A TV news report Thursday on the historic election of Colorado’s first black Senate President was accompanied by a photo of Rep. Terrance Carroll, the only African-American man in the General Assembly besides the subject of the report: Sen. Peter Groff.
Carroll, D-Denver, said he was shocked and dismayed to learn of the photo error, which occurred twice on Fox 31’s “Good Day Colorado” program before the station caught the mistake.
“You just expect a media outlet to get it right,” Carroll said. “I look nothing like Peter.”
Groff said he wasn’t upset by the error, joking that he hoped Carroll enjoyed his promotion.
“There are two African-American males (in the legislature), so they had a 50-50 shot,” he said.
Linda Hunter, assistant news director for FOX 31, said she was still looking into how the error occurred.
“It appears it was an over-the-shoulder graphic that was ordered and the wrong picture was put up,” Hunter said. “That, unfortunately, happens from time to time but is definitely something we want to avoid.
She said the mistake was “definitely” one that warranted a correction.
“If either Mr. Carroll or Mr. Groff is highly upset, I would encourage them to call us so we could have a conversation because obviously there was nothing malicious meant by the error. It was simply a mistake.”
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
