CALL TO ACTION

PETITION TO LEX 18 & THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY

TURN OFF THE COMMENTS UNTIL YOU CAN PROTECT THE COMMUNITY

We, the undersigned members of Lexington and the surrounding communities, are calling on LEX 18 (WLEX-TV) and its parent company, The E.W. Scripps Company, to immediately disable public comments on LEX 18’s Facebook posts until the station establishes and consistently enforces an effective moderation policy addressing racism, bigotry, hate speech, personal attacks, and other abusive content.

This request is not about silencing disagreement.

It is about corporate responsibility, brand safety, community standards, and basic human decency.

LEX 18 invites the public to engage with its journalism through social media. With that engagement comes a responsibility to address what is allowed to remain within spaces operated under the LEX 18 name.

Members of our community have repeatedly observed Facebook discussions beneath LEX 18 stories deteriorate into racist, bigoted, degrading, and inflammatory commentary. When this material remains visible without meaningful moderation, the comment section can become a hostile environment rather than a place for legitimate community discussion.

LEX 18 HAS ALREADY BEEN PUT ON NOTICE

This concern has been brought directly to representatives of LEX 18.

At LEX 18’s LexTalk community event, Executive Producer Delaina Givens was personally informed about concerns regarding the station’s Facebook comment sections.

Clip at LexTalk addressing the issue

We were told the matter would be addressed.

LEX 18 subsequently issued a statement acknowledging concerns about the situation.

Yet the underlying problem remains.

Acknowledgment without corrective action is not enough.

THIS IS A CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

LEX 18 is operated under the corporate umbrella of The E.W. Scripps Company. The standards associated with a major news organization should extend beyond what appears on television and on its website. They should also extend to the digital communities cultivated under its name.

LEX 18’s leadership, including General Manager Sean Franklin, has an opportunity to demonstrate that the station’s stated commitments to community, accountability, and respect apply to its social-media presence as well.

The race or background of any individual member of management does not resolve the issue. Accountability is institutional.

This petition therefore asks both local and corporate leadership to address the policy and the platform—not simply individual offensive comments after the damage has already been done.

WE ARE CALLING FOR THE FOLLOWING ACTION

We respectfully call upon LEX 18 and The E.W. Scripps Company to:

1. Temporarily disable Facebook comments on LEX 18 posts until an effective moderation system is established.
2. Publish clear community standards explaining what constitutes prohibited racist, bigoted, threatening, dehumanizing, or abusive commentary.
3. Establish consistent moderation procedures so those standards are actually enforced.
4. Provide a clear mechanism for viewers to report problematic comments directly to LEX 18.
5. Publicly explain what corrective measures have been implemented in response to the concerns already brought to the station’s attention.
6. Once adequate safeguards exist, determine whether comments can responsibly be reopened under active and consistent moderation.

THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN FACEBOOK

A news organization helps shape the civic conversation of the community it serves. LEX 18 cannot control every opinion expressed by every viewer. No reasonable person expects it to.

But there is a difference between disagreement and degradation, between debate and dehumanization, and between providing a forum for community discussion and allowing a company’s digital property to become a recurring venue for unchecked racism and bigotry.

If LEX 18 does not currently have the resources or systems necessary to adequately moderate its Facebook comment sections, then those comment sections should be turned off until it does.

Community engagement should never require members of the community to tolerate racial hostility as the price of participation.

OUR REQUEST IS SIMPLE:

MODERATE IT — OR TURN IT OFF.

We call upon LEX 18/WLEX-TV, General Manager Sean Franklin, station leadership, and The E.W. Scripps Company to take meaningful corrective action.

We further call upon Lexington residents, community organizations, faith leaders, neighborhood leaders, civil-rights advocates, businesses, and concerned viewers to add their names to this petition and demand responsible stewardship of one of Lexington’s largest digital news platforms.

We are not asking LEX 18 to control what people think.

We are asking LEX 18 to take responsibility for what it permits to remain in a space carrying its name.

SIGN THE PETITION

Turn off LEX 18’s Facebook comments until meaningful and consistent moderation is in place.

Accountability. Community. Responsibility.

LEXINGTON DESERVES BETTER.