TV news FAIL: KTVU anchor reads fake names for Asiana pilots, has no clue what she’s saying


(Note: KTVU attempted to use copyright law to remove this video clip even in instances, like mine, where the clip is essential to the discussion about it, for critical journalistic purposes. The station said it was removing the clips to protect the Asian community: “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.” It didn’t take long for the attempt to fail.)

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Seriously? San Francisco TV station KTVU aired a monster of a mess, when its anchor read the purported names of the pilots on Asiana flight 214 that crashed at San Francisco Airport. During the noon newscast, anchor Tori Campbell said the pilots were Captain Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk and Bang Ding Ow. Really? Seriously?

Think about it — look at the names. Use one or two brain cells. And no, they’re not even close to being Korean names. Ugh, this is as bad as it gets. It’s not funny, and it’s a sad and unfortunate reflection of the state of the news industry.

This is a tragic FAIL on a couple of levels:

1. Who would submit such a nasty, racist “news release” to media? Do they think it’s funny?

2. How could a news organization — especially in San Francisco, which is not only where the crash occurred but a city with a very large and diverse Asian population — accept this kind of claptrap without either confirming it, or just plain LOOKING AT IT? (Here’s an AP story that ran, among hundreds of papers, in the SF Examiner from July 8 that lists two of the pilots’ names as released bu Asiana.)

3. What’s the chain of evidence that sees these names when they’re submitted? Producers? Directors? Reporters? Anchors (she obviously didn’t catch it)?
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You gotta love it: “Asians eat weird things” by Fung Bros. w/ AJ Rafael

Brilliant, smart, funny, right on and righteous. Makes me wish I live in LA, and could shop at 99 Ranch anytime I want. I love this video. I love all the food in this video (will have to try the couple of things I’m not familiar with).

Kudos to The Fung Brothers David and Andrew, and singer AJ Rafael for some sunny summer Share. Forward. Embed.

Racist trolls come out from under their rocks following Asiana plane crash

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I shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed anymore, and accept the fact that there will always be idiotic people in the United States who probably function perfectly normally most of the time, and then turn into stupid racist haters the moment there’s some sort of tragedy in the world that involves people of color. Two years ago, I was dumbfounded that Americans would rant and rave about the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan and claim it was somehow “god’s revenge” for Pearl Harbor. What?

But the glibness and ease with which such racist drivel finds its way from pea-brained individuals to the social webs is still shocking. Here I’ve been following the crash of the Asiana jetliner at SFO (an airport I often fly to and from) as a human tragedy, but a miracle with only two casualties. I’ve felt empathy for the families of the two schoolgirls who were killed, and the many survivors who were injured. But the fact that most of those onboard survived — and that 123 survivors were able to walk away without being hospitalized — is nothing short of amazing.

But of course, the human stories of the crash don’t matter to the racists who immediately feel the need to respond with jokes about Asian stereotypes (we’re lousy drivers, har har) and hateful cracks about North Korea (hellooo, Seoul is in South Korea, and this was not an attack by Kim Jong Un on the US).

That such a lowbrow, juvenile mentality switches on so quickly shows that racism and prejudice are still alive and well just beneath the veneer of political correctness that the haters always complain about. Scratch the veneer just a bit with a news event like this tragedy, and you’ll see nothing but ugliness ooze out.

That’s why I write about these issues over and over.
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Man sues Japanese broadcaster NHK for using too many foreign words… but can you stop language from evolving?

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I was amused to see a recent news story about a 71-year-old Japanese man, Hoji Takahashi, who has sued Japan’s public television broadcaster, NHK. His reason for filing suit? He’s suffering “mental distress” because of what he considers NHK’s excessive use of foreign words.

He’s no elderly gadfly with a silly gripe. He’s a member of an organization that is dedicated to preserving the Japanese language, so this is an organized effort to try and stop the influx of foreign words. What foreign words, you ask? Here are a few cited by news reports including from the BBC:

If you tune into NHK’s news or entertainment shows, you can easily make out words such as “toraburu” for “trouble,” “risuku” for “risk” and “shisutemu” for “system.” I’ve been at my mom’s house when she has NHK satellite programming on and I’ve heard “toppu hoh-ty” for “Top 40” in a story about pop music, and many other words that I can make out as English, albeit somewhat mangled in pronunciation.

My mom isn’t a member of any group fighting this trend, but she’s griped to me plenty about the same issue.
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Denver’s direct flight to Tokyo is no longer a flight of fantasy

United flight 139 from Denver International Airport to Tokyo’s Narita Airport flies direct daily, and shaves off hours of travel time and stress from flying to the west coast for a connecting flight to Narita.

Here’s what I wrote when the direct flight on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was first announced. Technical issues grounded the plane for several months from the original March launch, but it left on a fine late spring June day from DIA.

Here are other reports of yesterday’s celebration and inaugural; flight:

CNBC: “Sake Toast” for First United Denver-Tokyo Boeing 787 Flight

Huffington Post Denver (with KDVR Fox-31 report about Montbello Drumline traveling to Japan on second 787 flight): DIA Launches First Direct Denver To Tokyo Flight With Montbello High School Students Aboard

Follow Fox31 reporter Eli Stokols and photojournalist Anne Herbst on their blog as they travel to Japan and chronicle the direct flight and the adventures of the Montbello Drumline students. (The station will air a 30-minute soecial documentary later this summmer.)

Here’s my Nikkei View post about the Montbello Drumline’s orientation, an introduction to Japanese cuktyure including their first sashimi, even octopus.

Denver Post: Denver flight successfully takes off for Japan in inaugural journey