Was a firefighter behind hilarious viral prank on TV station?
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Previously: DOUBLE Ho Lee Krap! You must see what this TV station reported
A man who some have dubbed a “folk hero” pranked KABC-TV in Los Angeles during the flooding Tuesday at UCLA by claiming to be a spokesman for the L.A. Department of Water and Power. The name he used, Louis Slungpue, didn’t tip anyone off in the newsroom that this was a prank and either did his claim the whole thing was caused by a cherry bomb exploded in a toilet. It was only after Mr. Slungpue’s alternate theory that this problem occurred because someone took a “massive dump” did anyone at the TV station wake up and cut off the caller.
Now comes word that this hilarious prank (okay, I’m childish when it comes to these things) may have been the work of a firefighter, possibly one on duty. Let me be clear up front that the claim the caller may be a firefighter could be as bogus as the original call, but it’s too good and funny not to pass it on.
A caller to talk radio station KFI AM 640 taking responsibility for the prank in its aftermath admitted that, yes, he is a fireman, though he didn’t say where. And from the other details he gave KFI, we’re utterly convinced it’s the same guy — and that he was, in fact, at a fire station at the time of his epic prank.
“We were sitting around with the fellows,” he said, “and one of the guys dared me to do it. We just hopped online, pulled the number up, called them, and they couldn’t believe that I did it. They said, ‘You don’t have the guts to do it.’ Well, push comes to shove, I had to show them what’s up.” He then left the room — “I get the giggles” — while the other guys watched the prank on TV.
The rest of the story, if true, is also hilarious. The guy says the TV station didn’t even get the name right. He says he told them the last name was Flungpue, but despite numerous spellings it became Slungpue on the air.
Whether it’s a firefighter or not, I’m convinced the TV stations who allow this to happen deserve the embarrassment. It isn’t like fake callers to TV newsrooms during live breaking news events are anything new. I’m guessing we are in the second or maybe third decade of these pranks, many of them courtesy of Howard Stern fans.
Related: Prank-call legend Captain Janks is still a nemesis of news outlets
These still happen because TV news operations usually aren’t very good at learning from their mistakes or the mistakes of others in the news business.
In addition, assignment managers and producers are so eager to find someone to give them information in the early stages of the live coverage, they fail to verify that the caller is legit. They have the live pictures and what they need is something for the anchors to say to fill the time. Add to the mix that it’s often interns (aka cheap labor) with little news experience and training answering the phones and you end up with the likes of Louis Slungpue, make that Flungpue, on the air. My experience is that having the interns on the phones has also allowed many legitimate news tips to fall through the cracks.
My friend Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi, in a profile two-days-ago of Howard Stern’s Captain Janks (aka Tom Cipriano), describes the TV newsroom problem this way:
But Cipriano’s pranks also stand as a running commentary on the flaws and vanities of television news. Professional journalists are supposed to check their sources for accuracy and authenticity. That Cipriano, a self-described “not-too-bright guy,” can beat professional call screeners so often suggests they don’t do it often enough in the race for color, drama and “breaking news.”
As I said a year ago when a bogus call resulted in a San Francisco TV anchor reading fake names for the crew of Asiana Flight 214 (remember Captain Sum Ting Wong and Ho Lee Fuk?), it’s time for news operations to take a page from the military after they screw up so badly. A stand down in the newsroom to go over simple fact checking and call screening would likely help newsrooms everywhere get their poo (whether it’s slung or flung) together during breaking news events.
