US govt agency, TV station apologise after racist names broadcast
We've all done stupid things working a summer job, but this takes the biscuit.
A US government agency has blamed a 'summer intern' for what must count as one of the most monumental screw-ups in recent broadcasting history.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was forced to apologise for "inaccurate and offensive names" that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, killing three people.
The names were broadcast by KTVU-TV in San Francisco and read out live on the noon newscast yesterday by anchor Tori Campbell.
The NTSB blamed a summer intern acting "outside the scope of his authority" for supplying the erroneous names, and said appropriate action would be taken to ensure it was not repeated.
KTVU-TV also issued an apology.
"As many of you saw or heard by now, we fell for a hoax and misidentified the pilots of the Asiana Airlines crash in our Noon news," the station wrote on Facebook.
"Later in the newscast, after realizing the mistake, we issued an apology. We feel terrible about what happened and hope you will accept our apology."
The station also issued an on-air apology.
The identity of the 'summer intern' has not been released, but it's fair to assume this is one chapter of his work experience that won't make the final resumé.
