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Oakland Fox affiliate KTVU has reportedly dismissed at least three veteran producers after an internal investigation into how the station's news anchor read obviously fake names on the air, calling them the pilots of the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed at San Francisco's airport this month. The station also has moved to force YouTube users to take down footage of the gaffe, citing copyright and offense to Asian viewers. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Station sources confirmed late Wednesday that investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock were all sent packing following an in-house investigation into the July 12 broadcast of four fake names of the pilots involved in the Asiana Flight 214 crash at San Francisco International Airport on July 6.
A fourth - noon news producer Elvin Sledge - told colleagues he was leaving for health reasons.News of the firing was first reported on Rich Lieberman's 415 Media blog.
During its noon newscast on July 12, anchor Tori Campbell announced that "KTVU has just learned the names of the four pilots who were on board" the ill-fated plane - then proceeded to read from a teleprompter while the phony names were displayed on a graphic.
The names she gave were Capt. Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk and Bang Ding Ow.
The station aired a correction later in the broadcast. KTVU staffers had confirmed the names with an intern at the National Transportation Safety Board.
