SPJ Hopes to Derail Ohio Bill Banning 911 Calls from TV Newscasts

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The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), whose ranks include more than 8,000 journalists nationwide, has fired off a letter to Ohio State Senators Tom Patton and Bill Seitz, opposing a measure the solons introduced that would prohibit broadcasting 911 emergency calls on tv newscasts.

S.B. 105, if passed, also carries a $10,000 fine for infractions.  The sponsoring senators claim the bill would protect the identity of emergency callers.  In the December 17 letter, the SPJ condemned S.B. 105, writing that banning  audio 911 calls from the airwaves would make it "virtually impossible for citizens to hear how calls are being handled and effectively hold emergency response centers accountable."

It's one thing to impede the news media's coverage of breaking news events, but forcing local tv news stations to get rid of their cheesy graphic of a tape recorder superimposed on a map while the 911 audio airs is just mean.

NBC News Becomes Leading Brazilian Exporter in Goldman Case

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In Pythonite Terry Gilliam's film Brazil (1985), a bureaucrat in a futuristic society who tries to rectify an administrative error unwittingly becomes an enemy of the state.  In its checkbook journalism coverage of the U.S. dad  v. Brazil mom custody battle over Sean Goldman, NBC News attempted to cover the story, but wound up becoming a key component of it.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has condemned NBC News for footing the bill for the plane on which David Goldman and his son Sean flew back to the U.S. after the father was awarded custody of the boy. NBC News was rewarded for its aeronautical largesse with an exclusive interview with the Goldmans both on the plane and after they disembarked in the U.S.

Contrary to the SPJ's ethics code that implores journalists to act independently, not bid for news and avoid conflicts of interest, NBC News made itself a part of the breaking Goldman story, and not only covered, but also helped to create the news story.