Situation Defined
In 2013, KTVU 2 — a Fox News-affiliate station in San Fransisco Bay Area — reported on the crash of flight Asiana 212. An intern at KTVU 2 confirmed made up, racist names for the four pilots flying the Asiana airlines plane, and put them on the teleprompter for the anchor to read. The fake names were “Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu Lo,” “Ho Le Fuk” and “Bang Ding Ow.” (USA Today).
Analyzation
This situation brings me intense ethical messages for multiple reasons, one of them being that there is absolutely no question the intent behind airing those names was blatantly racist and not accidental which is just wrong by journalistic ethics. Secondly, this shows a clear bias in the reporter’s thoughts about the Asian community. While the intern did not actually write the names, whichever reporter did saw the Asian community as a group to laugh at instead of respect and take seriously in their reporting. Thirdly, a plane crash is a tragic situation — To make a mockery out of a situation where people could have been seriously hurt is insulting and inappropriate as a journalist.
In class, we learned that 63 percent of the United States population is white and only 4.8 percent of the population is Asian American. Acts of racism like the instance that happened at KTVU show one of the many ugly factors from this reality — that white people who are supposed to be in charge of the media are often reporting the news through a white lens.
After Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner, requested only black journalists get in touch with her after her father died by police brutality, Issac Bailey — Poynter Institute alumnus and acclaimed journalism professor — took to write an article about the realities of journalism through a white lens.
“…[T]he decisions we make frequently take into account race and identity, even when we pretend they don’t… Many of the conclusions we come to are based on identity, and race is a major pillar of identity in the United States. That’s true even if we don’t factor in racial discrimination.” (Bailey, 32).
Bailey went on to write that he doesn’t think it’s ethical to allow a source to dictate who can report on what issues, and that white reporters can and should report on black issues or straight reporters should be able to report on LGBTQ issues if it can be done outside the white lens or majority lens.
To Columbia Journalism Review writer Collier Meyerson, reporters need to focus on how they perceive race all the time — whether they’re on shift at their reporting job or off the clock with others or by themselves.
“It’s in the conversations we have, or don’t have, with our neighbors, our parents, our friends. Race is as much a part of our lives as breathing, and its consideration must be integral to our reporting.” (Meyerson, 32).
Conclusion
This situation undoubtedly caused more harm than good. In fact, it caused no good — It was racists and didn’t actually deliver any news to the public.
In my own personal opinion, I’m 100 percent positive a white person wrote those names down, likely thinking they’d be taken off the broadcast script before they got on air — which certainly doesn’t make the situation acceptable by any means. Instances like this go to show that to objectively report on race, reporters need to objectively think about race all the time — not just when they punch in for their shifts at their reporting jobs.
Reference Page
BAILEY, I. “WE HAVEN’T FULLY GRAPPLED WITH HOW MUCH WE UNWITTINGLY JUDGE JOURNALISM THROUGH A WHITE LENS”: Newsrooms need to examine biases and decisions about which journalists cover stories about race. Nieman Reports, Winter. 2018. v. 72, n. 1, p. 32–33. Disponível em: <http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=128189537&site=ehost-live&scope=site>. Acesso em: 9 nov. 2018.
MEYERSON, C. Covering a country where race is everywhere. Columbia Journalism Review, Fall. 2017. v. 56, n. 2, p. 31–33. Disponível em: <http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=125432039&site=ehost-live&scope=site>. Acesso em: 9 nov. 2018.
USA TODAY, Ntsb Apologize For Fake Asiana Pilot Names. Roger Yu – https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/12/ktvu-gaffe/2513971/