KSN snub also snubbed public

The Wichita Police Department may have some legitimate complaints about KSN, Channel 3. But don’t take it out on the taxpaying public. Yet that is, in effect, what the police and city did in excluding KSN from the BTK briefing last week. As one person who called The Eagle said, they “did it to all of us who look to Channel 3 for our news.”
And where could this lead? Could government start snubbing media that report the real news rather than repeat public officials’ spin?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

11 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 4:27 pm | Permalink

    That’s mean! Why did they exclude KSN?

  2. Anon
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 4:41 pm | Permalink

    KSN has never been able to get a criminal story correct yet so why invite them just to come misquote and screw things up?

  3. Jimmy Bisoni
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 5:13 pm | Permalink

    The only power you have with the press is access. If a press outlet is irresponsible, as apparently KSN has been, they deserve what they got. To try and suggest that taxpayers couldn’t get all that they wanted on this story is nuts.

  4. James
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 6:02 pm | Permalink

    KSN, really blew this story! What with their conviction to be first on the scene and make headlines for themselves as being the first to report the latest; they couldn’t get anything right. I think they hurt the real investigation and subjected an innocent person to public suspicion and ridicule.

  5. J R
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 10:32 pm | Permalink

    For the city to exclude one news outlet for any reason is inexcusable. If this is allowed to stand un-punished, we risk government control of the media, to whit, “report what we like or you get no story and no access”. Any resonable person should see this as dangerous.Imagine national press briefings given only to Fox news because they are a willing shill for this administration and you start to get the idea.

  6. James
    Posted July 12, 2005 at 11:13 pm | Permalink

    I agree, KSN should not have been excluded from this breifing. How did that happen? Were they uninvited, forgot about it, didn’t listen to their sources a City Hall??

    I understand the WPD being unhappy with their reporting, because KSN did do some things, I felt,that could have put the BTK case in jeporady.

    All in all, Wichita is a strange, strange place!

  7. joseph
    Posted July 13, 2005 at 9:00 am | Permalink

    Didn’t a KSN news anchor get all belligerent and surly at an arlier BTK briefing, proving himself to be both biased and socially unfit for news gathering?

    Between him and their erroneous reporting, KSN blew it. Between its poor reporting, surly anchor, and its drama queen weather man, its a wonder anyone watches that channel any more.

    No, the public wasn’t denied anything meaningful by excluding KSN from the briefing. There’s alrady been ten times the exposure than the Rader story is worth. Besides, news should be about what’s happening, not what happened long ago.

  8. Joe Williams
    Posted July 13, 2005 at 5:44 pm | Permalink

    Actually I like watching KSN. I either watch them or KAKE. I don’t watch KWCH, but occasionally I will watch their sister program on FOX when it comes on at 9:00PM

  9. Isopropyl
    Posted July 13, 2005 at 7:33 pm | Permalink

    I know this is off topic, but I can’t stand Kake. I feel like I’m watching a news program produced by middle school kids. The reporting is amateurish, everything is beyond sensationalized, and I just can’t stand being talked down to by Susan Peters or Jamal Halaperekaljagjalu.

  10. Deb
    Posted July 14, 2005 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    Our family watches KSN because they don’t always announce they are “first” when reporting the news. “I’m first! I’m first!” is KAKE’s childish game, not KSN’s…

  11. Joe Williams
    Posted July 15, 2005 at 6:02 pm | Permalink

    I agree with Deb. I only watch KAKE if they had some special investigating reports. That’s all kind of gone down hill since Paul Acker left (he was a great investigating reporter) But beyond that, I normally watch KSN. They are the most professional presentator, I love their format (no sport anchor), they have the best weather reporting and graphics (they do a little bit too much weather though). Over all! It’s pretty good!