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A radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas, is making negative waves online with its “Babe Bracket,” a long-running contest that ranks the female reporters and news anchors in the area by attractiveness.
One local TV news director wrote a blog post asking that it finally be stopped.
“The days of referring to educated women who serve as role models to our children as ‘babes’ are over. It’s time to evolve with the times,” said KARK news director Austin Kellerman.
“[These women] deserve to be celebrated — just not like this,” he said.
Opinion: It’s Time to End the Babe Bracket https://t.co/9QVNqEZFFw #ARNews pic.twitter.com/Yt3dLW6SFO
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) February 1, 2018
The Babe Bracket runs on KABZ-FM 103.7. The hosts of its morning “No Name Show” pit 16 women against each other and lets the show’s listeners vote on who makes it through each round. Last year, KATV weekend anchor-reporter Janelle Lilley “won.”
The brackets are “sponsored” by Seductions Lingerie.
And it’s been going on for over two decades, according to KABZ-FM’s program director, Justin Acri.
Acri told HuffPost on Thursday that the station’s hosts are “constantly evaluating content and this bit is no different.”
“Even before the consternation from our friends and station fans at KARK-TV, Tommy Smith (the morning co-host who began the bit) was weighing his options of continuing with it this year or replacing it with another bracket idea,” Acri said.
On Thursday morning, 103.7 The Buzz took calls from listeners and had Kellerman on the show to discuss what should be done.
Kellerman pointed out that many of the female journalists don’t want their names in the mix. The hosts responded that public figures don’t get to decide how they’re talked about, but added that they had honored one woman’s request not to be included.
The hosts also discussed the word “babe” and whether the use of that term affected how people perceived the contest.
Even if they removed the word “babe,” Kellerman said, their brackets are still not respecting the intelligence of these women or the causes they work for.
In his blog post, he used the example of KATV meteorologist Melinda Mayo and her video “message to all young girls” encouraging them to pursue careers in math and science.
“So are we going to go from that clip to putting Melinda Mayo in the Babe Bracket? I don’t think so,” he wrote.
Kellerman did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. You can listen to his whole talk with 103.7 The Buzz below:
As for the fate of the Babe Bracket, Acri said that a final decision on how to proceed this year and beyond has not been made yet.
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