Coverage of the MSU campus shooting

[Rate This]

While the events were unfolding during the 9:00 hour, it was only 4 and 7 that were wall-to-wall live. 2 joined in live at some point just before 10pm. Every time I clicked over to 62 before say about 10:30, it was just CBS programming. I only briefly looked in to channel 50s newscast at some point between 10 and 10:30 -- it was just a regular pre-packaged newscast.

Live news is an interesting beast - though all the stations continuously cautioned about inaccurate information, they couldn't help themselves and put plenty of it on their air. It was interesting to me that 2 drew a line about NOT reporting that the attack resulted in at least one fatality early on when 4 and 7 were reporting it as fact sourced by a member of MSU's board.

Did I miss an inaccuracy in reporting that at least one person was dead? Did they actually ship actors to the hospital and lay them out on the floor at the scene and there’s nobody dead?

[MWmetalhead]

I think the Bear, DE connection warrants additional due diligence. I think the Detroit News was perfectly justified in mentioning it. They didn't say he was linked to Croft; they simply said he spent time in the same town where Croft resides.

They were the first outlet to show the perp's photo, to speak with neighbors (to my knowledge), and to report fully on his criminal history. Those were the aspects of the article that I found informative.

[Robert Faygo]

While the events were unfolding during the 9:00 hour, it was only 4 and 7 that were wall-to-wall live. 2 joined in live at some point just before 10pm. Every time I clicked over to 62 before say about 10:30, it was just CBS programming. I only briefly looked in to channel 50s newscast at some point between 10 and 10:30 -- it was just a regular pre-packaged newscast.

Live news is an interesting beast - though all the stations continuously cautioned about inaccurate information, they couldn't help themselves and put plenty of it on their air. It was interesting to me that 2 drew a line about NOT reporting that the attack resulted in at least one fatality early on when 4 and 7 were reporting it as fact sourced by a member of MSU's board.

Did I miss an inaccuracy in reporting that at least one person was dead? Did they actually ship actors to the hospital and lay them out on the floor at the scene and there’s nobody dead?

Exactly. It was strange to hear Roop and Taryn essentially call out 4 and 7 (in not so many words) about reporting that death was involved.

[Rate This]

While the events were unfolding during the 9:00 hour, it was only 4 and 7 that were wall-to-wall live. 2 joined in live at some point just before 10pm. Every time I clicked over to 62 before say about 10:30, it was just CBS programming. I only briefly looked in to channel 50s newscast at some point between 10 and 10:30 -- it was just a regular pre-packaged newscast.

Live news is an interesting beast - though all the stations continuously cautioned about inaccurate information, they couldn't help themselves and put plenty of it on their air. It was interesting to me that 2 drew a line about NOT reporting that the attack resulted in at least one fatality early on when 4 and 7 were reporting it as fact sourced by a member of MSU's board.

Did I miss an inaccuracy in reporting that at least one person was dead? Did they actually ship actors to the hospital and lay them out on the floor at the scene and there’s nobody dead?

Exactly. It was strange to hear Roop and Taryn essentially call out 4 and 7 (in not so many words) about reporting that death was involved.

In that context that’s really weird especially if they jumped on so late in the game. By 1030 or whenever the event itself was largely over and the hunt was on for the shooter.

[MWmetalhead]

Good reporting from NBC News:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mi ... -rcna70579

[Colonel Flagg]

How did radio fare last night? I assume WWJ had enough resources to get some live coverage from East Lansing?

I made an attempt to listen to Paul W. Smith on WJR this morning on my drive surrounding the 6:30 AM news break. I couldn't do it. The commercial load surrounding the pukey Fox News Radio update and traffic/weather was unbearable to my attention deficit disorder listening style.

Marie Osborn, and Chris Renwick co-anchored beginning at 9PM, dropping Fox News, and interrupting regular programming with updates. I assume they were both working from home, but it sounded seamless, with no glitches, unlike the nearly useless "WJR news anal-yst" cut-ins that occur during the day.

Marie and Chris did a good job, unscripted and conversational.

[radioandtventhusiast]

I was listening to WWJ 950 early this morning. Initially, they were on commercial break when I tuned in. All of the coverage from then on was about the shooting, and they carried the midnight press conference in full, with no breaks for traffic or weather or commercials. They said that they were going to carry the 1:30 AM conference, but I turned it off at the point.

[Newsman123]

Oh. My. God. CBS62 at 5pm was a train wreck. Both beginning live shots/lead stories weren’t ready and didnt play. They tossed to dead air. No communication with the poor anchors who must have been thinking “what the hell did I get into.” Its like they have no one who has ever produced a newscast. The poor anchors are capable, but clearly dont have the support team in place. Can anyone who works there chime in? This is how you debut yourself in the market? On such a big story?

[Newsman123]

The 6pm lead live shot wasnt ready again?! Who is running the show there??

[Mega Hertz]

I have an easier time getting Lansing stations OTA here than Detroit stations, so shoutout to WLNS. Can't get more local than that.

[unscopedaircheck]

Crisis actors? Ok Alex Jones.

[ChrisWL1980]

I streamed WLNS most of the night. I thought they did an exceptional job despite a few technical diffs in trying to communicate with their reporters.

[tapeisrolling]

I agree with those folks saying WLNS doing a good job. the anchor's sat tight and didn't say anything that hadn't been confirmed. They waited till the authorities stated a death before saying or showing a count on screen. A few tech glitches with field communications but for the most part they rose to the sad occasion.

[Deleted User 7620]

Oh. My. God. CBS62 at 5pm was a train wreck. Both beginning live shots/lead stories weren’t ready and didnt play. They tossed to dead air. No communication with the poor anchors who must have been thinking “what the hell did I get into.” Its like they have no one who has ever produced a newscast. The poor anchors are capable, but clearly dont have the support team in place. Can anyone who works there chime in? This is how you debut yourself in the market? On such a big story?

That was an issue earlier in the newscast but got better later on. The 6 pm newscast was so much better. I really do think there was an intern in the control room today and when someone with more experience took over, things were a lot better. I do think they are doing things on the fly and are learning on the fly. Other than the technical issues, they did a great job.

From what I’ve seen, WWJ did way better than expected. If you watch their 7 pm newscast online, it’s so much more crisp. I also think they got someone more experienced to run the floor.

[Rate This]

Oh. My. God. CBS62 at 5pm was a train wreck. Both beginning live shots/lead stories weren’t ready and didnt play. They tossed to dead air. No communication with the poor anchors who must have been thinking “what the hell did I get into.” Its like they have no one who has ever produced a newscast. The poor anchors are capable, but clearly dont have the support team in place. Can anyone who works there chime in? This is how you debut yourself in the market? On such a big story?

That was an issue earlier in the newscast but got better later on. The 6 pm newscast was so much better. I really do think there was an intern in the control room today and when someone with more experience took over, things were a lot better. I do think they are doing things on the fly and are learning on the fly. Other than the technical issues, they did a great job.

From what I’ve seen, WWJ did way better than expected. If you watch their 7 pm newscast online, it’s so much more crisp. I also think they got someone more experienced to run the floor.

Interns don’t get within a country mile of a control room. Can they do anything wrong in your eyes?