 |
June
12, 2001 |
|
Media
Bomber's
death cause for hype
Intensive
coverage focuses on execution, blast
victims' stories
By
Tim Kiska / Detroit News Television
Writer
This was a
media first.
Until Monday, the last federal execution
occurred some 38 years ago, when a man
by the name of Victor Feguer was hung
in Iowa. He died before technology made
instant spectators of TV viewers.
That same
technology today has given us wall-to-wall
coverage and provided news departments
with difficult choices, evident Monday
morning in coverage of the execution
of Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the
deaths of 168 people in the 1995 bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
in Oklahoma City.
Do you stick with McVeigh and his final
moments, even though his execution was
off-limits to television cameras?
Or do you go with the reactions of survivors?
At 8 a.m. Detroit time -- while McVeigh
was being injected with the drugs that
would end his life -- ABC, CBS and Fox
News chose to run the names, ages and
photographs of the 168 victims.
Meanwhile, NBC's Katie Couric and ABC's
Charlie Gibson were in Oklahoma City,
while CBS's Jane Clayson was in Terre
Haute.
"All along we wanted to make this
story about the victims, and not as
much about him (McVeigh). The fact is,
Katie had been to Oklahoma City several
times before and that seemed the most
thoughtful and logical place to send
her," said Jonathan Wald, Today's
executive producer.
Local members of the broadcast media
had their own take on the coverage.
"Timothy McVeigh? We'll never understand.
A guy who refers to the deaths of women
and children as 'collateral damage'
is way beyond my psychological radar.
The story is in the people of Oklahoma
City," said Channel 4 (WDIV) anchor
Devin Scillian, who was an anchorman
in Oklahoma City in 1995.
But for Teresa
Tomeo, a former Channel 7 (WXYZ)
reporter who covered the tragedy, Monday's
coverage was too much and too little.
"I just feel that there's so much
more we could have done," said
Tomeo,
now a media consultant. "... I
just don't think we (the media) have
done this whole story and this event
much service ... we got more spot news,
more 'we're here' kind of coverage."
Among the most riveting moments of Monday's
coverage was survivor Brian Espe's interview
with NBC's Couric.
"I'm bothered by all of the media
attention," said Espe, a veterinarian
rescued from the fifth floor of the
building after the bombing. "Things
like this bring it all back."
Espe said he had moved
on.
Clearly, Espe and everybody else interviewed
wanted that to happen -- even in the
face of an army of TV cameras.
You can reach Tim Kiska at (313)
222-2679 or tkiska@detnews.com. |
