One former Dallas Morning News reporter is learning the hard way to be careful what you say and post online. Meghan Mangrum is speaking out after what she thought was an innocent tweet ended up costing her, her job, Fox News said yesterday (March 2).
Mangrum began with the outlet in August 2022, but never got a chance to celebrate her one-year anniversary with the publication. On Feb. 11, she responded to a tweet Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson posted on the social networking platform in which he felt the media failed to report that crime was dropping. “And as we’ve seen recently, if policing or crime stories don’t feed into a particular narrative, the national media has zero interest in them. If it doesn’t feed into our worst tribal instincts or show a city devolving into violent crime-ridden chaos, the media will not cover it,” he shared.
Not one to be lost for words, Mangrum replied, “Bruh, national news is always going to chase the trend. Cultivate relationships with quality local news partnerships.” Glazing over her advice, the city leader took particular offense to the chummy title he was given. “Bruh? Have we met?” he responded. Unfortunately for the reporter, that was only the beginning of her downward spiral. Johnson’s chief of staff, Tristan Hallman, is a former editor and reporter for the Dallas Morning News, and he didn’t appreciate Mangrum’s choice of words either. “Calling the mayor ‘Bruh’ is disrespectful. Be a pro,” Hallman tweeted.
Three days later, Mangrum was in the office of Dallas Morning News executive editor Katrice Hardy, allegedly being accused of racism for calling the Black mayor “Bruh.” An excerpt from an interview Mangrum did with D Magazine states, “Hardy, who is Black, asked her if she would have used the word ‘Bruh’ if the mayor were white. Mangrum, who is white, said, ‘Yes.’ Her Twitter feed is littered with the word ‘Bruh’ directed at all sorts of accounts, including those belonging to hockey fans and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife.” Mangrum added, “I would never tell a person of color, ‘Oh, it wasn’t racist. You shouldn’t feel that way’… But I know my intent, and it was not at all about race. I use that word with my friends and when I tweet about hockey. It’s just part of my vernacular. I grew up in Central Florida, and, you know, I’m a millennial.”
She was fired the day after she met with Hardy and organized a protest. The Dallas mayor’s office denied having any part in her employer’s decision: “We have no interest in commenting on personnel decisions and social media policies of a private-sector business. We wish the reporter the best of luck in her future endeavors.”