The Media on Trial?

Monday's venue hearing for Fred Cooper felt like the local media was on trial. The defense submitted CD's documenting hundreds of reports done on the Gateway case. (Yes, I believe NBC2 may have had the most reports on any television station... Not that we were competing for the title)

Public Defender Robert Jacobs argued his client couldn't get a fair trial because of our "prejudice reports". First I would say prejudice is a strong word. A lot of thought goes into every story... To tell it as fairly and as factual as possible.

It is extremely difficult to tell a story that no one wants to talk about it. By no one I mean: prosecutors, Cooper's public defender, family members, close friends, neighbors... And as we've seen not even Cooper's mother. Everyone has their reasons for not talking. However I don't think much could be said at this point that would have significant impact on the case... That is unless Cooper's going to confess or suddenly a new suspect turns himself in.

So with no one talking... We are left with the facts and that's what we report. Deposition and court dates become a big deal. And young reporters are learning the rules of a beautiful thing called "discovery."

In court Monday, prosecutor Tony Kunasek compared this case to that of the Lords of Chaos. (1996 - Teenagers who killed a Riverdale band teacher) Kunasek was trying to make a point that those teenagers received a fair trial with a jury picked in Southwest Florida. This is not the first time I've heard the comparison of Gateway to the Lords of Chaos. Those who were around 10 years ago in our newsroom and our community, say Coopers case has become just as big a deal (if not bigger). All that's missing is the national media... Which I expect to arrive around trial time.

One has to wonder though, does Cooper really deserve all of this coverage? The media has a responsibility to keep the public informed. I believe we are definitely doing that. But have we gone overboard? Somewhere over the past 8 months... This story gained a powerful tabloid element. I'm not sure what launched the story to such status... But I can only assume it's a combination of things including: those disturbing emails, the "perfect life" everyone thought the Andrews lived, and a little boy left to be raised by his grandparents.

Realizing the potential of the Gateway story, it is without a doubt television stations and newspapers are trying to maximize this story to gain and retain viewers. We have aired this story so much... We've become part of it (venue hearing).

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