Former KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville was charged earlier this week with driving under the influence following an arrest in late December in Oakland, Alameda County prosecutors and police. But he wouldn't be back on the air until August, and then within weeks, this controversy erupted behind the scenes about the Petito case. Holland and Galvis insist the ultimate focus of their rallies was not Somerville, nor were they saying the media shouldnt cover Petitos killing. So I am done at Channel 2, Somerville said in a brief phone interview this week with the Bay Area News Group. Since his suspension, Somerville has shared videos and posts on Instagram his social media platform of choice since leaving KTVU. "The Petito family certainly deserves answers and justice. 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He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. Reid said. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Crime and Public Safety | Theylearned that Somerville had been driving a 2014 Porsche east on West Grand when he rear-ended an Audi stopped at the intersection. She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in German studies and from Mills College with a MFA degree in creative writing and English. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Frank Somerville's 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Area's most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his. 3bd. When an officer-administered field sobriety test showed signs of impairment, Somerville consented to an alcohol screening test; he blew two tests, registering .239 and .219 blood-alcohol levels, according to the statement. [citation needed] He attended Berkeley High School, graduating in 1976. The longtime news anchor faced a rocky 2021. And the photo has since gone. Shortly before the 5 p.m. broadcast, Eikel told Somerville she planned to cut the tag after newsroom editors raised concerns. I would give anything to work there. The venerated KTVU anchor spoke to the Bay Area News Group in an interview published . The longtime KTVU news anchor is married to his wife, Donna Wright, a television producer. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! The longtime news anchor faced a rocky 2021. By the end of the broadcast, co-anchor Julie Haener had taken over solo, and did the signoff for the show. KTVU's "Ten O'Clock News" has long held the top spot for the Bay Area's highest rated news broadcast. "I couldn't leave work at work," Somerville. He took an indefinite leave of absence in June following a broadcast of the TheTenO'ClockNewsonKTVU in which he slurred lines and left mid-broadcast, resulting in speculation over his health and well-being. Sources said he wanted to point out that the U.S. media often disproportionately covers tragedies involving young White women, while largely ignoring similar cases involving women of color and Indigenous people. Related Articles Somerville has said in the past that he wants to work two or three more years and would like to finish his career at KTVU. His next scheduled court appearance will be 9 a.m. May 6 at Oaklands Wiley Manuel courthouse, a district attorney spokesperson said. She'd now be 8 years old, and her case got little national attention at the time and she remains unaccounted for. Sources told the outlet that Somerville was informed by station management the next day that he was being suspended. Arianna Fitts would now be eight years old, but she hasnt been seen since 2016, and CNN is shining new light on her case in hopes of a breakthrough. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Wheres Frank Somerville? In a statement Thursday afternoon, Somervilles attorney Shannan Dugan acknowledged the charges. He has worked as an online coordinator and, before that, a copy editor and page designer for Bay Area-based newspapers and magazines. More than a month after Frank Somerville was suspended from KTVU, the popular anchor remains off the air with no word from either him or the station about if or when he might return. 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Additionally, he spent his childhood in Berkeley and was raised there. He is also survived by many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. I appreciate and admire what they do every day.. But a shortened version of the tag made it into the script for that evening's broadcast, which allegedly prompted Somerville's suspension for insubordination. According to station sources, Somerville, 63, has been "suspended indefinitely" by Channel 2 management after a disagreement with news director Amber Eikel over coverage of the Gabby Petito. Somerville, who has an adopted black daughter, reportedly pushed back after the tagline was refused. Reynolds, a former editor at the Oakland Tribune and Bay Area News Group, said it would have resulted in the very disparity (in coverage) he was seeking to address.. Somervilles next hearing will take place May 6. 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He took a nine-week leave to focus on his health and had only returned in August. As per his date of birth, his birth sign is Pisces. Somerville's attorney said that he is "attending meetings and working on himself. Its another strange twist in a turbulent year for Somerville. Somerville was off the air for much of the summer following his now-infamous May 30 newscast, when he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. Joshua Bote is the tech editor at SFGATE. Somerville has kept his relationship with Donna mostly private, however, in an interview with the National Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences, he opened up about his personal life. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! The New York-born Petito was slain during a cross-country van trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. Somerville displayed symptoms of driving under the influence of alcohol, with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person. After a field sobriety test showed signs of impairment, the documents said, two separate breathalyzer tests found that Somerville had blood alcohol levels of 0.239% and 0.219%. 1 newscast in the market. He was named as a person of interest in the case, and his remains were found in Florida last week. If not, Ill go to other stations outside of the market. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. As Somerville has pointed out on social media, he is the father of an adopted Black daughter. According to The Mercury News, Somerville wanted to add a tagline to a segment about the case to point out the disparity in the coverage of missing persons cases of white women relative to women of color. The request was denied by KTVU news director Amber Eikel, who called the tagline inappropriate, a source told SFGATE in September, leading to criticism from the Oakland chapter of the NAACP. Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville shared a Facebook post Saturday reflecting on his arrest and his termination from KTVU nearly a year later. KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville again has been removed from the air, but this time a newsroom spat not an on-air meltdown appears to be the reason. This latest incident, coming just six weeks after Somervilles return to the anchor desk, will undoubtedly trigger speculation about his future with the station. Staff writers Harry Harris and Rick Hurd contributed to this report. KTVU's news division was infamously responsible for broadcasting the offensive fake names of the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 following a July 2013 crash at SFO, a mistake they blamed on the National Transportation Safety Board who, in turn, blamed a summer intern. He said the couple spend their "together time" at the gym and that the pair "encourage each otherto keep pushing.". The photo shows him with a beard and the caption: I think I look pretty cool for 63 if I do say so myself In response to a follower who said Somerville didnt look well, he said, I feel great. These rallies were followed by the City of San Leandro issuing an official proclamation honoring Somerville "for speaking out about missing women of color and setting an example of strength and equity to our community and those worldwide.". But even with such declarations, community activists say they have yet to hear from the station managers or Fox about their concerns. [6] The veteran anchor was told that the tagline was inappropriate and he apparently pushed back on it. He believes that his automotive collision that happened the month before did not play a role, instead, he believes management had already decided to cut him loose months earlier. MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case on her showon September 20. We wanted to give KTVU a chance to see if they would independently respond, said George Holland, the president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP, which hosted a rally for 40 to 50 people on Oct. 2. The crash had nothing to do with it, Somerville said, saying managers had decided to cut him loose months earlier. ", "My guess is that Im not coming back to Channel 2, Somerville tells the Chronicle. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. The local Fox affiliate has yet to comment on the incident, and as the Mercury News reported, Somerville has declined to respond to them for comment. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy. "No one at the station Fox/KTVU has contacted me. In related news, CNN is reckoning with its Petito coverage and just took up a local missing-persons case involving Arianna Fitts, a Bay Area girl who is black, and who went missing in 2016 at the age of 2. Mini Bio (1) Frank Somerville co-anchors the weekday editions of "KTVU Channel 2 News at 5," "KTVU Channel 2 News at 6" and "The Ten O'Clock News on KTVU Channel 2." Somerville joined San Francisco's KTVU Channel 2's Mornings on 2 and The Noon News in January 1992. KTVU News Director Amber Eikel has allegedly taken Somerville off the air until further notice, as Liberman reports. I also helped make the noon and 5 p.m. newscasts No. [citation needed] He attended Berkeley High School, graduating in 1976. 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Somerville, a white male, is being lionized and becoming the topic of the story and not the women who have been ignored, Reynolds said. The collision occurred eastbound on West Grand Avenue, Windham wrote. [14][15], Somerville was married to television producer Donna Wright Somerville for more than 20 years; the couple has two daughters. Frank Somerville, the anchor for KTVU, has been 'suspended indefinitely' by the network Credit: Facebook/Frank Somerville. Crime and Public Safety | She has previously reported or edited for Bay Area news and lifestyle publications, including Walnut Creek Patch, and Diablo, Oakland and Alameda magazines, as well as The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand and The Economist. Elevation. Since then, Fox and station management have refused to publicly speak to the issue. Former SF anchor Frank Somerville publicly opens up about arrest, KTVU exit. He became co-anchor of the stations highly rated Mornings on 2 in 1992. But beyond that, the outlet did not get much more information from Somerville, who has had a rocky 2021. Somerville does not believe that his Dec. 30 arrest in Oakland on suspicion of driving under the influence was a factor in the stations decision. Somerville wanted the tag to address domestic violence and the medias tendency to overlook reports about missing and slain women of color, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which obtained a copy of Somervilles original tag. Since Somervilles suspension, two rallies have been held outside the KTVU studios in Jack London Square on Oct. 2 and and Oct. 12, both sparked by Somervilles reported desire to address disparities in media coverage of White crime victims like Petito versus women of color. His suspension came just six weeks after a previous leave of absence for health issues when he struggled to read his teleprompter and slurred his words during a broadcast in May. Somervilles Bay Area roots helped make him popular with viewers. Previously: Anchorman Frank Somerville's Future at KTVU In Doubt As Rumors Swirl About High Drama In the Newsroom. I wish I could apologize to all of them in person. And I guess thats the issue, isnt it?. In a May broadcast of KTVUs 10 p.m. news program, Somerville was recorded slurring his words and abruptly left midbroadcast with no explanation. Somerville pushed back, but was overruled, a newsroom source said. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. [7], In June 2021, Somerville took a personal leave of absence from KTVU following an on-air incident during which he struggled to read the script for several stories and appeared to slur his words. Born Frank William Somerville on 19th March 1958 in San Luis Obispo, California, Frank Somerville is a journalist. Somerville, 63, took over as anchor of the six o'clock and ten o'clock news broadcasts at KTVU in 2008, following the retirement of Dennis Richmond. TV Streaming | "I still want to continue working, Somerville tells the Mercury News. On March 19, 1958, Frank Somerville was born in San Luis Obispo, California, US. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, March 7th 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the same location. It should have been much more about stepping into the journalism and giving respect and honor to the issue and people youre purporting to be in service of.. Speaking about the case ofmissing geologist Daniel Robinson, she added: "I never heard of it until this friend of mine sent it to me. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Now, though, Somerville appears to be putting it out there that he's looking for a job. KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, one of the most recognizable of the Bay Area's news personalities having been on the air at KTVU since 1991, was pulled from a Sunday broadcast and has not returned .