KTVU sacked three producers over the on-air reporting mess that named the pilots in the Asiana 214 crash as "Captain Sum Ting Wong," "We To Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow." Rich Lieberman reports that Investigate Producer Roland De Wolk, Special Projects Producer Cristina Gastelu, and Producer Brad Belstock were fired on Wednesday.
Another veteran news producer, Elvin Sledge, is also leaving, but apparently announced his retirement prior to the Asiana broadcast. Brad Belstock was fired not for his involvement in the incident, but for his "Oh Shit" tweet that went out immediately after, apparently in violation of KTVU's social-media policy.
A Cox media attorney is said to be conducting a "major" investigation at the station's Oakland studios, where more bloodletting could be on the way. Tori Campbell, who read the names on the KTVU broadcast, has been spared.
The National Transportation Safety Board intern who allegedly confirmed the names is also "no longer with the agency."
This all boils down to the media's need to get stories first and get them up fast. Too fast, in this case. Matier & Ross spoke with Randy Shandobil, former KTVU political editor who left the station a couple of years ago, because "people were working harder and harder and feeling less secure about what was hitting the air."
Previously: All Asiana Airlines coverage on SFist
