Peak Boise SVP Kevin Godwin was part of that panel I teased several times on how PR people and news folks can better work together. I didn’t take notes and this was 24 hours ago, but Godwin hit on how his young company is working hard to recruit new talent - and noted that the group has hired somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 people since launching in April. He expressed frustration that radio has a hard time keeping people (on the content side) in a market the size of Boise.
Godwin also talked about how KFXD/All Talk 63 is working to make Jon & Chris a place where people can come on and talk about a wide variety of issues that may not get full coverage in the media, and emphasized the free-wheeling nature of the show.
Also, KBOI/AM 670 came up during the discussion for a brief moment. Last week, a man shot and killed himself in the St. Alphonsus bathroom. That same day, the media learned of an escaped inmate from the Ada County Jail - who had been publicly identified by the Ada County Prosecutor. During the afternoon, officials, as well as the media figured out that the escaped inmate killed himself. As officials were working to notify the family of the death, KBOI uncorked the news and went on the air with it… hours before any other media — potentially letting the family hear about their loved one’s suicide on the radio. During the forum, KBOI was not identified by name, but when the incident came up, Godwin quickly noted (and rightfully so) that it “wasn’t our station.”
on Nov 10th, 2007 at 3:02 am
I rememeber a time several years ago when KIRO TV in Seattle did something of a similar nature. Some people were being held hostage in a bank and someone from the KIRO newsteam called inside the bank and spoke with the robbers.
There was considerable debate as to whether these actions, regardless of their motivation, endangered the hostages and interferred with police negotiations.
If I had been the general manager of KIRO (or even KBOI for that matter), I would have fired the news director and the reporter involved on the spot. I don’t think there is ever a time when ratings are more important than a broadcasters responsibility to the community to report a story appropriately.
on Nov 10th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
In the synopsis of the suicide at St. Al’s, it is stated
“…the media learned of an escaped inmate from the Ada County Jail - who had been publicly identified by the Ada County Prosecutor…” If I understand the synopsis correctly, the victim was identified by the prosecutor only as a jail escapee, not a suicide victim. The information about the escape is becomes public information and therefore available to public consumption. However, the suicide victim was identified later by the coroner’s office.
Since the information regarding the escape was made public, KBOI had every right to air that information because it had been confirmed by at least two reliable sources. I would not have aired the story about the suicide until confirmation was made by the coroner’s office. Had confirmation of the suicide been released by the prosecutor or coroner before family notification, I would have asked officials if they had notified the family. If not, while I certainly would have had the right to air public information, I would have sat on the story until officials confirmed they had notified the family. I think it would have been proper to recognize the family’s right to know first outweighs the public right. After notification of next of kin, unless asked to not air the story by the family, I would have aired the story.
Did KBOI jump the gun? I think they did in regards to the suicide, but not the escape. Should the KBOI news director be fired? I guess it depends on whether or not that individual has any history of previous offenses in his employment history. If no previous violations, a warning would be issued to the news department. If previous violations, perhaps termination would have been appropriate.
on Nov 10th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Reporting the suicide is fine (we did), and reporting the escape was fine (we did), but linking them — thus outing the identity of the suicide victim — is at issue. Of the four TV stations (2, 6, 7, 12), three newspapers (Weekly, Statesman, Press-Trib), two radio stations (KBOI, KIDO) and one blog (NewWest) that cover news - only one organization did it before family had been notified.