Beni Harmony, an anchor at WICS Newschannel 20, posted on social media Sept. 16 that she resigned after being suspended for what she called an on air “non-partisan tribute” to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk following his assassination.
But WICS news director Heather Voudrie Nodine told Illinois Times no one at the station has been suspended or fired in the last 90 days.
Harmony’s claim of being punished for speaking well of the conservative pundit has captured international media attention.
“I’ve got attention from all over the world on this,” Harmony told IT.
In most of the stories she is described as a “news anchor.” But the WICS news director also said that is inaccurate. Nodine said Harmony has never worked for WICS’ news division. She said Marketplace, the show Harmony hosted, is produced by the station’s advertising department and that she was an advertising employee.
Rincon Broadcasting Group, the parent company of WICS, issued a statement Sept. 17 that read in part: “Beni Rae Harmony was employed by WICS as a lifestyle host/producer on Marketplace, which is designed to deliver lifestyle and entertainment features, not commentary or editorials.”
But Harmony said that although she worked in the station’s promotions department, she indeed covered news.
“Now they are claiming that I never was even an on-air personality. That I never worked for the news. That doesn’t even make any sense. I talk about news things. I talk about things going on in our community. I report on fires. I report on firefighters, police,” she said.
Her Facebook profile lists her as a journalist along with “former TV Host/Reporter WICS 20.”
According to her resume on LinkedIn, Harmony holds a political science degree from University of Illinois at Springfield. But when pressed by IT, she conceded that she has yet to graduate.
“I took the job (at WICS) while I was still taking classes and I think I still have a few credits I need to complete, but I have not officially finished. I know my LinkedIn probably says I finished in 2024 or 2025,” Harmony said.
After graduating from Pleasant Plains High School, Harmony said she attended Arizona State University. She said it was during her time there that she became active in Turning Point and came to know Kirk. She said she later worked in Washington, D.C., helped produce podcasts for Turning Point and took online classes from ASU.
But her online resume does not mention her Turning Point employment.
Harmony explained it this way:
“Do you want to get a job in media? Try having Turning Point on your resume. I took off all of my things that I used to do. … Someone sees that on your resume and guess what they do? They don’t hire you because it’s conservative. It’s a problem. And I have for the past two years been acting and pretending so that I could hold a job and so that I wouldn’t get fired, and so I wouldn’t be judged constantly for my beliefs.”
She said she was devastated Sept. 10 when she learned that Kirk had been fatally shot.
“It completely wrecked me, because he was the type of person who would (be) always checking in on everybody. … It was really hard to know that person who started my career and gave me the belief in myself, that I could do this job, was no longer here. I can’t even describe my pain.”
She said after several days, she decided to honor Kirk on the air.
“Something came over me and I was like, I have to do this. I have to honor him in some way. I have to show some sort of humanity,” she said.
In her on-air tribute to Kirk, she told viewers it was OK to feel sadness and grieve. She appeared emotional and noted that Kirk was her first boss.
“There’s a lot going on in our world right now, and our country, but I want to say one thing. Lean on your neighbors, speak up for what you believe in, I don’t care what it is,” she said in the segment.
“I want to share with you one of my favorite sayings that Charlie would always tell us at the office. He would yell it from the mountaintops, so please listen. ‘When conversations stop happening, when individuals become wordless, that’s when violence begins,'” Harmony added in her tribute.
Harmony said she was ordered by her superior at WICS not to post the tribute on her personal social media accounts. She said she did so anyway.
“I needed to honor him. … And all I wanted to do was show some sort of humanity and positivity about a human who I cared about and who meant something to me. And because it happened to be Charlie Kirk, I believe that is why they would not let me post that.
“When they asked me to delete it and I said ‘no,’ that is when they suspended me for my show on Monday. They wouldn’t let me go live on air and that’s when I reached my decision. I said, ‘I’m not going to sit around. I don’t want to work for a company that isn’t going to let me post anything else.’”
She said she gave her employer two weeks’ notice but they said they wanted her to leave immediately.
She posted on X, “My resignation is guided by values that are essential to who I am, which I refuse to set aside in order to keep a job. I choose my faith and love of country and always will.”
Harmony said in her post to X, “Many in the mainstream media have been fired or punished for mocking his assassination. I believe I am the first to be targeted for honoring him on air.”
She told IT, “I am not really sure what the future holds. I have lots of job offers. I don’t know where I’m going to go yet. I don’t know if I’m going to stay here in Springfield and decide to advocate or run for office. I haven’t decided, but there will be big plans in the future, so make sure you stay tuned.”
Like most MAGA … she doesn’t seem real familiar with the truth. Good luck getting a new job with your fake degree.
I love it when democrats try to figure out why normal people are leaving their party by the millions. Turns out that endlessly woke scolding and calling people nazis makes them dislike you. What a surprise!
This doesn’t sound at all good for Ms Harmony. I don’t think lying on a resume would create a good job application. I have heard a person can get fired for that. Next point I have seen many young people recently who have Turning Point on their resume. The current press secretary for the white house Caroline Leavett for one. Regardless this girl appears to be getting a lot of people stirred up for her own selfish intentions
Talk about cynical. Sounds like she saw this as an opportunity for advancement and took it. Seems like Fox News saw through it too since they ended up canceling her interview.
As for her comment about conservatives not being hired, that is demonstrably false. You’re telling me no one who worked for Turning Point has ever been hired anywhere else in media? Come on. It’s more likely she wouldn’t get hired because she didn’t finish her degree.
My money is on Reeder, a trained journalist, professional news gatherer, writer, and exacting reporter with years of experience.
Ms. Harmony is seeking attention and is already a proven liar.
Keep up the great work, Scott.
I stand with Beni Harmony. Conservatives & Christians are often silenced & now with Charlie Kirk’s assignation, are even killed for their beliefs. She was just honoring a man who she considered a mentor ….beloved & brutally killed. If it were a pro Palestinian, pro abortion or Pro Muslim leader that was killed she wouldn’t be suspended or fired. My opinion.
I stand with Beni Harmony. Conservatives & Christians are often silenced & now with Charlie Kirk’s assassination , are even killed for their beliefs. She was just honoring a man who she considered a mentor ….beloved & brutally killed. If it were a pro Palestinian, pro abortion or Pro Muslim leader that was killed she wouldn’t be suspended or fired. My opinion.
Do you know Mark Gordon?
So…., are we to feel sorry for her because she did something outside the scope of her duties, and was held accountable by her employer? Apparently, she also misled her employer to begin with? There are some red flags here, that’s for sure. I respect her employer’s decision to hold her accountable. She didn’t like that, so she quit – end of story.
Sorry (but not sorry) Ms. Harmony, but your shameless, ham-handed attempt to play the victim card is blatantly obvious. I hope you use the time off to update your resume with, well you know, some facts.
I am sure Ms Harmony will become much more successful in her career than a guy who draws unfunny pictures in central Illinois and can’t keep a job.
Focusing on economic issues is going to be difficult for democrats when the party is run by communists who hate America hate capitalism and can’t help but to destroy everything that they touch.
“LiKe MoSt MaGa” coming from the guy who draws and colors like a child and recently got laid off himself. Can’t even keep a job where you write one line and draw a crappy picture. Meanwhile I am sure Ms Harmony will become much more successful in her career than a guy who draws unfunny pictures in central Illinois and can’t keep a job.
We have had much better. I asked for no straws and we all got straws in our waters. None of the salad dressings are made in-house. There is not a separate fryer for vegetarians. The burgers really were not great, and we tried three different varieties of them. The mac and cheese wasn’t very good either. The fries were seasoned well and crunchy, those were the star of the meal. The use of plastic forks was odd, we got some with the mediocre mozzarella sticks, and then again with our burgers. Our server had long hair but didn’t have it pulled back and ran his hands through his hair and facial hair multiple times, hopefully he washed his hands before he served us?? The restaurant was clean and had lots of tv’s going. All in all everyone left unsatisfied and we will not be returning next time we are in the area.
Bring LaMya Pearlina back.
whhy cant we all get along
I don’t know Beni Harmony’s heart. I don’t know her personally. I hope that her motivation for the story that caused the issues was pure, and not political. I hope it came from a place of “this man did not deserve what he got” rather than “let’s go” as a rally cry for a particular political persuasion. Regardless, I only wish her success and that she is able to get a new job. Be kind, y’all. Life is short.
I don’t know her personally.
i like this articale
I love it when democrats try to figure out why normal people are leaving their party by the millions. Turns out that endlessly woke scolding and calling people nazis makes them dislike you. What a surprise!