As part of our commitment to creating a better-informed world, KBZK and The E.W. Scripps Company will run a commercial interruption-free special Monday evening to spark a national dialogue around implicit bias while advancing conversations.
The hourlong special, “Hidden Bias of Good People,” is hosted by Bryant T. Marks, Ph.D., founder and chief equity officer of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity. The program will air on KBZK Monday evening March 8 from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. The special is interactive and conversational, with a goal of helping viewers understand the unconscious biases we all carry based on our upbringings and environments. Implicit, or unconscious, bias refers to attitudes and beliefs that occur outside of our conscious awareness and control.
KBZK will host a Facebook Live discussion following the presentation with News Anchor Jay Kohn and guests Debbie Desjarlais and William B. Henry. Debbie Desjarlais is a Native American graphic designer and writer. Based in Billings, she is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and an Assiniboine descendent. William B. Henry is CEO and founder of Be Better World in Billings. He is a certified speaker, author, trainer & coach. He offers presentations on diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The television special will be broadcast on 61 stations in the 41 local markets where Scripps operates.
“Each of us have experiences and backgrounds that shape how we think and how we interact with the world around us,” said Local Media President Brian Lawlor. “As a steward of the public airwaves with a station footprint that reaches into nearly a quarter of U.S. TV households, Scripps has a powerful platform from which we can help facilitate critical conversations about the implicit biases we all carry and what they mean for how we connect with one another.
“We’re proud to bring this special with Dr. Marks to our viewers in every market in order to provide a safe space for these discussions – neighbor to neighbor – about identity and bias.”
