A shooting on Saturday night at a QT I think shows two ways to cover a story, one explains what happened, while another version could create hysteria. I am referring to KWCH and KAKE. KSN must have arrived later and they didn't have any witnesses or anything. Not that it was necessarily bad nor good, but it was safe and didn't really offer much of anything to discuss.
Lets start with KWCH. Their story explained what happened, had some neighbors nearby who explained what they saw and everything. I believe of what I saw that is as far as they went. They gave the facts as what people near there knew and that was it. They might have said the store had been closed a few times in the past dealing with various criminal matters, but that is as far as they went. It told me what I needed to know and didn't make people come to assumptions on camera. Good for a day turn story.
Over at KAKE, they were off to a fine start, talking to authorities and then witnesses similar to KWCH. KAKE reporter Abby Barnett should have stopped while she was ahead. Unfortunately she had to go the cliche route of sticking microphones into people's cars and other people with no ties to this actual scene other than that they live in the area. Of course she gets the token bites of how people now are scared to go to the gas station and how this really worries them. Maybe there is something gained out of this, I think all it does is creates the hysteria, rather than solely sticking to the facts and reporting on the news. If the people went up to her and said that this is happening all the time and they are afraid at night to walk out, its still a little cliche, but would be a little more acceptable. It looked from the interviews of people in cars, these people didn't know exactly what happened, until a reporter briefed them and then the reaction creating the hysteria. When local news sometimes think too hard to manufacture angles on daily turn stories this can happen. -Hal
KWCH Version :http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=7147078
KAKE Version:http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/10130706.html
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11 comments:
I would think that interviewing people not associated with the event, would give a good, unbiased opinion of the situation...
so then why don't we do that with all situations...."there's a storm in hutchinson...but what do the people right outside our station here in wichita think about it." Obviously I'm being a little sarcastic but you can't just interview random people not connected with an event. It's one of the resons we put supers on interviews...because otherwise people at home are wondering who this person is and why should i care what they think. You maybe able to get a good bite or two but that doesn't provide an accurate account of the situation. You can't say "this event in wichita has everyone worried" unless you've spoken with everyone in wichita (i don't think anyone said that i'm just trying to make a point)
There is no bias in a story like this. It's about giving the facts and people describing what they saw does that. Talking to people who didn't see anything, that does not. It's tabloid, something KAKE excels at.
Hal,
Lets face it. This business is about competition more than it is about facts. Management sends reporters to the scene with two objectives... get the story (facts, crime scene, etc) and get something the other guys won't have. So, you go fishing.
This competitive tone is generally healthy in today's "bottom line" environment young reporters are driven to win at all cost. Get a few good stories on your demo tape and you're "outta here!"
Not to get off topic, but I don't know where else to post this. Before I write this, let me say I am not a KWCH nor anyother station employee. I used to be in the business a long time ago and always think the promotions side is interesting. With that said, Hal I'd be curious what you think of the stations' promotions as of late. I will say that I really like the latest KWCH promo. Its a little refreshing from some of the stuff we normally see in Wichita. What do you think? I laugh at those who write about why people even bother to ask what you think. You know I don't necesarily care what you think either, but often times it creates a decent dialog.
The two stories tell a lot about the reporters who did them. One is seasoned and professional. The other is a recent intern with little experience.
I wouldn't call getting an interview from a concerned neighbor "tabloid journalism," but rather, getting the human interest side of the story.
When the reporter has to explain to the neighbor what happened it is not an honest reaction. The last poster is either the reporter in question herself or a KAKE employee. Everyone who works in this market knows how KAKE goes about "making" stories and this is a perfect example.
Yeah, the shooting took place like 15 feet away from a "Safe Place" sign.
Well isn't it Ironic, don't you think?
What happend to the blog? Are you alive Hal?
I am still alive, but haven't been in town more than 2 days in a row the last 2 weeks so my local TV news viewing time has been quite limited. Hopefully by the end of the week things will get back to normal and the blogging will continue on a more routine basis. -Hal
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