A meteorologist who went viral for his live prayer and many other local meteorologists have had a tumultuous few days after they were laid off and then hired back on after backlash. Mississippi Meteorologist Matt Laubhan, who went viral in March 2023 for issuing a live prayer for residents that were about to be impacted by an imminent tornado. “So, Amory, we need to be in our tornado-safe place. We’ve got a new scan coming in here as we speak. Oh man, like, north side of Amory, this is coming in. Oh man,” said Laubhan at the time. He then bowed his head and prayed, “Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen.”
Laubhan became a minor celebrity after the incident. After being asked why he chose to pray, he said, “You know, I can’t say that I was intending on praying,” he responded. “It was the kind of situation where we knew that something extremely bad was happening, when we knew that it was possible, maybe even probable, that people were being hurt and about to die. And I’m very rarely at a loss for words, and I was just feeling a little overwhelmed, honestly, and it just kind of came out.”
However, Allen Media Group, which owns a number of weather affiliates including ABC affiliate WTVA, where Laubhan works, announced in May 2024 it was restructuring. In October Allen Media Group began laying off a number of staffers. Then AMG announced that it would be replacing local meteorologists like Laubhan with prerecorded broadcasts from its subsidiary, the Weather Channel. The move was set to lay off around 100 local meteorologists across 20 stations.
Local residents quickly voiced their outrage at the decision. “Allen Media should get out of the weather business altogether. Lost all credibility with their greedy, ridiculous plan to export local TV weather to a central hub at Weather Channel in Atlanta. What a disaster,” wrote one user on social media. Another user expressed her disappointment in a lengthy post on Facebook. “As a lifelong resident of New Albany, Mississippi, I can confidently say that Matt was far more than just a weather anchor for our community, he is a trusted presence and a local fixture,” she wrote of Laubhan. She added that “his connection to the community that truly set him apart” and that he was an “invaluable asset.”
Just a few days after the layoffs were announced, AMG released a statement to say it was halting the layoffs. “After receiving significant feedback across various markets, Allen Media has decided to pause and reconsider the strategy of providing local weather from the Weather Channel in Atlanta,” said a sales manager for the group. WTVA’s weather team announced it would be sticking around and thanked its supporters. “Without your outpouring of messages that rang so loud, this change may not have been possible,” the group said. “And for that, we thank you.”