Proposed Tegna Board Member Points to Incident with CEO Dave Lougee

Dave Lougee

The Wall Street Journal reports that a candidate for broadcaster Tegna Inc.’s board of directors has withdrawn his nomination, citing potential conflicts of interest and an incident that he says demonstrated cultural insensitivity by the company’s chief executive.

Adonis Hoffman, a media attorney, consultant and former official at the Federal Communications Commission, indicated on March 3 that he will no longer be a candidate for the board, according to a statement from him that was sent to the Tegna board.

He pointed to possible conflicts of interest and to an incident involving Tegna’s CEO Dave Lougee.

Hoffman, who is Black, also said in a statement that he was disturbed by an interaction that happened in 2014.

He says that he and Lougee were seated at the same table at an industry event and spoke over lunch; afterward, Lougee mistook Hoffman for a valet, deeply offending Hoffman.

“I have serious concerns whether Lougee and I could function as colleagues at Tegna or afford each other the level of professional comity and respect required of a well-functioning board,” Hoffman said in the statement that went to Tegna’s board.