PETALUMA, Calif. — Three KTVU producers have been fired over the station's Asiana crash misreport, which falsely identified the pilots as Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Low, Ho Lee Fuk, and Band Ding Ow, according to SF Gate.
The Oakland-based station, a FOX affiliate, has been widely mocked for airing what appears to have been prank names in reporting on the tragic crash of a South Korean plane in the San Francisco airport several weeks ago.
KTVU's investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock have all been let go, reported SF Gate.
KTVU anchor Tori Campbell, who painfully articulated every syllable of the offensive names in the July 12 broadcast, has been "spared" thus far, said the SFist. A lawyer is said to be in the midst of a "major" investigation at the Oakland studio, where morale is reportedly at a low.
"We're definitely down," a station source told Rich Lieberman, a radio host who's been "dishing the dirt" on Bay Area media for over 10 years, according to his 415 Media blog.
KTVU publicly apologized following the misreport but said the fictitious names had been provided to them by someone at the National Transportation Safety Board, where an intern was later dismissed over the affair.
But Asiana is still suing KTVU, according to CNN.
The station is connected to FOX but owned by Cox Enterprises, whose lawyer is said to be leading the Oakland probe.
Lieberman said Belstock was fired not over the report itself — which you can watch below — but for his reaction to the mistake; his "Oh Shit" tweet appears to have violated company policy.
Watch the infamous report here:
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