Brian Damage
05-12-2009, 11:02 PM
HARTFORD, Conn. -- A blunder during a TV newscast left a hamster labeled a murder suspect and turned the embarassing moment into an Internet favorite.
Kara Sundlun, an anchor at WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, was reading a very serious story about police naming a possible suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old girl.
In a stunning mistake, when the station was supposed to be showing a photo of the suspect, a graphic of a hamster holding a movie clapboard was on the screen.
Realizing the mistake, Sundlun recovered quickly.
"The possible suspect Rodney Stanger seen here ... well this is not Rodney Stanger obviously," she said on the air. "Well, we're going to get his picture. He's currently in a Florida jail accused of murdering his girlfriend."
A few years ago a terrible mistake like that would go on the station's blooper reel and that would be the end of it. But this is the age of YouTube and viral video.
Video of the hamster's mug shot has tallied more than 1.3 million hits on YouTube. The clip was featured on Bill Riley's show on Fox. It was shown on VH1's Best Week Ever show.
Sundlun said showing the hamster was a computer error.
http://www.wsbtv.com/sports/18679493/detail.html
http://www.wsbtv.com/video/18675721/index.html
Kara Sundlun, an anchor at WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, was reading a very serious story about police naming a possible suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old girl.
In a stunning mistake, when the station was supposed to be showing a photo of the suspect, a graphic of a hamster holding a movie clapboard was on the screen.
Realizing the mistake, Sundlun recovered quickly.
"The possible suspect Rodney Stanger seen here ... well this is not Rodney Stanger obviously," she said on the air. "Well, we're going to get his picture. He's currently in a Florida jail accused of murdering his girlfriend."
A few years ago a terrible mistake like that would go on the station's blooper reel and that would be the end of it. But this is the age of YouTube and viral video.
Video of the hamster's mug shot has tallied more than 1.3 million hits on YouTube. The clip was featured on Bill Riley's show on Fox. It was shown on VH1's Best Week Ever show.
Sundlun said showing the hamster was a computer error.
http://www.wsbtv.com/sports/18679493/detail.html
http://www.wsbtv.com/video/18675721/index.html