A KABC camera guy landed in hot water over the weekend when he called some Armenian protestors “thug-type idiots.”
The comments came after the cameraman named Tim interviewed some Turkish people who were counter-protesting a group of Armenians protesting at the Turkish embassy.
The protest was over Armenian claims the Turks – when they were called The Ottomans — committed genocide by systematically exterminating between 800,000 and 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. Turkey denies it was genocide.
The video of the cameraman interviewing the Turkish folks was originally posted to Facebook by the former president of the Assembly of Turkish American Association, who supported what the camera guy said. You can hear his comments at 5:28.
But Asbarez, an online Armenian newspaper, picked up on the video and called out the the KABC cameraman for what he said. They also questioned KABC’s approach to the story.
“In their quest for fairness and accuracy, would ABC7 invite a Holocaust denier on its air when covering the Jewish Holocaust?” the Armenian newspaper asked.
KABC responded. From Asbarez:
[FTVLive]“We thank the community for bringing this video to our attention. ABC7 does not condone what was said on the video and apologizes to those offended. The photographer in question was not a staff employee of ABC7 and the station has determined his services will no longer be used,” said KABC TV President and General Manager, Cheryl Kunin Fair, in an email in response to an Asbarez article exposing a cameraman hired by ABC7 Eyewitness news who called Armenians “thug-like idiots” while conducting an interview with Ergun Kirlikovali, the former president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and another Turkish Genocide denier Nur Hostetler on April 24 during the Armenian Genocide Rally for Justice in front of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles.
Our readers and community members deserve credit for their swift response to this insult.
ABC7 also said: “Most importantly, ABC7 believes the story that resulted from the coverage that day is fair and accurate. We would appreciate it if you watch the story and judge for yourself.”