KTVU Gets Pranked on Asiana Pilot's Names

[PTBoardOp94]

What do you suppose the names came from an "anonymous tip"?

 

[michael hagerty]

What do you suppose the names came from an "anonymous tip"?

If so, KTVU looks even worse. They take sketchy names from an anonymous tip seriously enough to call the NTSB for confirmation, but not to say them out loud or confirm who at the NTSB is confirming.

Not that there's any explanation that will make them look good...

 

[JeeperOne]

Seems to be as though the NTSB has the bigger PR nightmare on its hands than KTVU does as it was that intern who started an international incident (Yes I said it - INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT which probably has the State Department a tad upset right now given what's on ITS plate). All KTVU did was not use very good judgement by verifying the list thru someone higher up the ladder

That said though, Asiana Airlines has bigger fish to fry first as they gotta deal with the families of the deceased. Then they have to reimburse the Bay Area & the State of California. That's ON TOP OF dealing with the NTSB investigators & their South Korean counterparts who are actually the ones trying to figure out what went wrong & what caused the plane to crash

If I were the head of Asiana Airlines, I wouldn't worry about what some lowly LOCAL (Used in the context of the grand scheme of things & the overall bigger picture) news anchor on some AFFILIATE of a US Network (In this case FOX) said on a LOCAL newscast & tackle the bigger stuff first. But I suppose that's just me.....

JMO.....

Cheers & 73 ;D

 

[firepoint525]

The Cable Shopping Networks have been pranked too. I heard a story that in the early days of CVN - The Cable Value Network (a predecessor of both QVC and ValueVision) that a caller wanted to give a birthday shout-out to his friend John Mehoff whom people called Jack. Well back then they couldn't put callers on the air and the host said on-air "Happy Birthday Jack Me-Off"

The (then) principal of my high school was once similarly pranked, and, yes, he read that name over the intercom! We were laughing about it for days afterwards! Good thing for him that it was near the end of the school year, although that may have been why he was pranked in the first place!

 

[michael hagerty]

Seems to be as though the NTSB has the bigger PR nightmare on its hands than KTVU does as it was that intern who started an international incident (Yes I said it - INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT which probably has the State Department a tad upset right now given what's on ITS plate). All KTVU did was not use very good judgement by verifying the list thru someone higher up the ladder

That said though, Asiana Airlines has bigger fish to fry first as they gotta deal with the families of the deceased. Then they have to reimburse the Bay Area & the State of California. That's ON TOP OF dealing with the NTSB investigators & their South Korean counterparts who are actually the ones trying to figure out what went wrong & what caused the plane to crash

If I were the head of Asiana Airlines, I wouldn't worry about what some lowly LOCAL (Used in the context of the grand scheme of things & the overall bigger picture) news anchor on some AFFILIATE of a US Network (In this case FOX) said on a LOCAL newscast & tackle the bigger stuff first. But I suppose that's just me.....

JMO.....

Cheers & 73 ;D

Pat: I agree that the lawsuit seems like spectacularly misplaced priorities, and the airline's getting some blowback for it in comments sections of news stories ("crashing the plane is what damaged your reputation", etc.).

I have to wonder if the suit isn't an attempt by Asiana to get KTVU to reveal to them, either as condition for an out of court settlement or if it makes trial, in discovery or sworn testimony, how this really happened. As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

 

[landtuna]

As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

I was one of those posting that comment but I thought I read yesterday that the NTSB had fired the intern they accused of verifying the names. He or she was not named and there was obvious speculation that they were kicking some poor creature under the bus.

 

[LKellerIII]

As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

I was one of those posting that comment but I thought I read yesterday that the NTSB had fired the intern they accused of verifying the names. He or she was not named and there was obvious speculation that they were kicking some poor creature under the bus.

Could be. To put an Intern in the position of making such a decision amounts to very poor supervisio on the part of the NTSB. I work in a public agency (not federal), and use a lot of college Interns, but none would be allowed to release information to the public without clearance from his/her Supervisor, and it would probably need to go up the chain of command farther than that - to the Director level.

 

[michael hagerty]

As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

I was one of those posting that comment but I thought I read yesterday that the NTSB had fired the intern they accused of verifying the names. He or she was not named and there was obvious speculation that they were kicking some poor creature under the bus.

They did fire the intern, but stand by the story that KTVU called them, already having the names.

 

[landtuna]

As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

I was one of those posting that comment but I thought I read yesterday that the NTSB had fired the intern they accused of verifying the names. He or she was not named and there was obvious speculation that they were kicking some poor creature under the bus.

Could be. To put an Intern in the position of making such a decision amounts to very poor supervisio on the part of the NTSB. I work in a public agency (not federal), and use a lot of college Interns, but none would be allowed to release information to the public without clearance from his/her Supervisor, and it would probably need to go up the chain of command farther than that - to the Director level.

The funny thing about this whole incident was that the pilot's names (on the flight deck at the time of the crash) had already been released on Sunday.

 

[michael hagerty]

As noted before in this thread, KTVU isn't saying where it got the names, and many people are skeptical of the NTSB intern confirmation story.

I was one of those posting that comment but I thought I read yesterday that the NTSB had fired the intern they accused of verifying the names. He or she was not named and there was obvious speculation that they were kicking some poor creature under the bus.

Could be. To put an Intern in the position of making such a decision amounts to very poor supervisio on the part of the NTSB. I work in a public agency (not federal), and use a lot of college Interns, but none would be allowed to release information to the public without clearance from his/her Supervisor, and it would probably need to go up the chain of command farther than that - to the Director level.

Llew: The NTSB says the intern acted "beyond the scope of his authority." They further said that the NTSB does not, under any circumstances, confirm such information. They leave that to the airline.

 

[MarcB]

I heard KTVU has filed a lawsuit against Asiana Airlines.

 

[michael hagerty]

I heard KTVU has filed a lawsuit against Asiana Airlines.

I can't find anything on that anywhere.

Meantime, though, Stephen Colbert nails it....and says the same thing I've been saying....KTVU still hasn't told us where the names come from:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/427758/july-15-2013/ktvu-tv-on-asiana-airlines-crash

 

[landtuna]

I think the actual phrase should be that Asiana was planning to file a lawsuit.

 

[johnbasalla]

The intern didn't just act beyond his authority. He flat out lied. The station called the NTSB to confirm that these names were the real names of the pilots, right? The intern said, yes those are the names when, in fact, the intern had no idea if these were the names or not.

Now, allow me to become more conspiratorial. Are we absolutely sure that it was an intern at the NTSB who did this? Might they be saying a generic "intern" to cover for somebody further up the ladder, which could make them look even worse.

At the station, I wonder if this may have been an inside job. Could the original source of the information be from somebody at the station, or from somebody who knows somebody of importance at the station? Their being recalcitrant in releasing how they got the names to begin with indicates that this may be another embarrassing moment for the station.

 

[michael hagerty]

The intern didn't just act beyond his authority. He flat out lied. The station called the NTSB to confirm that these names were the real names of the pilots, right? The intern said, yes those are the names when, in fact, the intern had no idea if these were the names or not.

Now, allow me to become more conspiratorial. Are we absolutely sure that it was an intern at the NTSB who did this? Might they be saying a generic "intern" to cover for somebody further up the ladder, which could make them look even worse.

At the station, I wonder if this may have been an inside job. Could the original source of the information be from somebody at the station, or from somebody who knows somebody of importance at the station? Their being recalcitrant in releasing how they got the names to begin with indicates that this may be another embarrassing moment for the station.

We're not absolutely sure about the NTSB intern, apart from that being the only story the NTSB is telling.

As for an inside job at KTVU, that would explain why the station isn't saying where the names came from. Given the willingness of TV to throw anyone under the bus up to and including star anchors, I would guess that, if (big if) it did come from inside, it came from someone very senior in management...probably who never dreamed it would be taken seriously.

 

[landtuna]

I would guess that, if (big if) it did come from inside, it came from someone very senior in management...probably who never dreamed it would be taken seriously.

Naw. No one I've ever met in senior management has that kind of humor. ;D

 

[michael hagerty]

I would guess that, if (big if) it did come from inside, it came from someone very senior in management...probably who never dreamed it would be taken seriously.

Naw. No one I've ever met in senior management has that kind of humor. ;D

The sophistication of Bart Simpson with the deft touch of using Chinese-sounding names in place of Korean?

Sounds like a sales guy turned GM to me.

 

[michael hagerty]

This may be significant:

http://news.investors.com/technology-click/071613-663900-asiana-ktvu-pilot-names-gaffe-on-asian-news-exec-last-official-day.htm

 

[dhett]

Michael, I appreciate your attempts to give the benefit of the doubt to staffers at KTVU, but there was no excuse for airing those names. I grew up in an area with relatively few people of Asian heritage, and I cringed when I read them. It was that obvious. I don't believe that sensitivity to Asian culture or customs would have made a difference.

 

[michael hagerty]

Michael, I appreciate your attempts to give the benefit of the doubt to staffers at KTVU, but there was no excuse for airing those names. I grew up in an area with relatively few people of Asian heritage, and I cringed when I read them. It was that obvious. I don't believe that sensitivity to Asian culture or customs would have made a difference.

I'm not trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here's what I think may have happened and why that article could be significant.

Let's say someone pretty senior in station management made up the list of names. Why? Because if it came from outside the station, KTVU would just say so and inside the station, anyone less than senior management would be thrown under the bus in an instant.

Let's say that person did it, never expecting it to be taken seriously or to get as far as getting on the air. Let's say this person thought it would be funny and that, with the Asian-American Assistant News Director freshly out the door, it would be okay to make the joke.

Then the unthinkable happens. The producer, intimidated by the title of the person who handed him/her the list, wanting to impress, doesn't look critically at the list, picks up the phone and calls the number in the newsroom contact list for the NTSB.

The intern answers, the producer, trying to finesse confirmation says "I just want to make sure we're spelling these names right", and the intern, for whatever reason, says yes.

It's midday on a Friday. Very few people in the newsroom.

He/she writes the script with a line "The NTSB has confirmed..."

It goes to the font operator (who may or may not be in the same building). He/she is jammed. The news is about to begin or maybe already has begun. The names get typed (actually, in some shops, simple graphics like that are part of the newsroom software. The producer could have created it him/herself).

If all of this happened as the news was going on air, the anchor gets no advance look...it comes up on the prompter. She's live, and instead of acting as the gatekeeper, she reads the copy without question.

And somewhere upstairs, someone senior is staring at the TV set in their office, mouth agape, and trying to figure out how they're going to survive this.

Now all that is what could have happened, based on my 32 years and counting in broadcast newsrooms.

It may have been something else.

But normally, the producer who let that get on the air, no matter how well-intentioned, would be gone. The anchor might be, too. They're not, and, as multiple people are pointing out (including Stephen Colbert), KTVU isn't saying where the list came from. The NTSB says KTVU called them with it.

If it was an anonymous tip by phone or e-mail, they'd say so, and the people who let something that poorly sourced and checked would be fired.

If it was someone inside KTVU (intern, producer, reporter, anchor), they'd say so and make an example by firing them and making sure the world knew who they were.

But KTVU isn't doing any of that. Not disclosing where the names came from makes the apology incomplete, undermines the station's public credibility and probably was a factor in Asiana's lawsuit.

And yet, they risk all that. The only answer is they're protecting someone. And they're in a business where exposing stuff like this is what they supposedly do best.