Key Points:

• Former WOOD-TV news director Stanton Tang admitted church conversations influenced a Pride coverage memo that sparked newsroom revolt and led to his firing, according to a former Nexstar executive.
• Nexstar’s internal probe found Tang and Amy Fox responsible for the memo; both were fired and are now suing for wrongful termination.
• Executive Producer Lucas Stier and reporter Madeline Odle were also dismissed after defying orders not to comment publicly on the controversy.

A former Nexstar Media Group news director held influential conversations with members of his church before he direct a colleague to write and distribute a controversial newsroom-wide memo that encouraged journalists under his direction to pull back on coverage of Pride-related events two years ago, according to new documents obtained by The Desk.

The motive for the memo orchestrated by former WOOD-TV (Channel 8) News Director Stanton Tang was laid out in a two-page report written by former Nexstar Chief Diversity Officer Courtney Williams and the company’s Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Theresa Underwood, which was used as justification to fire Tang and his assistant news director, Amy Fox.

According to the internal report, Tang initially offered Williams a number of excuses for directing the creation of the memo, none of which had anything to do with Pride Month and all of which were confusing.

“The memo generated by Stanton Tang and Amy Fox was because of conversations he had with members of his church,” Williams wrote in the report. “He finally stated that this was the reason after being questioned about his rationale.”

The memo led to an instant revolt within the WOOD-TV newsroom, and several journalists vowed not to follow its directive.  The Desk obtained a copy of the memo and published it in full, which served as the foundation of coverage by other outlets including CNN and Crain’s, according to e-mails seen by The Desk.

Fox and Tang were eventually fired. Both are suing Nexstar for wrongful termination and defamation of character.

In a deposition held earlier this year, Williams acknowledged having meetings with Tang and Fox before their dismissals. In one meeting with Tang, Williams said he confessed that conversations with members of his church were the motivation behind the Pride Month memo.

In his own deposition, Tang said he was influenced by WOOD-TV and Nexstar’s policies that require objectivity and fairness in news reporting. He also expressed concern that superficial coverage of Pride Month events might invite public backlash to the station, pointing to controversies involving Bud Light’s partnership with transgender actress Dylan Mulvaney and retailer Target’s selling of Pride-themed merchandise.

But he also admitted that the memo could have been more-carefully crafted, and that he and Fox debated whether the note would send the right message.

“We debated it; we looked at whether or not we should send it out,” Tang said, according to a partial transcript of his deposition. “I felt it was my opinion that we should send it out.”

It isn’t clear if Tang admitted or denied having conversations with members of his church before directing the memo to be written. An attorney representing Tang in his wrongful termination lawsuit has not returned an after-hours request from The Desk seeking comment. A spokesperson for Nexstar declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

While Tang is suing Nexstar for wrongful termination and defamation, he admitted during his deposition that WOOD-TV is located in an at-will employment state, and that he could be fired for any reason. He also said news reports about the memo and his subsequent firing did not prevent him from receiving a job offer to work for a Christian radio station, which he accepted.

Tang and Fox were not the only employment casualties of the Pride Month memo: Executive Producer Lucas Stier and reporter Madeline Odle were also dismissed as a result of Nexstar’s internal investigation.

In their report, Williams and Underwood said the firings of Stier and Odle were justified because they defied a directive by WOOD-TV General Manager Julie Brinks to not make public comments about the controversy. Stier also sent a copy of the memo to the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association and conducted an interview with an unnamed news outlet, which further defied Brinks’ order, the executives wrote.

Reached via social media on Tuesday, Stier declined to comment.

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Editor’s note: This story was updated late Tuesday evening to clarify that the document relating to Nexstar’s internal investigation was authored by two executives. An earlier version of this article attributed the document only to Williams.