Fox News Airs Appallingly Racist anti-Asian Segment

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Jesse Watters interviews people in NYC's Chinatown during a segment that aired on October 3, 2016.
(Photo credit: Fox News)
This is a new low, even for Fox News.

Earlier this week, Fox's O'Reilly Factor aired a jaw-droppingly racist segment about Asian Americans as part of its “Watters' World” features. In it, Fox correspondent Jesse Watters traveled to New York City's Chinatown under the auspices of discovering what Asian American voters thought about Donald trump and the presidential election.

Rather than to approach pollsters and researchers who professionally study Asian Americans' and Pacific Islanders' political attitudes — and who released an updated report this week on AAPI opinions, showing low support among AAPIs for the Republican Party and the race-baiting of the Trump campaign — Watters instead went for a man-on-the-street approach.

Actually, correction: Jesse Watters went for a holy-crap-that's-so-racist-man-on-the-street approach. Because, why bother with investigative journalism when you can instead fill five minutes pretending to report about a growing but largely overlooked elecorate by being an offensive, annoying asshole to total strangers?

Dear Cable News Networks: AAPIs Are Tired of Your Bullshit.

An open letter regarding the persistent underrepresntation of AAPIs on MSNBC, CNN and FOX News.



A coalition of prominent Asian American and Pacific Islander civic and civil rights organizations has united to deliver an open letter to MSNBC, CNN and Fox News -- the country's three largest providers of cable news -- demanding that the networks address the persistent underrepresentation of the AAPI community in their programming.

The coalition's letter, organized by the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and Reappropriate, responds to recent incidents that involve news hosts and guests who made disparaging remarks about the AAPI community on air. The letter highlights research by Media Matters that shows that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up less than 3% of invited nightly news or Sunday morning political talk show guests, even though AAPIs are nearly 7% of the United States population.

"Networks need to ensure that Asian American and Pacific Islander voices and perspectives are heard and that issues of importance to our communities are discussed," said NCAPA National Director Christopher Kang. "If we are invisible in the media, racial slurs and inaccurate portrayals of AAPIs will persist, but when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are better represented -- in particular, in the news--it allows for a more diverse understanding across all communities. All Americans -- including AAPIs -- deserve more accurate representation in our media."

Fox News guest apologizes for comments about internment

"I want to issue a sincere apology for my remarks... which I believe were unfortunately misinterpreted."



Hear that? It's squeaky, clunky sound of a backpedal. Over the weekend, Fox News guest Jonathan Hoenig apologized for comments he made citing the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as an example of measures that led to the United States winning the war -- an argument he made on Cashin' In in support of the profiling of Muslim Americans today as a measure to combat terrorism.

Fox News Guest Apologizes for Internment Camp Comments

Hoenig's remarks on the matter are full of all kinds of bullshit, and sparked a fairly fiery response from a number of Asian American and Japanese American politicians and community organizations -- representing the community that, you know, actually had to endure the injustice of internment. Congressman Mike Honda called Hoenig's comments nothing less than "inexcuseabe" and "idiotic and insensitive."

On Saturday, Cashin' In took a moment for Hoenig to offer an on-air apology for his comments:

Fox News panelist argues internment camps were justified

Thus, "profiling would be at least a good start" in the war on terror.



Let's get this out of the way: pretty much everything that airs on Fox News is bullshit. But there's Fox News, and then there's Fox News realllly going for it. Like this recent discussion about the war on terror that included, among other arguments, justification for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Fox's Cashin' In: 'The Enemy Is Islamic,' It's Time to Start Profiling Muslims

On Saturday's broadcast of Fox's Cashin' In, a four-person panel weighed in on whether we should start profiling Muslims in America. How this shit passes for legit journalism is incomprehensible, and predictably, all the discussants were in agreement on how to find the terrorists among us: "Profile, profile, profile."

Panelist Jonathan Hoenig took it even further, making the claim that rounding up Japanese Americans and putting them in internment camps actually worked out quite well for the United States:

Teacher names newborn after student killed in tornado

Jennifer Doan was injured while trying to protect students when the tornado hit



The third-grade teacher who tried to protect her students when a devastating tornado tore through her Oklahoma town has named her newborn baby boy after one of the students who died in the twister.

Plaza Towers teacher names newborn after student killed in May 20 tornado

On May 20, an EF5 tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma, destroying thousands of homes and killing 24 people. The twister's destructive path included Plaza Towers Elementary School, where survivor 31-year-old teacher Jennifer Doan was buried under rubble while trying to shield her students when the tornado hit.

Seven students were killed. Doan was eight weeks pregnant when the tornado struck. On December 21, she gave birth to a healthy boy. She and her husband named him Jack, because they liked how it sounded. However, Jack's middle name carries a deeper meaning: Nicolas, one of the students who was killed in that school hallway:

Woman gives birth outside Holland Tunnel

They hoped they could make it to the hospital in time, but this kid was ready to go.



Hospital or no hospital, this baby wanted out. Right then and there. So on Monday morning in New Jersey -- just outside the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, to be exact -- a woman gave birth to a baby who was in one big hurry to be born: Baby born outside entrance to the Holland Tunnel.

Brooklyn couple Ying Chen, 21, and Kai Tang, 23, were driving back from visiting a cousin in Philadelphia when Chen went into labor. They hoped they could make it to the hospital in time, but this kid was ready to go. So Tang pulled over just outside the tunnel in Jersey City, where he flagged down some help.

And with the help of some Port Authority police officers, this baby girl was born in the back seat of her father's Nissan. Healthy and safe.

KTVU's fake racist Asiana crew names came from an ex-pilot

By now, you know that Bay Area news station KTVU got into some trouble after reporting fake racist names for the crew of the fatal Asiana Airlines flight that crashed in San Francisco last month. The station apologized, an intern got fired, producers were dismissed, and the airline threatened to sue. The incident unleashed all kinds of havoc, but it's never quite been clear where those phony names came from.

Turns out, the names came from an ex-commercial pilot who previously had consulted with KTVU and was considered a reliable source. I'm willing to bet that the station is no longer on good terms with that guy anymore: Pilot consultant source of KTVU's fake pilot list, report says.

According to blogger Richard Lieberman, the whole incident sounds like a complete breakdown in the chain of reporting, which included an Asian American managing editor in the newsroom, Michelle Toy, who apparently did indeed raise the issue that the names sounded suspicious:

Can we just all agree to stop using "chink in the armor"?

Aw man. Come on. All right, so you may have heard that News Corp/21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch is splitting with his wife of fourteen years, Wendi Deng. This is not news I give a crap about, but...

This week, during a segment of CNBC's Power Lunch, Robert Frank used the phrase "chink in the armor" to describe Deng and Murdoch's pending divorce. This did not sit well with the Asian American Journalists Association: CNBC Reporter's Use of "Chink in the Armor" Condemned By Asian American Journalists.

Okay, I understand that this is a legitimate phrase. And I can recognize when it's being used innocently enough... But of all the things you could say to express these particular ideas, and all the words you could use in this situation, "chink in the armor" is simply a really bad choice. Here's video of the broadcast:

Hey everybody, that Korean TV news screenshot is fake

All right, I have to address this because it keeps getting passed along to me...

This screenshot (perpetuated by this article) of a Korean TV news broadcast's alleged tit-for-tat poke back at KTVU has been doggedly circulating since last week. Because two can apparently play the fake name game.

It's fake.

KTVU producers fired over racist Asiana name prank

Catching up on some news that dropped while I was out... In case you hadn't heard, some folks did indeed get fired for the racist name prank that made it on the air in the wake of the Asiana Airlines crash earlier this month: KTVU producers fired over Asiana pilots' fake names.

Last week, KTVU confirmed that the station fired three veteran producers over the four fake names that should never have made it on the air. Investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock were all given the boot after an in-house investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the station has been quietly trying to the get all the clips of the on-air gaffe pulled from YouTube, citing copyright infringement:

NTSB fires intern who confirmed fake, racist Asiana names

Well, at least we know somebody got fired. The NTSB intern who confirmed the fake, racist names of the Asiana Flight 214 pilots to KTVU -- which the station went ahead and reported on air -- has been fired: NTSB Intern Fired After KTVU Reported Fake, Racist Names.

It's still not clear where KTVU came up with the names (maybe a bathroom wall?), but according to the National Transportation Safety Board's statement, a summer intern "acted outside the scope of his authority" when he confirmed the fake names in response to KTVU's query.

UPDATE: According to The Desk, the intern in question has been identified as Alexander Fields-Lefkovic, whose job duties as an intern with the NTSB's public affairs office involved routing media inquiries to appropriate parties at the agency -- a job he apparently failed to perform last Friday.

The NTSB apologized and promised that "appropriate actions" would be taken to ensure this wouldn't happen again. Step one: fire this intern's foolish ass. Now, how about you, KTVU?

Third victim dies in Asiana Airlines crash

More terrible news... A third passenger in the Asiana Airlines crash has died. The victim, described as a girl under age 18, had sustained serious injuries when Flight 214 crashed landed at San Francisco International Airport last Saturday: S.F. plane crash: Third victim dies.

The girl, who had been one of three patients in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital, died of her injuries on Friday morning. Her family requested that the hospital not release her identity.

Police also confirmed that 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan, one of the two Chinese teenagers who were killed on the day of the crash, was run over by a firetruck that responded to the emergency. It still isn't clear whether Ye was already dead when she was hit:

"Captain Sum Ting Wong"? For real? Pranked news station reports racist fake Asiana flight crew names

Holy crap. This has to be one of the most epic broadcast news fails I've seen... and it's racist as hell. Earlier today, Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU reported the names of four pilots aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214. Except KTVU got pranked, and the names they were reported were waaaay wrong: KTVU Reports Asiana Air Pilots Were "Sum Ting Wong" and "Ho Lee Fuk."

Yes, these are the "names" that were actually uttered and displayed on live television: "Captain Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow." I am not kidding you. There's apparently a racist fourth grader running the show over at KTVU. Here's a video of the gaffe:

Two dead in Asiana Airlines crash

By now, you've heard about the fiery crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 on the runway at San Francisco International Airport, which killed two people and injured more than 180 others -- several in critical condition. The flight was arriving from Seoul when the Boeing 777 made a hard landing, lost its tail and caught on fire on Saturday morning: Asiana Airlines Plane Crashes At San Francisco International Airport.

One man caught the crash on camera:

Injured teacher tried to shield students from tornado

By now, you've heard all about the devastating tornado that tore through Moore, Oklahoma on Monday, destroying thousands of homes and killing 24 people. Here's the story of one survivor, a teacher who tried to protect her students when the tornado hit: Injured third-grade teacher tells of trying to protect students.

Jennifer Doan, a third grade teacher, was pulled from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School. She suffered a fractured sternum and spine while using her body in an attempt to shield some of her students. She can barely speak, but she recalls everything that happened when the tornado struck her classroom:

13-year-old meets bone marrow donor who saved her life

Don't tell me that registering to be a bone marrow donor doesn't make a difference. It makes a difference. Leukemia survivor Vicky Tran is living proof. Last week, on the one-year anniversary of the bone marrow transplant operation that saved her life, 13-year-old Vicky met her donor, Vincent Pan, in person for the first time: Bone Marrow Donor Meets Girl Whose Life He Saved.

Longtime Los Angeles news anchor Mario Machado dies at 78

Mario Machado, whose career spanned several decades as the first Asian American newscaster in Los Angeles, died over the weekend from complications of pneumonia. He was 78: Mario Machado, LA's 1st Asian-American Newscaster, Dies At 78.

Machado, who won eight Emmy Awards as a longtime news anchor and reporter, was the nation's first prominent Chinese American newscaster and the first in the Los Angeles market.

His broadcast career dates back to the 1960s, when he was a reporter on the CBS affiliate that is now CBS2 in Los Angeles, as well as other local stations:

News anchor has the worst first day ever

Ah, you gotta love those small-market local newscasts. Check out this video clip of A.J. Clemente's momentous first night on the job as anchor for KFYR, the NBC affiliate in Bismarck, North Dakota. Things did not go well. The first words out of his mouth -- on air -- were "fucking shit," as co-anchor Van Tieu sits there next to him in horror. Let's go to the tape:

Nine killed in Oregon tour bus crash

Some awful news out of Oregon from over the weekend... On Sunday, nine people were killed and dozens injured when a tour bus went over a guardrail and plummeted down a steep embankment: Oregon Tour Bus Crash Kills 9 People, Injures More Than 20 Others.

The charter bus, carrying forty tourists -- mostly from South Korea -- from Canada to Las Vegas, skidded off an icy mountain highway and crashed hundreds of feet down a hill in northeastern Oregon. Four men, four women and one girl were killed, though authorities are still identifying several victims: