Report: Ex-Pilot Said To Be Source of Fake Pilot Names

Several minutes before the moment the fake names of the Asiana Airlines pilots aired prematurely on KTVU News, a veteran staffer-- awarding winning TV News journalist, Roland De Wolk, (one of the four fired at the station over the incident), passed the names over to newsroom staffers whose duty was to make sure the names were authentic, according to a broadcast source close to the station. One of those staffers included the Managing Editor, according to Rich Lieberman’s 415 Blog.

According to Lieberman’s story… 

"You better check these, (names), out", said De Wolk after he passed the names over to newsroom personnel.  KTVU's Managing Editor, Michelle Toy, who saw the list and whose duty, (among normal news procedures), was to read the names out loud, phonetically, raised the issue that the names sounded suspicious. Told that they were confirmed by an NTSB official, (later to be known as an intern), OKed the list.  Toy, who is of Asian descent, was not one of the four staffers let go by KTVU and its corporate owner, Cox Media. 

Another individual close to De Wolk said that the source that provided the fake pilot's names was an ex-pilot who had worked with KTVU in the past and was considered to be trustworthy. 

At least 4-5 people saw the list of names, including anchor, Tori Campbell, who read them on the air on KTVU's Noon Newscast, Friday, July 12th.

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