Two members of news leadership and two staffers at Michigan’s WOOD TV8 have been fired after a leaked newsroom memo directed a scale back of LGBTQ Pride month event coverage to cow to unhappy viewers, according to reports.

According to media news outlet The Desk, WOOD TV News Director Stanton Tang and Assistant News Director Amy Fox were fired this week for their role in drafting and sending out the memo to staff earlier this month.

Two executive producers, Luke Stier and Madeline Odle, were also fired after Nexstar Media Group, the corporate parent of WOOD TV, accused the pair of leaking the memo to news media, according to The Desk.

Tang could not immediately be reached for comment. On social media, he posted that he left his position.

Nexstar corporate communications did not return calls for comment. Odle declined to comment.

Stier and Odle on social media Friday, June 30, confirmed they were no longer at WOOD TV. In a joint statement, the pair said they have been told their non-compete clauses remain in effect, potentially barring them from working at other newsrooms in the area.

The memo, which The Desk reported was ordered by Tang and written and released to staff by Fox, stated the station had already done a number of “valuable stories” on Pride month-related events but that “we have also started to hear pushback from viewers who are not happy to see those Pride-related stories.”

Related: Staff push back after Michigan TV station seeks to scale back LGBTQ Pride coverage

“We know that West Michigan is a conservative area in many ways,” the memo, obtained by MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, stated. “We need to recognize that some stories related to LGBTQ issues are going to be controversial and polarizing in our community. While you personally may not agree with a certain position, people are entitled to their opinions and they are our viewers.”

The memo went on to say that if there’s a news reason for a story, reporters should do it. But if it’s just more coverage of another Pride event, “that may not be a good enough reason to do the story.”

For Pride events that are covered, the memo asked staff to present “both sides” of the issue. The memo didn’t outline what the opposing side of a Pride event is.

“We should not cover every Pride event that we learn about,” the memo from the assistant news director stated. “We need to do some work to discern the newsworthy-ness of the event.

“If we are covering pride events we need to consider how to make the story balanced and get both sides of the issues.”

The memo was met with pushback from WOOD TV staff, a number of whom took to social media to publicly criticize it and voice their concerns.

State Rep. Phil Skaggs, D-East Grand Rapids, in a tweet Friday, June 30, applauded Nexstar for firing Tang and Fox but called on the company to reinstate Stier and Odle.

“However, Nexstar Media’s decision to fire the courageous whistleblowers – Luke Stier and Madeline Odle – is wrong,” Skaggs said. “The termination of journalists, simply because they wanted to inform us about the diverse human interests of our community cannot stand.”

Nexstar previously issued an apology following the leak of the memo, saying it wasn’t consistent with the company’s values and that they would be taking “appropriate action as necessary” to address the situation.