A Little Rock radio station has named the participants in its bracket ranking current and former local female TV journalists, a tradition that has changed after recent criticism.
The competition formerly known as the "Babe Bracket" on The Show With No Name on 103.7 The Buzz is now called "The Bracket With No Name," the show said in February.
Show host R. J. Hawk posted this year's matchups on Twitter on Tuesday. Some are past winners, including KATV's Janelle Lilley and Beth Hunt, THV 11's Dawn Scott and Fox 16's Donna Terrell. Several, including Alyse Eady and Sarah Fortner, no longer work in Little Rock.
The 2018 winner will have $1,000 donated to a charity of her choice, and participants will go on the show to talk about the charities, Hawk said.
The bracket ranks the journalists based on votes from listeners. It was called "blatant objectification" in a Feb. 1 blog post by Austin Kellerman, the news director at NBC affiliate KARK-TV and Fox affiliate KLRT-TV.
Later that month, female journalists in Arkansas and around the country used the Twitter hashtag "#morethanababe" to draw attention to the accomplishments of women in the workplace.
"The goal of this event has always been to let Buzz listeners get to know local TV journalists and celebrities better and allow the contestants to have an open forum to show their personality, share what they are passionate about and talk to members of our great community," the show said in a post on its website in response.