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An American news anchor of a local news channel made headlines herself on Tuesday when she responded to a passing viewer’s email that attacked her for being overweight and setting a bad example for the ‘community’s young people, girls in particular.’

In the video, Jennifer Livingston of WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin, turns the hurtful email about her appearance into an opportunity to address the issue of bullying and ring in National Anti-Bullying month in the country on her show.

“Luckily for me, I have a very thick skin – literally as the email pointed out and otherwise,” said Livingston as she proceeded to talk about the trauma being inflicted on kids who receive such emails and worse on an everyday basis and the need to teach children to be kind.

“The internet has become a weapon, our schools have become a battleground,” said Livingston who was obviously reading out a prepared speech off a teleprompter. But for the skeptics who would like to believe this was just a well-timed gimmick to rake up some ratings, we suggest you watch the video to see that there is something more to it.

What has touched hearts is not just Livingston’s powerful tirade against a prejudiced society, but her obvious vulnerability on screen, those moments in her monologue where her emotions betray her cool professional tone and a very heartfelt gratitude for the support she received after the letter was posted by her husband on his Facebook page last Friday.

Meanwhile, online comment boards on the incident like this one are seeing the usual war of words between those who believe that one’s body weight is a personal matter and others who feel obesity is a social epidemic and that the overweight, especially those in the public eye, have a responsibility to become healthy.