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News Lab

Edgy MD Feb 21 2013 07:29 AM

Case 1: A news broadcaster --- a colleague! --- is arrested for beating up his wife, also a telejournalist. How do you cover it? Apparently, the story was a big deal for New York tabloids, less so for the it-happens-every-day-to-the-less-famous New York Times, but was more hands-off for competing broadcasters. (That link mentions the websites of the local TV news outlets, but doesn't mention how much air time the evening broadcasts gave the incident.) Case 2: Oscar Pistorius. What a mess that story is! What's your angle? (a) fallen hero? (b) disturbingly high anti-woman violence in South Africa? (c) disturbingly high breaking-and-entering crime rate in S.A. that could possibly make someone that paranoid? (d) guns not making us safer? (d) roids turning athletes into domestic crime timebombs? (e) the immunity from prosecution of the rich and famous? (e) police work that makes OJ Simpson's investigators look like Sherlock Holmes? (f) the idea that somebody could still walk around in South Africa with the name "Botha"? The facts are still spilling out, and have yet to all spill out. But you're the editor today! What angle are you sending your small team of highly trained crack investigative reporters after?

Benjamin Grimm Feb 21 2013 07:44 AM Re: News Lab

I don't buy Oscar's story, but evidence of "(c) disturbingly high breaking-and-entering crime rate in S.A. that could possibly make someone that paranoid" is hard to overlook in South Africa. There was a story of a rugby player, maybe about ten years ago, who shot his 19-year-old daughter to death because he heard a noise in the garage and thought she was a burglar.

Centerfield Feb 21 2013 07:48 AM Re: News Lab

Also possible that (d) could have a role in both of those tragedies.

cooby Feb 21 2013 08:05 AM Re: News Lab

Looking at the Oscar Story from a woman's standpoint, I see it as a case of two pretty people with high profile lives, and the one pretty person shoots the other one and suddenly it's big news. It's terribly sad but an everyday occurence, except for the pretty and high profile part. So I'd like to say shut up already. (I would also like to say that about post baby bikini pics, baby bump pics, Angelina's kids pics, anything with anybody with the initials KK, (except my husband), lip sync-ing singers, and Taylor Swift in general) In the case of the journalist beating up his wife, I would approach it with as much dignity as you can for the wife, but rip the husband a couple of new asses because he deserves as much pain as we can give him. Tricky assignment, no?

metsmarathon Feb 21 2013 08:18 AM Re: News Lab

oscar's story is somewhat plausible, but requires one to first accept the extreme level of paranoia itenerant to firing into a closed bathroom as a reaction to sounds heard therewithin, and that throughout the course of the activities oscar claimed to have done to ascertain the level of danger he thought he was facing he never once heard the kind of typical noises one would expect to hear in a toilet, and that he never made any attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of reeva, and that reeva was making the type of noises one would expect from an intruder who'd just broken into a toilet. i think there would have to be a fairly high level of phamacological assistance required to pull pistorius through that narrative. i think a more reasonable scenario is that at some point there was an argument. reeva locked herself in the bathroom. enraged, pistorius went after it with a bat. unsatisfied, he shot to kill. it would take a lot of rage to first go after a door with a bat and then go collect a gun and fire four shots through a door, but i think that seems a more likely course of actions than the intruder scenario. guns. making the world safer since never.

Edgy MD Feb 21 2013 09:14 AM Re: News Lab

The problem with the TV journalist guy is that most of your staff will know him, so you give the story to a team of a juniors who don't --- a reporter, writer, cameraman, and producer --- but the pressure to softball it will still be intense because all of their seniors (who their careers depend on) might resent them if they throw a colleague under the bus. Pretty analogous to cops investigating cops, I think.

Edgy MD Feb 21 2013 09:21 AM Re: News Lab

metsmarathon wrote: i think a more reasonable scenario is that at some point there was an argument. reeva locked herself in the bathroom. enraged, pistorius went after it with a bat. unsatisfied, he shot to kill. Or maybe shot to bust open the lock and got her by "accident." But my problem is that the investigator is so desperately inept, and so much is spilling out early, during the bail hearing, that I wouldn't be sure what narrative alley to send the reporter down. Cooby's of course right, and the real tragedy is that too many similar murders become mere statistics because they don't involve the rich and famous, and that's the story that really should be told.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 21 2013 09:41 AM Re: News Lab

The other way of looking at that, though, is that when this stuff happens with celebrities, it helps raise bring awareness to these issues that affect regular people as well. Not every domestic violence story can get comprehensive news coverage, but since celebrities are sometimes involved, at least some awareness is achieved.

Edgy MD Feb 21 2013 09:46 AM Re: News Lab

Sure. And that's why I list option B. Grab people while they are suddenly caring about domestic violence and report more deeply about the broader issue.

themetfairy Feb 21 2013 10:37 AM Re: News Lab

Case 1 - I haven't seen it on the New York news channels, but it's been all over the local Philadelphia broadcasts. Case 2 - Pistorius snapped, for whatever reasons (steroid flamed perhaps?); it's the only plausible scenario (especially when you factor in the neighbors' accounts, which reflect a prolonged fight). And his constant crying on camera is annoying - the least he can do is hold himself together already.

themetfairy Feb 21 2013 10:39 AM Re: News Lab

This is the accused in Case 1 - It strikes me as an odd expression for a mug shot, especially considering the blood trickling down his face.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 21 2013 11:15 AM Re: News Lab

Perhaps he just grieves differently than most of us do? Edgy MD wrote: metsmarathon wrote: i think a more reasonable scenario is that at some point there was an argument. reeva locked herself in the bathroom. enraged, pistorius went after it with a bat. unsatisfied, he shot to kill. Or maybe shot to bust open the lock and got her by "accident." But my problem is that the investigator is so desperately inept, and so much is spilling out early, during the bail hearing, that I wouldn't be sure what narrative alley to send the reporter down. Yep. Never mind the distractions the particular investigator seems to bring to the table. Cooby's of course right, and the real tragedy is that too many similar murders become mere statistics because they don't involve the rich and famous, and that's the story that really should be told. It's definitely the story. The problem is... it's not news.

themetfairy Feb 21 2013 11:18 AM Re: News Lab

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Perhaps he just grieves differently than most of us do? My cynical suspicion is that he's grieving for himself.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 21 2013 11:20 AM Re: News Lab

themetfairy wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Perhaps he just grieves differently than most of us do? My cynical suspicion is that he's grieving for himself. Just being MY usual smirky self. Yeah, that's the impression I get from the interviews with folks who know him-- so far, at least.

Edgy MD Feb 21 2013 11:21 AM Re: News Lab

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Cooby's of course right, and the real tragedy is that too many similar murders become mere statistics because they don't involve the rich and famous, and that's the story that really should be told. It's definitely the story. The problem is... it's not news. Yeah, that's sort of why I'm not trying to solicit innocent-or-guilty opinions, so much as how-to-cover-it opinions. Hard to fathom, based on the procedures we're used to, how the bail hearing turned into a dramatic trial in itself so shortly after the event.