Yahoo Fires Bureau Chief After a Live Mic Picked Up His Comments

By BRIAN STELTER

Yahoo on Wednesday said it had fired David Chalian, the Web site's Washington bureau chief, after he was recorded at the Republican National Convention saying that the convention officials were “happy to have a party with black people drowning.”

Yahoo said the reference Mr. Chalian made to the flooding caused by Hurricane Issac was “inappropriate and does not represent the views” of the company. “He has been terminated,” the company said in a statement.

Mr. Chalian did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

His “drowning” comment was made on Monday night during Yahoo's live Web video coverage of the convention. The coverage is being produced in partnership with ABC News, where Mr. Chalian worked as political director until 2010. After a little more than a year at PBS's “NewsHour,” he joined Yahoo in late 2011.

The comment was picked up by NewsBuster s, a conservative media watchdog Web site, which posted a short video clip of it on Wednesday morning. Mr. Chalian, who is heard but not seen in the clip, was apparently unaware that his words were being Webcast at the time.

He said to an unidentified guest, “Feel free to say, ‘They're not concerned at all. They are happy to have a party with black people drowning.' ” Laughter could then be heard in the background.

The context of Mr. Chalian's remarks - was he merely goading a guest to say something provocative, or was he expressing his own point of view? - was unclear in the audio clip. NewsBusters said it was a “perfect example of the pervasive anti-Republican bias Mitt Romney faces in his bid to unseat President Barack Obama.”

In its statement, Yahoo said, “We have already reached out to the Romney campaign, and we apologize to Mitt Romney, his staff, their supporters and anyone who was offended.”