The sacked workers included journalists, directors,
camera operators, and technical staff
Posted on 02/22/2008 5:45:43 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Thirty workers at a Turkmenistan television network have been sacked after a cockroach was seen scuttling across the newsreader's desk during a live broadcast, it has been reported.
The large brown insect crawled a full lap of the newsdesk on the 9pm news programme, Vatan, before the blooper was aired again on the 11pm edition.
The sacked workers included journalists, directors,
camera operators, and technical staff
The national station was bombarded with calls from disgusted viewers, who said the cockroach's guest appearance had put them off their dinner.
But the mishap was to have more far-reaching consequences than the odd uneaten meal.
Officials from Turkmenistan's ministry of culture discovered the insect's guest appearance the following morning, and swiftly informed the country's president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedo.
He was so horrified that he fired 30 workers from the station, the Guardian reports.
The sacked workers included journalists, directors, camera operators, and technical staff. The country's minister for culture, Gulmurat Muradov, has also ordered an internal investigation.
Before the cockroach incident, Mr Berdymukhamedov - a former dentist and health minister - had instructed the ministry of culture to revamp the Soviet-era TV channel.
However, a new committee founded to perform the task reportedly only worked 9am to 6pm.
It is not the first time the country's leader has had a run-in with the state news channel.
Former president Saparmurat Niyazov, whose authoritarian eccentricities were world renowned, sacked several executives after drunken technicians failed to screen the new year's address to the nation . The bulletin eventually aired at 3am.
put a saddle on it.
Is Dan Rather trying to make a comeback?
Wow. I’d say we need to get some roaches into the studios at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS, and etc. but not even roaches should have to suffer prolonged exposure to toxic liberalism.
Speaking of 5-year-old girls...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVefZDgvFJc
The problem was that it was a female cockroach and it wasn’t wearing a burka.
Lordy, what a fruity weatherman!
That could have been a Sat. Night Live skit. If that was real then what a wuss of a weatherman.
CBS had a cockroach on for 24 years and no one got fired.
Never fails to crack me up.
Wasn’t Cronkite there longer than 24 years ?
t-ping
I was thinking Dan. I didn’t want to insult cockroaches.
Funny, I thought they were already rife with the little buggers.
I remember a few years ago watching TV and when a commercial came, out of the blue a HUGE roach started crawling on my screen and I about died. Well, it was part of the commercial, an Orkin ad. It was life sized and looked so real. Have you seen it?
Oh Yeah,LOL!
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