Wednesday, December 14, 2005

What's the deal with local skydiver coverage?

The saga of Joplin skydiver Shayna Richardson, whose most recent attempt resulted in a collision with pavement after her parachutes failed to work, appears to be the latest media phenomenon.
Ms. Richardson's tale, which concluded with two intriguing hooks, her survival and the discovery that she was pregnant, has spread like wildfire, with newspapers and television stations across the country carrying the story and the footage of her unsuccessful jump.
I have been interested in the statement made on KOAM's local reports that it was the only local station that interviewed Ms. Richardson, something I heard on the 6 p.m. news Tuesday and on the morning news today. KOAM's piece obviously featured Lisa Olliges interviewing Ms. Richardson.
If this is the case, it brings into question, the coverage on KODE and KSNF. On the 10 p.m. news last night, KODE used the skydiving story as its lead. with anchor Brian Hamman doing the voiceover on footage of the dive and of Ms. Richardson talking about it.
KSNF aired the story a little later in its newscast, where it appeared to be based on reporting by Lauren Hieger, combined with the skydiving footage. The piece included an interview with Ms. Richardson.
This raises some questions of journalistic ethics. Did KSNF deliberately try to make it appear as if Ms. Hieger had interviewed Ms. Richardson when footage from another source was used, or was KOAM inaccurately claiming that is was the only local station which had interviewed Ms. Richardson.
I await your responses.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Video and an interview with the skydiver that was conducted by a Fayetteville tv station was put on a service that supplies video to stations all across the country. I'm assuming that's where some of the Joplin stations got their stuff.. so it's possible that KOAM was the only one with an interview conducted by a Joplin station.. since the others were basically a feed from another station in Arkansas. Did you see her on Good Morning America this morning.. great interview!

Anonymous said...

Each station handled it the right way. KOAM should brag about having the only local interview. But to the normal viewer it deosn't matter, they just want to hear the story. People in the media forget that a majority of news viewers do not switch the channel. A lot of people have been watching the same news for more than a decade and could care less if someone secure their own interview or got the footage from another source.
Media people care about a lot of things that their audience don't give a sh!* about.

Anonymous said...

FOR YOUR INFORMATION, BOTH KSN AND KODE DID INTERVIEWS WITH SHAYNA RICHARDSON IN HER JOPLIN HOME ON TUESDAY.

Anonymous said...

KOAM didn't handle anything the right way. Other than telling a good lie.

Both KODE and KSN did local reports and got the video straight from Ms. Richardson.

Hey KOAM, instead of breaking our trust, how about breaking a story one and a while?

Anonymous said...

As a photog from KSN - I would know if we interviewed her or not- I was there. As was KODE. Both stations got individual interviews, as well as the skydiving footage from Ms. Richardson. So KOAM may have been there earlier in the day, but they certainly were not the only ones on the story.

Anonymous said...

randy, who are you to question ANYONE'S ethics? you're too lazy to take time out of your busy blogging lifestyle to actually make a phone call and ask for the answer.

is this what you teach your students?

Anonymous said...

Too bad, Monday night KOAM stole the video from KFSM in Northwest Arkansas!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I can’t help but reiterate both KSN and KODE were at Ms. Richardson’s home on Tuesday afternoon. No one in Joplin had the exclusive interview. I don’t understand why there was any confusion on where KSN and KODE received their video. If you watch KSN’s 10 o’clock story you can see b-roll exclusive only to KSN.

Anonymous said...

Frankly, I wish the babbling idiots from all three stations would perform a live reinactment of the free-fall. I might actually tune in for that. Fox14 in Pittsburg is my current choice with far less mindless babble and stupid giggles and telling me how to "bundle up" when the forcast is 5 degrees. SHEESH! Hayslip has become too fond of bad puns (is there any other kind?) but for the most part, they read the news without stupid "teasers" about the next story.
I want to hear this teaser, "Will Tiffany survive the 5000 feet free fall? Tune in after these commercials and we'll show you."

Anonymous said...

Okay Randy, looks pretty clear as to what happened. I hope you handle this the same way you would if KSN had "faked" an interview.

Anonymous said...

Who cares?

Thanks to the Turner Report all the local stations spend more time trolling the Internet for stories rather than out working the streets.

Examples: KOAM claimed credit for saying last week that Bart Tatum was a candidate for MSSU's head coaching job. That's been discussed on d2football.com for weeks.

KODE broke the story that the CHL was interested in Joplin. They got that straight from a hockey fan site.

Are news sources really "breaking" or "first bringing" stories if they are merely presenting information already available in another medium?

Anonymous said...

First to introduce a story into a particular market apperently qualifies as "breaking" a story. As for KOAM skewing the truth, it has been that way for years. Their management has an elitist attitude and believe they are the only show in town.
If they are so high and mighty why do they offer the worst salaries in town? They pay their people like crap.

Anonymous said...

Randy?????

Anonymous said...

I never really saw the whole "Randy loves KOAM and hates KSN/KODE" thing, but your silence says it all.

Anonymous said...

Where's the retaction Randy???

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how to spell on this sight?
Comment above: "retaction?"
Two above that: "apperently?" Several above that: :Instead of breaking our trust, how about breaking a story one in a while."
Brilliant Einsteins.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Globe's Web site broke the story on Nexstar and CableOne reaching a deal. Even a severly crippled Globe newsroom is kicking the TV stations' butts. That's real sad.

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow the Globe will talk about Nexstar and Cable-One finally making a deal. Have they made a deal? Their people say they have. Can't wait to see Cable-Ones response. If they don't match, who's zoomin who?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone actually want the TV stations breaking a story about themselves?

Anonymous said...

It does not matter which local station leads with a breaking story first. What is more important is if the reporters facts are accurate and the follow up comments by the anchorperson are relevant.

Anonymous said...

That's pretty funny etc67. The Joplin TV stations 1) will never get the facts and 2)the anchors will never have anything relevent to add.

Randy said...

To the person who wanted me to make a "retaction," why in the world would I do that? Please take the time to read what I wrote. All I did was raise a question about the coverage of the skydiver and whether KOAM was accurate when it said it was the only local station to interview Ms. Richardson. I wanted to know. As for the person who commented about my ethics and accused me of being lazy, I would have responded sooner, but frankly, grading 120 two-page writing assignments, helping write responses to elementary students' letters to Santa, putting out the first issue of South Middle School's newspaper, the South Spotlight, teaching six classes a day,coordinating South's entries for the annual Joplin Elks Lodge Essay Contest, takings photos and video at the band concert Tuesday night and tonight's vocal concert, trying to add a few items to the blog each day and run a publicity campaign for "Small Town News,"...hmm, you're right, I must be horribly lazy. I would have had to have made several phone calls to track down the story,something I don't have the luxury or the time to do any more. Since I have a sizable readership at the local TV stations, I simply asked the question through the blog.

Anonymous said...

Randy:
So you're too busy to check sources? That's a fine thing to teach future journalists.
Also you questioned the credibility of a station and a reporter. You should apologize or give a "reatction" for questioning their ethics and credibility.

Also, where's the outrage about KOAM essentially lying to the public. They claim they had an exclusive, when they didn't.Infact what media didn't have this story? Also, why not take them to task like you have the other two stations in the past??

Randy said...

Apparently, you do not have the capability of understanding that I did not write a story claiming that any of the stations did anything. I asked what the deal was. I received answers. I'm satisfied. If all you are interested in is launching personal attacks, please feel free to continue to do so. This blog, as much as I enjoy doing it, is not a source of income for me and most of the readers understand that. If you are dissatisfied with what you read here, by all means feel free to check out other blogs that carry news and commentary about this area.

Anonymous said...

Nexstar employees are abound on here. It's a shame they are way to jealous to mention their name and what their job is at KSN or KODE. One of the post is obviously from Tiffany Alaniz, fess up to it. I don't work for any T.V. station here in Joplin, but I do know how it works at KOAM and they are committed to getting the right story broke and done quickly and effectively. To question the ethics of the KOAM team is an insult to the only good place to go for local news, weather and sports. Jealousy is a rotten apple.

Anonymous said...

"...are abound on here..."? "...right story broke..." Grammar isn't your strong suit. And where is your name, oh KOAM employee?

Anonymous said...

So you're too busy grading papers to check facts, but not too busy to publish a blog everyday on subjects about which you have read elsewhere. Hmmmmm. Perhaps that's part of the reason why you lost your jobs in the media. From your response above, you also do not understand that you accuse when you write "...it brings into question, the coverage on KODE and KSNF."

Anonymous said...

My biggest question is "How much coverage does this particular story deserve?"

Sometimes a feature story (which this obviously was), while interesting, can be inflated in importance by the home community. This story was human interest--a kicker. Leading with it would be ludicrous. It deserves coverage, but hardly "exclusive" and "top story" status.

Also, didn't this happen months ago?

Anonymous said...

Hi there everyone and Happy Holidays. It's Tiffany Alaniz, I don't usually post, but I was told that I was listed as someone who was way "to jealous to mention their name" and that I needed "to fess up" for a post that the person thought I left.
It never ceases to amaze me how rude and mean people can be. Maybe those who trash talk others ignorantly are truly the rotten apples.
But, since I needed "to fess up", I thought I would. I did not write any of the posts on this thread. As for KOAM and being "to jealous to mention my name", I am not too jealous or too anything else to mention my name. If you know anything about me, you know that I have nothing but the upmost respect for KOAM and the work they all do on a daily basis. They are a great news station, no question about it.
If you are curious about what I'm feeling or who is posting, you might just ask before you attack posters for not leaving their name and then you post annonymously and you get your assumptions completely wrong.
Today, I'm just feeling elated that we are back on Cable One for our viewers who have been so patient. Have a great weekend everyone!

Anonymous said...

With all due respect (if you really are Tiffany?) it is a good thing that this cable issue is settled. However, the NBC network, must see smut tv has nothing to offer! Merry Christmas!!!

Anonymous said...

Just to set the record straight; Ms. Richardson told KOAM she was not going to do any other interviews before leaving town. Our reporter was in Ms. Richardson's home when she spoke to Brad Douglas at KSN and told him she would not do the interview. It was our mistake to claim exclusivity when in fact Ms. Richardson changed her mind. We rarely claim or use terms like exclusive or first when referencing our stories. It just so happens that we were mislead on this one and have put new checks and balances in place to make sure this type of mistake doesn't happen again. We have high standards and appreciate the intelligence of our viewers and do not like to make mistakes.

Anonymous said...

KOAM toots its own horn more than than the other stations. True, they have more of a reason, but it's still pretty pathetic considering they are a bunch of small-market beginners or vets who couldn't or don't want to make it at a higher level.

Anonymous said...

I have watched all four local stations and they all toot their horn when they can! Is it possible that the reason KOAM TV people might enjoy being in a smaller market or have family around? So why leave and try to make it big somewhere else? Also you think a person such as Jackson, Bandy or Alaniz would of done this already!

Anonymous said...

Why can't we all just get along! Seems as if people in this business are getting way to bitter to actually enjoy the one thing we should all have passion for! That is our passion to inform our public audience. Who cares about this stupid blog; we all know that the only people who read this blog are the news people themselves. Lets do our jobs and forget about the newsroom politics.