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ABC News stages fake crime scene

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ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis stood in a field in Woodruff, South Carolina, and relayed the gruesome details of how a 30-year-old woman had been held captive in a storage container allegedly by a registered sex offender.

Behind her, yellow police tape with the words "SHERIFF'S LINE DO NOT CROSS" flapped in the wind, indicating the scene of the crime.

In fact, the police tape was tied to ABC News' own equipment just off-camera, a photograph obtained by CNNMoney shows. Sources with knowledge of the matter say the tape was placed there by ABC News for the purpose of its inclusion in the live shot.

The photograph, sent by an anonymous source, shows the tape running no more than 30 feet and tied to camera stands at both sides. In Davis' segment, which was broadcast on ABC's "Good Morning America," it is impossible to tell where the tape ends.
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https://mediaconfidential.blogspot.com/2016/11/abc-stages-fake-crime-scene.html
 
Not the first time - for ABC or anybody else. Not uncommon - except she got caught. Somebody took a picture. Like the cops, TV types need to learn there's always somebody around with a smartphone to take pictures.
 
Oscar Madison said:
Not the first time - for ABC or anybody else. Not uncommon - except she got caught. Somebody took a picture. Like the cops, TV types need to learn there's always somebody around with a smartphone to take pictures.
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This is not "like the cops" in any form or fashion.

The ABC transgression was to make a plain looking shoot look more like a crime scene by putting up a tape barrier. In other words, window dressing for dramatic value to make the shoot look more dramatic.

Cops now have the concern that their actions in potentially life threatening situations will be perceived as inappropriate.

There is a big difference between staging and dealing with hostile and often armed individuals.
 
And there were consequences, as the article in the OP states:

"This action is completely unacceptable and fails to meet the standards of ABC News," Julie Townsend, the vice president of communications at ABC News, told CNNMoney. "As soon as it was brought to our attention, we decided to take the producer out of the field, and we're investigating further."
 
DavidEduardo said:


This is not "like the cops" in any form or fashion.

The ABC transgression was to make a plain looking shoot look more like a crime scene by putting up a tape barrier. In other words, window dressing for dramatic value to make the shoot look more dramatic.

Cops now have the concern that their actions in potentially life threatening situations will be perceived as inappropriate.

There is a big difference between staging and dealing with hostile and often armed individuals.
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I got a real easy solution for both reporters and cops: Do your job in an honest ethical manner and you won't have to worry about the video!
 
TeaPartyDude said:
I got a real easy solution for both reporters and cops: Do your job in an honest ethical manner and you won't have to worry about the video!
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If only it were as simple as a platitude.
 
Besides the staged crime scene tape, was there anything wrong with the report? I really don't see a big issue with them adding the tape.
 
So called "broadcast journalism" isn't about reporting news. It's about appearing to report news.

A while back, Cokie Roberts was supposed to do a "report" from the capitol. She decided that wasn't convenient, so she stayed in studio and they just inserted a picture of the capitol behind her.

If any part is faked, how can any of it be trusted?
 
Oscar Madison said:
So called "broadcast journalism" isn't about reporting news. It's about appearing to report news.
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First of all, you're lumping all "broadcast journalism" together in a group because of one example. Did one reporter make a mistake. Yes. Should you therefore throw out the baby with the bathwater? No. It's one bad reporter or field producer. So you fire that person, and move on.

Oscar Madison said:
If any part is faked, how can any of it be trusted?
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That's a good question, and it applies to everything, not just broadcast journalism. How many times have we heard of faked newspaper stories? Lots of times. It's not just broadcast journalism. Anytime you trust someone else to tell you something, you're depending on them to do so factually. When you're talking about an industry that employs thousands of people, not all of them share the exact same standards of accuracy you do. That's how it is when you count on someone else.
 
The more anybody calls themselves a "journalist," the less likely they are to actually be one. Real "journalists" don't harp on calling themselves "journalists."

Journalism is the most pretentious and hypocritical branch of show business.

"Anyone can do the journalists' job. After all, everybody gossips."
 
Oscar Madison said:
So called "broadcast journalism" isn't about reporting news. It's about appearing to report news.

A while back, Cokie Roberts was supposed to do a "report" from the capitol. She decided that wasn't convenient, so she stayed in studio and they just inserted a picture of the capitol behind her.

If any part is faked, how can any of it be trusted?
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The real question is whether the report was accurate. The rest, in reality, is a "set".
 
TheBigA said:
First of all, you're lumping all "broadcast journalism" together in a group because of one example. Did one reporter make a mistake. Yes. Should you therefore throw out the baby with the bathwater? No. It's one bad reporter or field producer. So you fire that person, and move on.

Well the reporter in this "infamous Canoe Piece" certainly wasn't fired or disciplined, she was subsequently picked up by CNN and reportedly is their White House Correspondent.

"Michelle Kosinski (born May 6, 1974) is an American journalist who is currently a White House correspondent for CNN.[1] She was a foreign correspondent for NBC News based in London (2010–2014); before that she was a correspondent based in Miami (2005–2009)."

I also notice CBS has put Lara Logan back to covering combat in Iraq, even after she was shown to submit false and inaccurate reports on the conflict. The problem is more than just a few bad apples.



That's a good question, and it applies to everything, not just broadcast journalism. How many times have we heard of faked newspaper stories? Lots of times. It's not just broadcast journalism. Anytime you trust someone else to tell you something, you're depending on them to do so factually. When you're talking about an industry that employs thousands of people, not all of them share the exact same standards of accuracy you do. That's how it is when you count on someone else.
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Nobody trust the network news, that is why their ratings are in the toilet. Those that continue to watch the network news are in the 65+ age range and when they are gone this old dinosaur will die.
 
TeaPartyDude said:
Nobody trust the network news, that is why their ratings are in the toilet. Those that continue to watch the network news are in the 65+ age range and when they are gone this old dinosaur will die.
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About 70% of the viewing of the top 4 early evening evening network newscasts in the US is 25 to 64. About a third is in 25-54 except for Univision,where nearly all is under 65.

Network news viewing has always favored more mature folks, but not the viewer base has fragmented, with cable getting large shares.
 
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