In a weird change of event RTNDA are cleaning up the PRESS for once with
a set of guidelines this is an epilogue to yesterdays monlogue. The
Radio and Television News Directors Assn. has sent a list of guidelines
for covering crises like the one in Littleton, CO to news directors and
station managers, hoping that they will help stations avoid some of the
criticism that has arisen in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre.
In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Washington Post, RTNDA president
Barbara Cochran said that she hopes that the guidelines will give "everybody
a threshold that they won't cross and you're assured your competitor is
not out there doing something which at the moment looks exciting but which
in the long run may be a bad practice." NBC affiliate KUSA-TV was sharply
criticized for broadcasting a cell-phone call from a student to police in
which he revealed his hiding place in the school. Said Cochran: "The
notion that students have cell phones and can call out in a situation like
this, this is a brand-new concept."
I'll let you formulate your own opinions on this naive new policy. |
