In an extremely high-profile example of racism, Fox News flashed a racist saying across the screen as the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly spoke with columnist Michelle Malkin.

The text, in full, read: Outraged Liberals: Stop picking on Obama’s baby mama!

According to the NY Times article, “Fox Forced to Address Michelle Obama Headline” by Jim Rutenberg, “The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as one “chiefly in African-American usage” that refers to, “The mother of a man’s child, who is not his wife nor (in most cases) his current or exclusive partner.””

Putting the Oxford English Dictionary definition together with the actual statement, I would surmise there is a bit of slander going on, as well. Not only is this a racial slur, it also denigrates the Obama marriage.

Bill Shine, a Fox News senior vice president, has issued an apology today, but does this cross the line? This is the third formal apology from the Fox News network for Attacking Barack Obama in the last few weeks, and this racist attack was levied by some nameless, “producer” who apparently was not fired or reprimanded.

According to the NY Times, “A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment,” Bill Shine, a Fox News senior vice president, said in a statement.

Does Bill Shine’s statement infer that there are APPROPRIATE places for this chyron?

Frankly, the apology from Shine makes this example of racism sound as if some rogue employee took it upon themselves to type the letters across the screen. I surmise that the construction of this message takes a bit more approval and proofreading. How many more Fox Employees were either an explicit part of this incident, or played an implicit role by allowing the message to be displayed?

According to the Wikipedia entry on the News Ticker, Fox News adopted it (along with two other major news networks) on September 11th, 2001. Fox News decided to continue to use the ticker and have retained it as part of their news broadcast ever since. While some may simply use the tool as a way to broadcast information, Fox News Network might stretch the uses a bit.

I am personally angered by this message. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and columnist Michelle Malkin should be enraged that racist messages are being displayed by Fox News Network alongside their names. Regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, it raises plenty of questions.

At the time of publishing this post, there is an entry in the Wikipedia for Lower Third (technical television name for the portion of the screen displaying this information). Specifically, in the Notable Mistakes section, the Fox News Network’s message is already noted.