We take our role as a news leader seriously.
West Plains has been our home since 1947. Our employees live and work here. We are part of the community, and we know the community looks to us for accurate information.
On Friday, February 9th, we became aware of our own incorrect reporting in regard to a threat at West Plains Middle School.
We broadcast misinformation about a student with a threatening photo.
This report led to further stress to the West Plains School District in an already difficult situation. We understand we contributed to stress for students, parents, teachers, staff, and the administration.
We can’t apologize enough for our error. We take 100 percent ownership of our work.
We have identified a number of ways we could have avoided this situation. We have implemented new policies to vet stories in the future, and we have dismissed the reporter responsible for the story.
We plan to come out of this as a better news operation.
Thank you for listening to our network of stations, and for reading Ozark Radio News. Please keep providing feedback on how we can do better.
We apologize again for the error.
Matt Stumpff
Operations Manager
Ozark Marketing Company
