Meghan Mangrum knew exactly what she was doing when she called Dallas mayor Eric Johnson “bruh.” The former Dallas Morning News education reporter had just read a tweet from Johnson—the city’s second-ever Black mayor—criticizing local media for failing to cover the city’s falling crime numbers.
“Bruh, national news is always going to chase the trend. Cultivate relationships with quality local news partnerships,” she posted on February 11 in a reflexive defense of colleagues who had reported on the crime decline. Three days later she was fired. The paper says it was for violating its social-media policy; Mangrum suspects the mayor’s office interpreted “bruh” as a slight aimed at Johnson’s skin color.
