Originally published February 14, 2007. This is another column that analyzes how different decisions are made by news organizations, when they're covering breaking stories. With all due respect to my hard-working colleagues in Eugene, I currently have more confidence in the news integrity of Medford television news than I do for the Eugene news stations.
There may not be any right or wrong answers when it comes to how a news story is covered, as this week's column will attest. Different television news operations have different policies they follow when determining how much air time to give an event.
A Cave Junction man threatened to kill himself and others on February 7th, during a five-hour standoff in Medford. Fifty-one year-old Mark Dickey drove a van into the parking lot between CBS-affiliate KTVL-TV and the Radio Medford broadcasting studios, forcing the evacuation of both those broadcasting facilities. Authorities also closed Rossanley Drive, which doubles as a portion of Highway 238 between Medford and Jacksonville. Police did not evacuate a nearby housing subdivision, but residents who left their homes were not allowed back inside the subdivision.
As I monitored the television screens inside the KOBI-TV newsroom, I noticed the stark contrast among Medford's three network affiliates that morning. At first glance, KTVL channel 10 appeared to be in normal programming, as Bob Barker conducted his morning ritual on The Price Is Right. But there was no mention of the bomb score, nor were they any local commercials or promos. With nobody inside the building to operate their master control, KTVL simply broadcast the network feed all morning, leaving a blank screen during the times when a local commercial would have been inserted.
At least KTVL was able to remain on the air. My mind recalled an incident years ago in Portland when a gunman entered the KOIN building downtown. Even though the gunman was nowhere near the KOIN-TV studios, channel 6 went off the air during the ordeal. Broadcasting facilities will go to black before they risk giving the airwaves to some fanatic with a cause.
Glancing over at Medford's ABC-affiliate KDRV-TV, the only thing I noticed on channel 12 all morning, February 7th, was a "crawler" at the bottom of the screen, advising viewers that Highway 238 was closed. There were no live reports from the field, nor were there any break-ins from their studio. I initially couldn't figure out if channel 12's lack of coverage was due to technical problems with their live microwave truck, or if it was an editorial decision to ignore the event.
Glancing over at my own station, channel 5 owned the story. With channel 10's news staff unable to access their equipment, and with channel 12 ignoring the drama, channel 5 was the only Medford station with live updates every half hour that morning, from both the studio and on scene at Rossanley Drive, about a quarter mile down the road from the channel 10 studios.
KOBI instantly microwaved [2014 note: This was before the days of satellite uplink dishes in small cities like Medford, and before video was streamed on the internet. Microwave dishes on broadcast towers atop mountains between Medford and Portland were the only way to instantly transmit quality pictures] its footage up to KGW-TV in Portland, who in turn put the footage on Northwest Cable News within minutes.
I later learned all the staff from channel 10 who were forced to retreat to their homes, had watched channel 5 that morning, and they praised our staff for letting the public (and them) know what was taking place.
The situation reminded me of several other situations in recent years. During a bomb scare at the Talent Wal-Mart, authorities evacuated the store and the parking lot. Channels 5 and 10 were on the scene advising the public about the closed facility. Channel 12 ignored the event. A channel 12 producer who was on scene, briefly chatted with me and he seemed aghast that we were giving air time to what might be nothing more than a hoax. A Medford Mail-Tribune reporter was also on scene at Wal-Mart gathering information.
However, the situation was reversed during a natural gas leak at Central Point. Because only a couple or so homes were affected, channel 5 opted to only mention the incident in passing during our evening news. Channel 12, meanwhile, was running crawls during the day about the gas leak in Central Point, despite the fact that authorities were not evacuating any homes, nor were any roads or public facilities impacted by the minor leak.
During emotionally-charged situations, I like to step back periodically and second-guess my approach. The last thing I want to do is to give free air time to someone who is doing something just to attract attention. The public often criticizes the news media of this when video is shown of environmentalists staging a protest outside some government building.
On the other hand, I have to ask myself, Is the public affected by the event? Is a crowded facility that's normally open (Wal-Mart) closed to the public, and why? Is a public road (Highway 238) closed to traffic? Are police officers from multiple agencies responding to the scene (KTVL parking lot)?
It no longer matters if the perpetrator is doing something to crave attention. The situation has escalated to the point the viewing audience will want to know what took place.
In journalism school at the UO in Eugene, former professor Jim Bernstein posed the question to the broadcasting class, "If someone calls you in the newsroom and says there is a bomb in the Hult Center, do you go on the air and report it?"
The obvious answer was no. The news media generally obtains confirmation from the police or a government agency, before reporting unsubstantiated claims. Just as it's (potentially) against the law to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, journalists have an obligation not to incite panic by giving free air time to every crackpot that craves attention.
Just because different news operations may handle a story differently, doesn't necessarily mean that one is right and one is wrong. But hopefully the viewing public will understand that decisions are not made in a vacuum. There's usually a reason as to why a viewer will see or will not see a particular story on the air.
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