Most stupid TV anchor/station on earth?

[Guest]

This is like something from The Simpsons, although Moe would usually realize his mistake after reading one name!

 

http://blog.sfgate.com/matierandross/2013/07/12/1937/

 

During the noon newscast Friday, co-anchor Tori Campbell, announced that “KTVU has just learned the names of the four pilots who were on board” Asiana flight 214 when it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.

 

She then read from a teleprompter while a TV graphic displayed four fake names that clearly were someone’s idea of a joke.

 

The first name — “Captain Sum Ting Wong” — should have been a give-away that something really was wrong. But Campbell kept reading… “Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, Bang Ding Ow.”

 

Yikes.

[+ purplekow]

All I can say to those people are Ho Lee Fuk are you stupid.

[maninsoma]

Well, given that TV news anchors are really hired more for poise on camera (and frequently looks), I'm not surprised that one would simply read the words put in her teleprompter without thinking about them. She may not be stupid off the air (I don't know her) but was rather just doing her job on the air, reading the words put in front of her.

[+ ArVaGuy]

NTSB blamed an intern for confirming to the station the names were correct.

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57593621/ntsb-blames-intern-for-confirming-false-racially-offensive-names/

 

 

A federal agency blamed a summer intern for confirming false, racially offensive names stemming from a prank as the identities of the pilots on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 that crashed in San Francisco last week.

Asiana crash investigation focuses further on pilots.

 

 

While far from complete, the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation has focused on the actions of the plane's pilots leading up to the crash as well as their experience flying the Boeing 777. The July 6 crash killed three passengers and sent more than 180 other passengers and crew members to area hospitals, 14 of which remain hospitalized.

 

 

The NTSB apologized in a statement Friday night after San Francisco television station KTVU-TV broadcast the obviously fake names, attributing the confirmation to an NTSB official. It is still unclear where the Fox affiliate originally got the false names that were later incorrectly confirmed by the NTSB intern.

 

 

"In response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft," read the NTSB statement.

 

 

The agency said "appropriate actions" would be taken to prevent what it called a "serious error" from being repeated.

[bigvalboy]

Well, given that TV news anchors are really hired more for poise on camera (and frequently looks), I'm not surprised that one would simply read the words put in her teleprompter without thinking about them. She may not be stupid off the air (I don't know her) but was rather just doing her job on the air, reading the words put in front of her.

 

I agree with you Maninsoma, as I don't know the women either, but I think it is reasonable to expect a few of the brain cells to be operating. The moron who thought this was funny, should be thrown out on his or her ass. They did this while people died and others lay in the hospital fighting for their lives.

[rvwnsd]

Well, given that TV news anchors are really hired more for poise on camera (and frequently looks), I'm not surprised that one would simply read the words put in her teleprompter without thinking about them. She may not be stupid off the air (I don't know her) but was rather just doing her job on the air, reading the words put in front of her.

 

Well-put. On the other hand, I question the abilities of the news writer who put the names on the teleprompter.

[twinkboylover28]

That's much better than when Howard Stern would play the pranks his callers would do in similar situations.

[bostonman]

This harks back to the day that will live in infamy (and laughter) at my high school, when I was a senior. For a while, our principal had started a "thought for the day" segment to go with the morning announcements we all got over the PA system in out homerooms before our first class. And he invited anyone from the school to submit possible "thoughts for the day."

 

So one morning, he read the submitted thought - "a man is not a man until he has kissed the lips that do not speak."

 

The reaction - it was one of those moments where all of a sudden the world seemed to stand still - (did we really just hear that?) - and then, explosive laughter - certainly in my homeroom, and assumedly, in all rooms. It would seem the principal hadn't taken a look at the 'thought" beforehand. Also - even worse - someone supposedly had to explain to him what it meant. (He was married - his wife was a wonderful lady who had in fact been my guidance counselor in junior high - but rumors were always abound about his true sexuality.)

 

Next morning, the principal tried to offer an apology in the morning announcements (which was almost equally funny in its awkwardness), and the "thought for the day" was abolished. I can't remember if they ever found out who submitted the "man is not a man" line, and/or whatever happened to him/her if they did.

 

I also remember that later that day, I was in our Humanities class (one of the best classes our school offered - just wonderful) - and one of the already scheduled topics for class discussion that day was "the measure of a man" (from Plato, etc). I fondly remember that even the two male teachers who team-taught the class couldn't quite hold it together under the circumstances. The class totally understood.

[sfguy]

I agree with you Maninsoma, as I don't know the women either, but I think it is reasonable to expect a few of the brain cells to be operating. The moron who thought this was funny, should be thrown out on his or her ass. They did this while people died and others lay in the hospital fighting for their lives.

 

Most people don't realize how difficult it is to use a teleprompter, especially in a newsroom setting. Politicians have a speech prepared and are familiar with the content already. News anchors are generally familiar with the content of each telecast, but they also have to be prepared for breaking news or new information. What's on the teleprompter may be new to them as well. When you're reading aloud, you don't really get the chance to peek ahead to see what's coming up next because you have to focus on what you're saying. For example, see

). So the news anchor here didn't really have the chance to look ahead, process the names, and then decide, "Oh shit, I can't say that."

 

Beyond that, on teleprompters, difficult words and names in other languages or uncommon names are spelled out phonetically. So on a glance as you're reading aloud, the names probably just looked like phonetic pronunciations (which is probably why she pronounced "Fuk" as "fook" instead of "fuck").

 

And what was she supposed to do? She's left in a difficult spot where she either continues on or halts the show and says... what? "Oh these names don't seem right?" The whole thing was a matter of seconds. I don't think she can really be faulted all that much.

 

The person(s) who came up with these names obviously should be faulted. A lot. News anchors depend on the staff to avoid situations like this. The NTSB said that their intern confirmed the names, but that the names originated from the station. So it's disturbing that someone at the station came up with the names and that the NTSB intern confirmed them. So it wasn't even just one prankster responsible. It seems like there were two people who involved. One to come up with the idea, and the other to go along with it.

[+ FreshFluff]

Agree with sfguy from what I know about newscasters and from reading stuff on the fly myself. My guess is that there was one prankster at the station while the NTSB intern was just overwhelmed or lazy in the aftermath of the crash and didn't verify the names.

 

I have to admit that I didn't get "Wi to Lu." Way too low?

[bostonman]

I have to admit that I didn't get "Wi to Lu." Way too low?

 

I assumed it was "we (are) too low."

[Kevin Slater]

And the Koreans get revenge:

 

http://everyotherdomainwastaken.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/american-pilots.jpg

 

Kevin Slater

[tyro]

Niiiiiice...

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