Working With the Media?

Working With the Media?

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR’S OPINION

We’ve often been told to work more closely with the media, especially the newspapers. “It’s our fault if the facts aren’t right! Get them checklists and photos early so they get the information from the source,” we’ve been instructed.

But what about the media’s responsibility? Do reporters have any goals other than deadlines or a desire to make their byline stand above a sensational story? It’s been my experience that most reporters had the direction of the story already in place and were only seeking corroborative quotes to support the attack. Some even taped questions after they got the statements.

What’s the reason for these remarks? Well, I’ve never seen the press leap onto the backs of the fire service so quickly and so viciously as was done with the recent tragedy in Hackensack, N.J. The Monday morning quarterbacking was in print and the players were still on the field.

1 tried to hint at that last month and thought it would be enough… until the final blow.

The New York City fire officials got themselves two black eyes, a bloodied nose, and one or two broken arms by some really sleazy reporting. They (headquarters) were brought into a room to view a 25minute videotape of the Hackensack fire. The tape was shot from only one side of the fire building by a local citizen. It was sold and resold until it found its way into the hands of two reporters of New York City’s Daily News. One was well-known to the fire department members and kept out of the picture. The second, relatively unknown, lurked about the room gathering candid remarks from fire officers viewing the tape.

At the end he produced a story, already written, to the dumbfounded city officials. What appeared in the front pages of the Sunday paper were quotes from one department severely criticizing the actions of the other. No names, just scurrilous, damning, and lurid words in quotation marks. Journalism at its best.

As a member of that department, I know the highs as well as the lows, the successes as well as the mistakes. 1 was horrified, disgusted, and ashamed. Letters and conversations from other members, some from those in the room that day, all echoed those sentiments I felt.

The dust had not yet cleared and the tears had not stopped flowing. Sensationalism for sensationalism’s sake never had a place in the fire service and never should. The most knowledgeable fire officers that I know were also approached by this dynamic duo and countered, “I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”

Yes, we have a responsibility to our public through our media, but the media also has a responsibility. “We were had. They caught us flatfooted,” were remarks of some after the story was printed. Well, shame on us for being so caught or so fooled.

Reporters do have a responsibility, but it’s up to us to find those who can get at facts with some degree of professional journalism. We don’t need those who actually don’t do anything themselves but stand on the stomachs, faces, and other unmentionable parts of those that do.

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