TV station "identifies" SF crash pilots: Sum Ting Wong, Ho Lee Fuk, and others

This just gets funnier and funnier.

 

And who would they sue over the crash? The pilots? The crew? Themselves?

 

Dewey, Cheatham and Howe is on retainer for Asiana Air.

 

Good for a laugh but how in the world did it get on the air? Unbelievable.

 

How is Asiana going win a defamation suit?

It can't prove intentional malice on the station's part. Recklessness, maybe, but not intentional malice. Only person with intentional malice would be the soon-to-be-unemployed originator of the prank, good luck getting cash there.

 

Are we sure it isn't Maku Luk Bad?

 

BUMP!

Three producers fired, fourth leaves for health reasons.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/KTVU-producers-fired-over-Asiana-pilots-fake-4685627.php

 

I'm kind of stunned that that many people had their fingerprints on it. I worked with one of them in the past - the guy I worked with is not a flake. One of the better reporters I've ever worked with. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out it was a "joke e-mail" that got shuffled around. Someone saw a name attached to it that was respected in the newsroom and figured it was legit.

 

Wow.

These are not low-end newsroom employees. I'm genuinely surprised to see the titles of the people fired over this. Investigative and special projects producers in a market that size will typically be experienced people who know their shit.

I have no first-hand knowledge of how this went down, but I bet it goes a lot like this: a source trusted by the investigative team forwarded the names to them (presumably as a joke). They didn't recognize it as a joke, and forwarded to names onto a producer who is more involved in the day-to-day newscasts, who then wrote up a script and graphic during the noon show and sent it to the noon producer to rush on the air. (That would explain why the noon producer wasn't fired.)

It kills me that it went through so many people. Sometimes people can't just stop and use a little common sense.

 

Who was the "source" at NTSB?

Out them too -- that's where it started.

 

There was no "source" at NTSB. KTVU got the names in an email and called the NTSB to confirm them. An intern answered the phone at NTSB and confirmed the names.

 

I too was surprised there were that many fingerprints on it. Used to work with one of the producers. He's a top end guy. I would think that a joke e-mail might have been sent around (by who - I have no idea), someone saw the names Ccd and figured it was "legit" given their reps and figured they should run it past NTSB.