Karl has come under fire after hitting back at a new report that labels Channel Nine as the “worst offender” in showing diversity on-screen.

The Today show host  says he is “proud” of his “diverse heritage” and said his employer have “always supported that.”

Stefanovic’s comments come in response to a new report conducted by Media Diversity Australiaa that revealed the “embarrassing chasm between the multicultural make-up of Australians, and the on-air journalists, presenters and commentators featured in local news and current affairs programming,” as  news.com.au  reported.

Nine is identified as the “worst offender” in the report. It showed that just 3 per cent of its on-air talent comes from a culturally diverse background.

The article which was first reported by journalist  Wenlei Mai, received a cutting response from Stefanovic.  

“Im not sure how diverse you need to be to qualify for diverse but I’m of Yugoslav German and British heritage with a surname Stefanovic. I used to be called a wog at school.

“I’m proud of my heritage. Im pretty sure it’s diverse and nine have always supported that,” he wrote.

Stefanovic’s response was met with a mixed reaction online.

“Maltese Serbian here. We’re pretty damn white in the scheme of things, Karl. This isn’t our fight mate,”  wrote fellow journalist Mike Stevens.

Media Diversity Australia, the non-profit group that conducted the research responded to Stefanovic’s tweet, explaining that he was “counted in the data as having a European background.”

Channel 9 and Channel 7 have both responded to the report, questioning it’s methodology.

“I don’t think simply counting surnames on TV is an effective way of addressing the issue or helps in finding practical solutions to these challenges,” Darren Wick, Nine’s director of news and current affairs said in a statement to news.com.au.

“This report has clear errors and ignores the significant contribution of someone like Brooke Boney on  Today,  where is she one of four main hosts on the desk, instead simply listing her daily and regular contribution on the program at somewhere between 0.1 per cent and 0 per cent [an early copy of the report rounded Channel 9’s overall Indigenous representation to 0 per cent but was revised to 0.1 per cent in the final release].

“This is not reflective of the real changes and proactive appointments we have been making in improving diversity in our television business.”