the station . Somerville, who has an adopted black daughter, reportedly pushed back after the tagline was refused. The months-long saga surrounding longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville may have finally reached its conclusion. [citation needed] He attended Berkeley High School, graduating in 1976. Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? [8] He returned to the anchor chair on August 4 without addressing the incident that saw his brief departure. Somerville was off the air for much of the summer following his now-infamous May 30 newscast, when he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville shared a Facebook post Saturday reflecting on his arrest and his termination from KTVU nearly a year later. Frank Somervilles 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Areas most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his contract expired and the station opted to not bring him back. KTVU's news division was infamously responsible for broadcasting the offensive fake names of the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 following a July 2013 crash at SFO, a mistake they blamed on the National Transportation Safety Board who, in turn, blamed a summer intern. His name came after his father's friend, Frank Patty and his parental grandfather, William Somerville . The collision occurred eastbound on West Grand Avenue, Windham wrote. 1 newscast in the market. He said the couple spend their "together time" at the gym and that the pair "encourage each otherto keep pushing.". Since his departure from KTVU, he has steadily posted videos on Instagram featuring an assortment of commentary. He became co-anchor of KTVU's morning news program in 1992 and was the first anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast when it launched in 2005. Theyre not re-signing me. Frank Somerville is an American journalist and three-time Emmy Award winner. Former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville speaks about addiction struggles that he says spurred DUI wreck Former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville opened up about his struggles with addiction on Dec.. Ive given my heart and soul to Channel 2. But if Somerville thought the issue was so important, then he should have used his journalistic gravitas to push for a second story to run after the segment or a series of stories to run over the next couple days, Reynolds said.