How not to insult a colleague on live TV

When you are legitimately angry with a colleague, or even want to playfully banter with him, you might have the urge to flip said colleague "the bird." But if you're a TV anchor delivering a report live and you decide to engage in such an action, you might want to make sure that the gesture is made off camera. This guy didn't:

[WARNING: Contains an obscene hand gesture]

TVSpy blames the gaffe on HD cameras:

With the advent of HD broadcasting and the increasing popularity of widescreen TVs, the TV news industry has had to make adjustments.  Stations have erected new, HD-optimized studios, photographers have had to learn new equipment, and anchors have had to change their makeup.

One seemingly unforeseen change associated with the wider aspect ratio, though, is that morning anchors can no longer secretly flip the bird during a newscast.

KPRC anchor Owen Conflenti found this out on Monday morning when his passing middle finger salute was captured within the wider frame.  Around 9:20 a.m., as Conflenti welcomed viewers back from a commercial break, he nonchalantly raised his middle finger in the direction of someone off-camera.  He continued on as if nothing had happened and for those watching the news update on a 4:3 screen, nothing appeared to have happened.

As of now, the reporter hasn't been punished. Instead, he was sent to Dallas to cover the Super Bowl. Some things in life just aren't fair.

And if you were wondering if video exists of our own Scott Baker -- former top news anchor in Pittsburgh -- doing the same thing, you would be wrong. But there is video of him doing some impeccable anchoring: