Producer who broke into 'CSI: NY' fired

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/15/tv.cbs.apology.ap/index.html

hope this isn't a dupe

CBS News has fired the producer responsible for breaking into "CSI: NY" last week for a special report on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death, a CBS executive said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The news report came during the last five minutes of the forensics mystery last Wednesday, prompting viewer complaints and leading CBS to repeat the show Friday.

The producer responsible ignored network policy to contact a senior executive before interrupting a regularly scheduled program for a news report, the source said.



does anyone else think this is "overkill" on the part of CBS

The issue is not that he broke into CSI specifically, or that it was about Arafat specifically. The issue was that he broke network policy.

I used to be a part of a team that ran one of the largest network backbones in the US (at the time). If we logged onto the router and made a change against policy, it would affect everyone who used our network, just as this guy's decision affected every viewer.

Sometimes you have to be a hardass and stick to the rules. By disciplining and letting go of this producer, they ensure that other producers will follow their procedure.

Now if the guy had no knowledge of this procedure, that's another matter, but from what you've written it sounds like SOP is to contact a senior executive.

this is a sad example of how pathetic our nation is... People actually called up by the hundreds to complain? Get a freakin grip!

I understand company policy and the importance of following it... I'm suspecting this guy had one foot out the door anyway... If they really liked him and he did a super job every other day, he would have probably gotten off with a warning...

I don't watch CSI so I didn't care. But if this news had interrupted the last five minutes of a show I watch, I would have been upset. Breaking News implies something important has happened. Arafat was on his death bed and it wasn't exactly a shock when he died. It's not as if a tornado was ripping through town or there was another terrorist attack. The network should have waited five minutes or put a scroll at the bottom of the screen.

Still feels kinda harsh for him to lose his job... But you do have a point...