"One of the heaviest loads a person can carry is a chip on the shoulder..."

    The Jackson County Examiner (4/29) weighed in on the recent controversial sweeps piece aired by KCTV5, followed by The Pitch's story on our take on the topic:

Staged stories not journalism

The KCTV Channel 5 news report on the Independence Police Department received much attention this week.

And sent a wave of thumbs downs all over the place.

The report showed a person paid by television station going to various police stations and asking how to file a complaint against an officer. While in the Independence police lobby, he ended up in a verbal altercation with the sergeant on duty, was arrested, and suffered a head injury and was taken to the emergency room.

First, this paper doesn't believe in staged journalism, if that is what you call it. It's an oxymoron. It is getting the news under false pretenses. As has been reported, we were the victims of the hoax in the community recently, so we know how it feels, and don't think it is journalism to pull the wool over the eyes of others to make a story. Journalists should report the news, not be the news. The station has a reputation for sensationalism, and this was a vivid example.

Though we don't approve of their method, the report did expose some poor judgment by the Independence Police Department. The people on duty that night insist the man who was injured did it to himself, while he charges brutality. The video is not conclusive, but it is safe to say the situation was not handled well. The policy on taking a police complaint seemed contradictory, and no one was too friendly about it, either. The "undercover investigator" went to three other cities and was treated with more respect at their police stations.

In compiling the report, KCTV took a copyrighted photo found on our Web site archives of the sergeant and used it in their story. They did give us a courtesy credit, but didn't ask for permission, as is the practice.

The station teased the story relentlessly on the air, and even paid for advertisements in our paper to promote it. And while we turn up our nose and shake our head at that brand of journalism, there is little doubt the station accomplished its objective.

We all watched.

The ratings probably went through the roof, at least in this area. That says as much about us as it does the TV station or the police department.

Pitch story on this incident:  http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2006-04-27/news/strip.html

KCTV-5 SWEEPS PIECE IS JOURNALISM AT ITS WORST

A BLC EDITORIAL

    We are confident the folks at KCTV-5 are laughing all the way to the bank today after broadcasting a sweeps piece (4/27) accusing an Independence policeman of abusing a man who came into the station to file a police complaint.  It was very likely a ratings blockbuster.

     In reality, they should be ashamed.

    Viewers have become accustomed to TV sweeps pieces on such topics as hookers, Internet predators, sex in the bushes, fake IDs, etc.    In fact, a piece by KCTV-5  on Internet predators made the CBS station the ratings leader in Kansas City---a position previously held by KMBC-TV9 for more than 10 years.   In fact, the piece has now become a staple for national programs such as Dateline NBC.

    This piece, however, was pathetic.  Paying someone from a group whose goal is to try and generate police abuse is questionable (see below).  The group has done this kind of thing around the country (and for a price will represent you against the police).

     KCTV-5 retained the group to send a young man into the Independence Police station to file a police complaint.  The man has done this act more than 500 times around the country.   Of course, he went in near midnight on a Friday night in March (the piece was held until the sweeps period) to raise a ruckus. 

    In this instance the young man continued to make a scene until he was finally arrested.  As he was being handcuffed it looked like he purposely leaned forward and hit his head on a glass panel and suffered an injury.  The Independence police say the man injured himself. 

    The Independence police are not as pure as the driven snow in this whole incident.  In fact, the police chief has said the front desk officer will now simply give forms to people wishing to file complaints.  He said the previous policy was designed so that an official could discuss complaints in person with complainants. 

    We saluted KCTV5 for its Internet predator story.   However, with this one journalism has taken a major step backwards.