Brian Damage
03-21-2007, 10:38 AM
MESA, Ariz. - A Phoenix television station says it has fired an employee suspected of adding about 30 seconds of hard-core pornography into a broadcast of a health show featuring former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw.
The unnamed worker for ION Media Networks’ KPPX-TV “was immediately terminated and faces further legal action” after an investigation determined who was responsible for the March 12 incident, spokeswoman Leslie Monreal said in a statement.
Palm Beach, Fla.-based ION Media Networks, which offers family-friendly programs, called the incident “an intolerable act of human sabotage” and apologized to viewers.
Monreal said the images appeared only in the Phoenix market. The images prompted a flood of calls to local news media outlets and the cable television provider.
Brenda Schodt, of Chandler, said she was shocked to look up and see graphic sex acts on her television screen.
“Maybe five or 10 minutes into the show there was no volume,” Schodt said. “I thought it was the TV, but when I looked up, there were these images.”
The unnamed worker for ION Media Networks’ KPPX-TV “was immediately terminated and faces further legal action” after an investigation determined who was responsible for the March 12 incident, spokeswoman Leslie Monreal said in a statement.
Palm Beach, Fla.-based ION Media Networks, which offers family-friendly programs, called the incident “an intolerable act of human sabotage” and apologized to viewers.
Monreal said the images appeared only in the Phoenix market. The images prompted a flood of calls to local news media outlets and the cable television provider.
Brenda Schodt, of Chandler, said she was shocked to look up and see graphic sex acts on her television screen.
“Maybe five or 10 minutes into the show there was no volume,” Schodt said. “I thought it was the TV, but when I looked up, there were these images.”