KTVU’s bogus Asiana Airlines pilot names weren’t racist

When Oakland news station KTVU got pranked, allegedly, by an NTSB intern and released bogus Asiana Airline pilot names, many people laughed.

“I thought, when we first heard it, that’s the funniest audio clip of the year,” said Dori. “Everyone I know who’s heard it has laughed hysterically.”

But some people took it really seriously, like David in Kirkland:

Really Dori? The Asiana pilot name prank was a “clever joke”? Keep laughing it up on the air. You are no better than those Atlanta radio show hosts that made fun of Steve Gleason. Composing a letter to management now.

CNN covered the story over the weekend very seriously, stating that they wouldn’t play the clip because it was offensive. Even at KIRO Radio there were those who laughed off-air and condemned the prank as racist and offensive on-air. Dori estimates that only three percent of people in the media are actually offended.

And while the Asian-American Journalist’s Association has taken a hard stance on the names, Dori doesn’t think the prank has anything to do with racism; He doesn’t think it was making light of the tragedy, or singling out Asian-Americans as lesser people.

“Jokes like this about using names to prank people is as old as the oldest sitcom on TV,” said Dori. “I think I did that with some calls when I was a kid.”

Dori refuses to be a phony and rail against the clip, even though Asiana Airlines has threatened to sue KTVU over the bogus names. Dori thinks that, with the recent crash, Asiana might have bigger things to worry about.

“I thought it was pretty good, what they pulled off against that television station, said Dori. “And yes, I think it’s horrible that people died in that plane crash. But at the same time, believe it or not, those feelings can co-mingle inside my complicated brain. Anyone who says otherwise is a phony.”