By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
July 12, 2013
As someone who worked in broadcast journalism—both on air and behind the scenes writing news to be read by reporters and anchors on the Teleprompter—I call b.s. on KTVU’s “mistake.”
An anchor announced that the Asiana pilots involved in the tragic crash were “Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu Lo,” “Ho Lee Fuk” and “Bang Ding Ow.”
W.T.F.?!!
OK, let’s pretend that the anchor was too clueless to catch on that these names don’t sound like real names. Even though the station is in San Francisco—where there’s a considerable Asian population—maybe she wasn’t familiar with Asian names.
But. Who’s the ass who wrote the copy? Someone having a little “Chuckles the Clown” moment, perhaps? (For you young’uns. Google that. It was a classic “Mary Tyler Moore” episode.)
Instead of owning up to the highly offensive, racist and shoddy piece of “journalism,” KTVU issued an apology stating that the National Transportation Safety Board released those names to them.
Again. B.S.! The NTSB doesn’t release pilot names. [ETA: The NTSB says one of its interns did in fact confirm the fake names. Which still begs the question: Where did these names come from? Did the intern make them up? Did someone prank the intern, who then released the fake names? How did this happen?]
Back to you, KTVU.
© 2013 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
(If you aren’t following Jae, you should be) I’m sorry- “Something Wrong” “Holy Fuck”? It took me one second of going, those are like the horribly racist joke names from cartoons to pick those out. For anyone in a newsroom to not pick up on the fact that a) they’re obviously prank names- racist ones at that b) not even remotely Asian…. means that that newsroom really needs to spend more time on their job and less time on trying to be first. I really hope heads roll.
They actually broadcast this? Is KTVU @foxnews by any chance?? #Shameful
Especially considering the very large percentage of the population in the Bay Area that is Asian-American, and that so many of the injured and both of the fatalities also were. It’s appalling.
Assholes.
Sickening
What is wrong with people? Absolutely disgusting.
Apalling!
This is sad and pathetic that three people died on that crash and someone at KTVU choose to make fun of the situation in this way. And that the news anchor did not figure that out when reading the “names”? It seems clear that the news anchor just reads what is put in front of her where no thought, what so ever, is involved. I read the apology – add that the list of jokes that KTVU seems to enjoy.
Wtf is up with America man. That is completely unprofessional.
Well said. I couldn’t agree more.
I’ve grown up in and around the news media here in the Bay Area, and this isn’t the first time that KTVU has been called on it’s shoddy reporting and lazy (or should I say non-existent) fact-checking. As an Asian-American this is NOT acceptable, someone’s ass should be fired for such a huge gaffe, and a real, sincere, appropriate apology should be issued by station management.
Wow!
I have to think this was just pure incompetence and not malicious. The producer of the segment that allowed that to go on the air doesn’t deserve to be fired, but I would like an apology along the lines of: “I’m sorry I was punked, I’m an idiot for falling for such an obvious name pun prank.”
Apparently the networks are in such a hurry to scoop everyone else they don’t bother to fact check any more. The NTSB said it so it must be true! Let’s just give it to our robot reporter to read the copy verbatim on the air. No need to proof read!
What. The. FUCK.
Just how can people be so stupid?
They’re blaming it on an “intern”.
Really NOT funny!
Just how can people be so stupid?
holy fucking ignorance…
(Dean thinks it’s funny and we should all laugh) Dean Richards WGN: Hilarious that no one in this news room realized what they were doing. So relax, there are better things to worry about
https://www.facebook.com/#!/DeanRichardsWGN
Which part is hilarious? The part where the “journalists” didn’t do their job? The part where the NTSB intern confirmed something he knew nothing about? The part that made fun of pilots with “different” names? The whole thing is ridiculous, disgusting and sad.
update according to SFGate: However, in a subsequent phone interview with the SFGate’s Jeff Elder, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel made clear that the names “originated at the media outlet” and that the intern — unaware of the offensive names — was “acting in good faith and trying to be helpful” by confirming names he didn’t know.
Also, a FOX news reporter, Mitch Carr, from NC tweeted about the prank, saying: “best intern ever” – this asshole better get fired! (source here.)
When CNN first reported about the crash, they said (quote) “Aseana airline which must be the carrier somewhere from Asian countries”. Really? Whatever happened to spell & fact checking before you report?
Bahahhahahahahahaaha oh man.
‘Merica pew pew pew.
But u got to admit sum ting wong for a captain who didnt realize something was wrong while landing is hysterical.
The fact that Asian racist jokes can flourish says something about the kind of racism that Asians face.
And people are bodacious enough to make the “model minority” excuse that we do not have it as hard because we are met with higher expectations and then racism enters a whole new dimension.
Agreed!
This is the type of crap I’d expect just about anywhere in the US, but freaking San Fransisco? Racism is ubiquitous 🙁
That’s what happens when reporters are scrapped and replaced by readers.
I really do not understand how anybody can be so outraged. Has the world lost its sense of humor? This really was a Gran Slam of funny to me. It carries the two most important things needed for humor. Surprise, and absurdity. Somebody at the NTSB, who’s job is to file endless papers pertaining to death and disaster had a moment of dark humored weakness. It is common among the most professional. It is a coping mechanism likely never intended to be public. They used word play made easier by the untrained ears inability do discern the differences in phonetics and cadence between languages. I can remember “Hugh G. Reckshin” showing up on a number of sign in sheets back in High School. Howie Feltersnatch was another one. They arranged the names of the “Pilots” in chronological order of events, starting with “Something is Wrong” and ending in BANG DING OUCH!! which may be in fact accurate, but is SO absurd. It is word play and dark humor and nothing else. Now, somehow the press got their hands on this. Part of me figures that in the mad rush to be the first to sensationalize tragedy and break the story…. spewed before looking. The other part of me thinks that in reading the names, they were afraid to offend by asking because they have been chided for it in the past. Either way it is part of the job. I may be hard on the press at times, but watching the press blow it on a fact check is the sweet surprise at the tail end of great absurdity. Unfortunately the Airline feels that the TV station has damaged their reputation. Really? How about the PLANE CRASH? And anybody else feeling victimized by this stupid story….have you ever picked up a phone book and read the last names? They can all be used for absurd surprise. My last name is Plant. I’ve heard em all lemme tell ya. And my 4th grade inner self still thinks they are funny. Lighten up. Not all jokes with incorrect cultural references are prelude to genocide, its just part of a setup for absurdity, or surprise. Nothing more, nothing less. The only victims of this incident are the folks that were in that plane. Seriously, lighten up.
And lets not forget the clever use of onomatopoeia..
Derek, you are wrong. The NTSB employee is a summer temp and doesn’t deal with any reports or details about death or disaster. They only answered the phone and were suppose to forward it to the appropriate person. There is no “gallows humor” defense for them. And the names came from the TV station for confirmation. Somebody there thought it would be funny to mock a foreign culture in a derogatory way. Ok, how about the plane crash? Or how about the three young girls who died? Do you think they’d find jokes deriding their culture funny? You are correct in one statement: “And my 4th grade inner self still thinks they are funny.” and that is exactly the problem. Condoning this type of juvenile behavior is why my 5 year old son is mocked and harassed simply because he looks different. This is the racism that my 5 year old son is dealing with on summer days when going to the swimming pool.
Derek can’t understand why anyone would be so outraged because…I’m just taking a stab in the dark here but…could it be because you’re a white man? Could that be it? Your comparisons to a major TV station and the NTSB doing this to something that happened in high school? How is that even comparable? It’s not funny and it’s a big fail on the part of the TV station which is supposed to offer facts because, you know, it’s the news. It’s a fail on the part of the NTSB intern who wasn’t doing his job and verifying something he knew nothing about. Mistakes happen. I get that. The anchor reading the names probably had no clue that she was reciting made up names. But the person who wrote it? They knew exactly what they were doing.
I honestly don’t even know how any decent, intelligent, and educated human being could compare this appalling excuse for a “joke” with some lighthearted banter that took place in 4th grade, but I’m not surprised. Many white people tend to confuse minor daily inconveniences with centuries of systematic and federally enforced oppression. They don’t see how seemingly “innocent” jokes like this could be so hurtful and insensitive, because they feel, in this day and age, that they, too, can be subjects of racism. They fail to realize that racism, prejudice, and discrimination are NOT one and the same. Racism is prejudice PLUS oppression. Please tell me when whites have ever suffered LIFETIMES of SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION in America, because I’ve honestly neither heard of nor encountered it in my years of study. The person responsible for this prank knew exactly what s/he was doing: to deem an entire population so racially inferior, so subhuman, and so insignificant, that it’s perfectly acceptable and humorous to make such tactless pleasantries out of their tragedy.
Derek, your high school experiences with silly names (like Howey Feltersnatch) are about fictitious people. How would you feel if a news anchor read names of soldiers having names like Sgt. F. A. Gott or Col. Schottenbutt? I’d be offended. Wouldn’t you? If you answer no, I’d say you lack a moral compass. As far as your name being made fun of in the fourth grade, that’s bullying, not racism. My name is Richard. I’m sure you can imagine kids having fun shortening it to Dick.
Kim, I have never been anything but a white male so I really have no answer for you. I guess outrage over news stories and cartoons scares me. The cartoonist who depicted Muhammad with a bomb has survived numerous murder attempts. Somehow it is possible to be SO offended by something in the media as to justify MURDER.How can this be? Is it really possible to be taught that being offended can justify such anger? I fear that is where we are going in society. I see a nation of would be offended victims. It is a slippery slope. Soon we will all be walking around with our feelings hurt and high blood pressure. Some yahoo makes a bad joke, it somehow through poor reporting practice makes it to the news, and it becomes a bigger story than the real victims? C’mon. Get over it. How can people spend so much energy agonizing over what some idiot said? Maybe in the future, gangsters will ride around with little booklets filled with slurs and insults to smite their enemies. Richard, you can say I have no moral compass and that would not offend me, maybe because I have no moral compass. Or, perhaps I have learned not to sweat the small stuff. Veterans are committing suicide at a rate of 22 PER DAY. They are obviously not getting the help they need to cope. In inner cities our young people are shooting each other because of a dirty look, drugs, territory, for street credit, yet this rarely gets any press. Yet utter the words “Hate Crime” and its all over. In my book, murder is murder. Cold blood is cold blood. Also bullying and racism are really not far removed from one another. I think they come from the same place in the psyche, and requires the same type of insecure toxic personality. In the mean time, I do not take exception to being stereotyped as a White Man. First of all, if I did take exception it would make no difference. Second, I believe all of us are the sum total of all of our life experiences both good, and bad. We are all just going through life trying to figure it out the best we can within the context of that life experience. I hope that while I am here I find the best of what humanity has to offer, and deal with the worst with as much dignity as I can. This means admitting fallacy. I am imperfect and am very comfortable laughing at myself, but as they say don’t dish it out if ya can’t take it.
I don’t think anyone should make light of a situation where people lost their lives. I mean imagine if someone at a news channel tried pulling off a “joke” after the Boston bombings happened? That would definitely be in poor taste. The Asiana crash while not a terrorist attack did result in people dying as well.
Emmanuel. After eluding to my lack of decency, intelligence, and education, I truly appreciate your willingess to give me the benefit of the doubt here. You are right to some degree. I guess I do have a way of confusing things I experience on a daily basis with things that happened centuries ago. In my defense, I am only 39 years old so I don’t remember before that. As I understand it, in this country as imperfect as it is, one can not be punished for the actions of their ancestors. For that you have to travel to say, North Korea. Now THERE is some serious oppression. My point is this. I can not even FATHOM “White Only” washrooms. I don’t remember that, did not partake in that, nor would I tolerate that. It is simply the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Still there is resentment for acts I never would commit. Still I understand that the rules are different for me. If I made a statement “Many of people of this nationality blah blah..” I would be labled a bigot for life. And in the workplace…instant termination. Whatever. I get it. In many peoples life experience, people that look like me have treated them poorly. That sucks. But thanks to people dead and gone, I’ve gotta walk on egg shells. Nobody ever talks about the 100,000 white men that died on the Union side ending slavery, but I can take no credit for that either. Wish I could, but was not there for that terribly dark chapter of US history. I am proud of the progress we have made as a country. We still have much to do. Taking things in stride, having some shred of perspective with regard to what is really an “Outrage” would be helpful. Just think of ad time earned by media outles covering this story. They have literally benefited from hate and racial tension. What would you say should be done to the person responsible for “Some Ting Wong” after deeming an entire population racially inferior and subhuman. Personally I think the death camps in Europe did a pretty effective job of deeming an entire population subhuman. “Some Ting Wong” is a cakewalk. This is the type of perspective I am talking about. Nobody has ever been insulted to death. Where is the resilience one would expect from such hardship. Hurt feelings? Take the Westboro Baptist folks for example. They intentionally disrespect others hoping that someone will have their feelings hurt and commit some sort of civil rights violation.Voila…civil suit and $$ They have been doing it for years with some success. These are bad people. Allowing them to upset me only validates the idea that I value their opinion. I do not. F&^&’em. It really is that simple. Thats not to say I would cry if some terminally ill person should fall asleep behind the wheel of a 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Station wagon and accidently run over them during a protest. Just sayin’.