Asiana sues KTVU for defamation, fails to realize it’s defaming self

Yesterday, Asiana Airlines announced it was pursuing legal action against San Francisco Bay Area station KTVU Channel 2 after it aired what many have deemed offensive and racially charged names during a broadcast about Flight 214’s crash. During the broadcast, the station identified the four pilots on board: Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow.

Immediately, the station drew fire and offered an on-air apology. “We misidentified the pilots in the Asiana Airlines crash,” said anchor Frank Somerville. “We made several mistakes when we received this information. First, we never read the names out loud, phonetically sounding them out.” I also cannot believe no one at the station put the pieces together they were misled by someone at the NTSB. Was the station blindly following the information received at the NTSB? As the station looks into the matter, I’m sure at least one person will lose their job over this.

Asiana Airlines said, “The KTVU broadcast seriously undermined our company’s honor.” They also indicated the fake names tarnished the honor of its pilots. It was for these reasons the company secure legal counsel and plans on filing a defamation suit against the station. However, the move will actually backfire and cause more harm to the airline than the broadcaster. Here’s why.

Defamation laws in the United States cover a number of areas. Most relevant to this case is the following provision: allegations or imputations “injurious to another in their trade, business, or profession.” In this particular situation KTVU inflicted no such damage on Asiana Airlines. As soon as the report was released, it was recognized as false information and it negatively affected the station. The story took away all journalistic integrity of KTVU and has made them the laughing stock station around the world.

No one associates the broadcast with Asiana Airlines or its pilots. People focus solely on KTVU and the NTSB intern that perpetrated the ill-conceived and offensive joke. Setting aside the station’s First Amendment protection, while the broadcast was in extremely poor taste, it inflicted no damage to the corporate brand or its employees.

In this reactionary measure, Asiana Airlines has actually set in motion a mechanism that will ultimately defame itself. Issuing statements of condemnation against KTVU was sufficient, further action only takes on the appearance of greed. When a company takes action when none is warranted, that is when negative public perception is perceived. I have spoken with a number of people in the Philippines and Korea. All have recognized the poor judgement made by the KTVU news staff, but also have formed lower opinions of Asiana Airlines for pursuing this course of action.

What are your thoughts? Does the KTVU broadcast amount to defamation? Has it tarnished the honor of the airline and its pilots? What’s your opinion of the incident?

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