It's been called "quite possibly the most embarrassing mistake in TV news history." So it's little wonder that KTVU wants it gone.
Over the last week or so, the Bay Area Fox affiliate has been quietly scrubbing its colossally screwed up "report" on the names of Asiana Airlines Flight 214's pilots from the web, issuing DMCA takedown notices that force YouTube to yank copies of the footage.
The July 12th newscast featured anchor Tori Campbell reading an "NTSB confirmed" graphic identifying the crashed plane's pilots as "Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow."
It wasn't until the Internet pointed it out that Channel 2 News arrived at the realization that these names might be fake.
In response to an inquiry about the station's efforts to erase the painful memory, general manager Tom Raponi told TVSpy they were acting out of concern for the Asian community.
"The accidental mistake we made was insensitive and offensive," Raponi said in his statement. "By now, most people have seen it. At this point, continuing to show the video is also insensitive and offensive, especially to the many in our Asian community who were offended. Consistent with our apology, we are carrying through on our responsibility to minimize the thoughtless repetition of the video by others."
Newsroom gossip site FTVLive has a different take on KTVU's Orwellian concern for the unchecked distribution of its now-legendary blunder.
"It's a gutless move by a station trying to cover up their mistake. You can also bet if the video was one of their Reporter's doing something extraordinary, the video would still be online," notes the site. "Of all the mistakes KTVU made on this story, trying to cover it up is one of the worst."
KTVU Scrubbing ‘Fuk’ Up from the Web to Avoid ‘Thoughtless Repetition’