A critical look at the Wichita TV news

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The QT Shooting Trial

The last post and comments following has opened up discussion on 3 topics. I want to limit that post to discussion on the questions someone wanted to know about the business in the Wichita TV market and then the discussion which opened up on weather. A 3rd topic developed regarding the QT shooting trial. I'd like the comments on this post to be solely on the later.

There hasn't been a lot, but certainly a few posts regarding Wednesday's events at the trial of a man accused of shooting a clerk at a QT over a year ago. On Wednesday, the Prosecution showed surveillance video from the store which show the accused walking into the store and shooting the clerk. I think it is very interesting to see how the 3 stations dealt with the issue. I only saw KWCH's version at 6PM and was surprised at how they showed the arm of the defendant going up to the counter than froze just moments before the gun was fired. When I first saw this I remembered thinking it was a little crazy, but that was as far as I thought about it. Tonight reading a couple of the comments I then began to search to see what the others did with the story. KAKE has a story posted which shows the victim before the shooting in the store behind the counter and even shows the defendant walking into the counter and then cuts to a shot of a stretcher moving the victim. As a previous poster said, you can see a dark spot on the floor, probably blood. Meanwhile, according to an earlier commentor, KSN does not show any of the tape. A previous comment wanted to know if they were even there or if it was a decision on their part not to run it. I haven't seen their coverage yet and am curious to know how they handled it. Thanks to the link from a commenter, for a response by Jason Kravarik saying it was KSN's decision not to show the tape.
http://www.ksn.com/news/local/7258401.html

So lets hear it on the post. If you were news director what would you have run. Would you have shown everything leading up to the moment before the gun is fired (KWCH), or show the scene before of the clerk behind the counter and then the defendant walking in and stopping before he reaches for gun, but show the stretcher leaving what appears to be a dark spot of blood on the carpet (KAKE) or show none of the scene video (KSN) . As of now KWCH nor KSN has links to their stories on the trial. Here is the link to KAKE story if you haven't seen it. I am curious to hear your comments on the matter. -Hal
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/10057211.html

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

KSN can say all they want that it was a decision they made not to show the tape. The fact is, they weren't even there. KSN is, quite frankly, completely out of touch with what is and is not news.

Anonymous said...

KSN has been airing footage of Barnes being arrested outside the QT that night--moments after pulling the trigger. Impressive footage if I must say so.

And I heard they WERE at court that day.

Anonymous said...

I know KSN was in the courtroom and chose not to run any of the video of the actual shooting.

Anonymous said...

1) KSN is about 3 blocks from that QT so yes they were there first.

2) No one ran the actual shooting. Running everything up until that moment is fine and the responsible thing to do.

Anonymous said...

I think it is really eerie to see even KWCH's video which shows the gun actually pointed at the victim. Although the shot wasn't fired, I think it was a little rough. I cannot imagine what the actual video is like. I thought KSN was way too conservative on this one. I think they could have showed video of the clerk like KAKE did before the incident happened. I thought KAKE probably handled it best.

Anonymous said...

Has there even been a story about the victim in this case, besides showing a still or mentioning his name? This whole story has been about Barnes, Barnes, Barnes. I think THAT is wrong.

I think showing the surveillance video, including stills, is not necessary; leave it up to the viewer's imagination. If people in the public desire to see that footage, then they are sick and twisted.

No one besides those involved in the case/court proceedings, need to see it, especially the viewing public.

I havn't read the Eagle this week, but I'd be willing to bet they didn't frontpage a huge color still of the moment before Barnes pulls the trigger with a bold caption reading "BOOM!"... I think people would be upset with that, and I'm a bit surprised people havn't spoken out about 10/12 doing essentially that...

Whoever at KSN decided not to air it, is a real mensch.

Anonymous said...

The news is not here for us to sanitize. The world is an ungly place. Should the shooting have been shown...no. Should everything until the moment before...absolutely. It shows the violent, senseless nature of the crime.

Anonymous said...

"It shows the violent, senseless nature of the crime"

Right, but does that need to be SHOWN or TOLD?

Anonymous said...

hey I just want to say, say what you want about KSN but their efforts for the Race for the Cure was outstanding. Sure, it is a bit of self promotion, but what isn't these days in TV?
Yes, they may have beaten it to a bloody pulp a bit, but all that coverage really helped raise A LOT of money. KSN may have it's faults, but they really do A LOT in this community

Anonymous said...

That's not a newsroom's job.

Anonymous said...

And sadly for a newsroom with a smaller staff, I think it was more of their responsibility for shouldering the load of promoting it.

Anonymous said...

I've worked in 5 different markets and every station I have worked at has a cause they support. That's not anything new.