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KTVU Gets Pranked on Asiana Pilot's Names

I've never worked in a newsroom so cutthroat that a senior manager would consider sabotage, but I've never worked in a top ten DMA either.

That seems to be the only logical conclusion based on the available information right now: someone inside or freshly out of KTVU, someone who thought it was funny, or wanted revenge, provided the names. I believe that theory more than the theory a competitor sabotaged them. But again, the markets I've worked in are friendly.

Alternate option: the corporate lawyers have told everyone to be vague about the incident, issue an apology, and not say anything more until Cox completes a corporate investigation.

Once Cox Media finishes its investigation, I suppose the question becomes: if it is internal, who gets fired, how many people get fired, do you fire the ND, who has been on the job for just a few months?
 
TheRob said:
I've never worked in a newsroom so cutthroat that a senior manager would consider sabotage, but I've never worked in a top ten DMA either.

That seems to be the only logical conclusion based on the available information right now: someone inside or freshly out of KTVU, someone who thought it was funny, or wanted revenge, provided the names. I believe that theory more than the theory a competitor sabotaged them. But again, the markets I've worked in are friendly.

Alternate option: the corporate lawyers have told everyone to be vague about the incident, issue an apology, and not say anything more until Cox completes a corporate investigation.

Once Cox Media finishes its investigation, I suppose the question becomes: if it is internal, who gets fired, how many people get fired, do you fire the ND, who has been on the job for just a few months?
Click to expand...

I don't think, if this is what happened, and I'm only saying it could have happened, that it was sabotage.

I think it was a joke that the person never dreamed would be taken seriously, much less wind up on the air.

When i was a young reporter I used to prank producers for fun...give them a fake script for approval and wait to see how long before they caught on. But they were typed on paper, not in a computer where they could be retrieved by accident or otherwise, and I was standing by their desk holding the real script behind my back. We'd laugh and I'd shred the fake.

But if this is what happened, whoever it was didn't stick around to make sure the producer caught on.

I agree with you about it not being a competitor. The managers like to pretend it's war, but among the rank and file, in the three markets I've worked (Reno, Vegas, Phoenix), it's fairly friendly.

Plus, KTVU wouldn't know it was a competitor. It'd have to be an anonymous tip, and they'd just say that.
 
I've worked in H/R in the past, in hotels and I can tell you there are plenty of unhappy employees that will sabotage a company in the drop of a hat. Usually they are so low level the damage is minimal if any.

I also think this was simply a joke that should've been caught that wasn't. I once told my manager that you can't leave cows in the field overnight or they'll become pasteurized and she actually believed it and went around telling everyone it must be true, 'cause Mark told me.

I never thought in a million years anyone would believe that.
 
A fascinating, profane and angry look at the KTVU situation from Chez Pazienza, who produced and managed daily content for WSVN and WTVJ in Miami, KCBS, KNBC and KCAL in Los Angeles, and MSNBC and CNN in New York. He has two L.A.-area Emmys to his name as well as a Golden Mic.

Worth noting, one of the comments left indicating, as I noted earlier, that the station runs a newsroom software package that allows graphics to be created by the writer or producer:


http://thedailybanter.com/2013/07/ktvu-needs-to-do-a-lot-more-than-just-apologize/
 
And now, KTVU is scrubbing the videos of the incident from the internet, alleging copyright infringement. From TVSpy.com:

KTVU vice president and general manager Tom Raponi responded to TVSpy’s question about pulling the videos saying, “The accidental mistake we made was insensitive and offensive. By now, most people have seen it. At this point, continuing to show the video is also insensitive and offensive, especially to the many in our Asian community who were offended. Consistent with our apology, we are carrying through on our responsibility to minimize the thoughtless repetition of the video by others.”


Hey, Tom....where'd you get the names in the first place?
 
TheRob said:
Bumped for the report that KTVU fired three producers

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2013/07/exclusive-saturday-night-massacre-at.html

Considering who was fired, I wonder if a joke email being passed around the station accidentally made it on air?
Click to expand...

That's what it's starting to look like. Not as high up the ladder as I had thought, but to a less-experienced producer, those senior and investigative producers' names might be impressive and intimidating enough to seek confirmation of the names. Which got us to the NTSB intern.
 
I joke email like that would be a pretty stupid thing to do. Anyone responsible for writing it or passing it along should be fired.
Not catching that they were joke names should get anyone fired.

I'd like to say I've never seen a prank make it on air before this incident.. but I can't. It happens. Having a sense of humor in a newsroom is a good thing, but making up fake stories is extremely dangerous.
 
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