Queer Minnesota news anchor who smeared Texas Longhorns star Arch Manning bumped from TV lineup

A lesbian longtime TV news anchor in Minnesota is being taken off the air and moved to digital only. This comes after she criticized Texas Longhorns star Arch Manning for laughing at AI edits of a post-game interview featuring a female reporter.

Jana Shortal said in a video posted to social media on Monday, “KARE 11 has made the decision to take Breaking the News off the air at the end of this week, concluding our time together on broadcast TV on this show after nearly 11 years. But that said, this work will continue as our show will move to streaming on KARE 11+ weekdays at 5:30 early next month.”

“I am so proud of the show. We were able to produce with a team who did it for one reason, and that was you. We laughed and cried together, and we covered some of the most consequential events in Minnesota history. It has been the honor of my career to do this show on this station with you, and I hope you'll come with us next month to streaming. For now, I just want to say thank you. You absolutely made all of my television dreams come true by watching Breaking the News. It has been the honor of a lifetime.”

The move comes as the NBC affiliate has placed a greater emphasis on digital content, per the Star Tribune. KARE general manager Doug Wieder said, “Our original programming is reaching new audiences through streaming in ways we couldn’t have imagined. We saw a 104% increase in streaming minutes watched in 2025, and we’re on track to beat that this year. Featured programming like ‘Breaking the News,’ is making that happen.”

News director Matt Kummer said, “Jana and their team will have more time and freedom to deliver the insightful storytelling, interviews and perspectives they are known for.”

Earlier in September, Shortal criticized Manning for laughing at an AI meme featuring his coach, Steve Sarkisian, slapping sports reporter Holly Rowe in a post-game interview.

“Sports journalist Holly Rowe, in my opinion, is as good as they get in this business. She always takes the high road when the majority of us maybe wouldn't. This time, she's done it with a classy acceptance of an apology from University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who this weekend had a good laugh with the boys at a press conference, when he was referring to an AI-generated video of his head coach violently slapping Holly Rowe in the face.”

“Yeah, real funny. Arch apologizing is the right thing to do, and he did it. The reporter who posted the video calling it gold has apologized as well. But the other reporters and the University of Texas staff who heard laughing for that entire exchange, well, that's also a huge issue, and we haven't seen any apologies there. Because if it's about protecting women in sports, it's best those guys speak up and say sorry,” she said.

Outkick founder Clay Travis wrote of Stortal’s apparent demotion from live TV broadcasting to digital-only, “The Minnesota newsperson who said I was sexist for offering $10 million for a WNBA team to play a high school boy’s team and who last week demanded every reporter who laughed at the Holly Rowe meme be forced to apologize has lost her TV show.”

Shortal had previously taken aim at Travis, saying that his offer to pay the winner of a game between WNBA players and a boy’s high school team was a “thinly veiled sexist joke.”