KNXV Runs One-Sided Story, Starts S*itstorm

[Weeters 1811]

From the "Gotta be FIRST!" failure file: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2013/12/walmart_lifetime_ban_arizona_joe_cantrell.php

 

 

If it sounds like the viral story of a Pinal County man getting a lifetime ban from Walmart for price-matching is too good to be true, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office says that's because it is.

 

ABC 15, which ran the story this week of a man named Joe Cantrell, who claimed he got a lifetime ban from the store for his frequent use of Walmart's policy of matching other stores' prices on items, is getting called out by PCSO.

 

"Every responsible news station in Phoenix waited to get a copy of the investigative report from the Sheriff's Office, yet ABC15 news felt it was in the public's best interest to tell only the side of the story provided by Cantrell," reads a PCSO press release/smack-down. "After the story aired on ABC15 it quickly grew to a national story, furthering the inaccuracies and portraying Walmart as the bad guy in their story."

 

His story, as you can see in the segment above, was that he was handcuffed by deputies and banned for life, just for price-matching.

 

Here's what Cantrell left out of the story, according to PCSO:

Cantrell was heard threatening employees with statements "I'm going to mess this mother f_ _ _ker up" while yelling at a cashier, he told employees he didn't care if he got kicked out of the store because he "was going to f_ _ k up, the cashier and he would be waiting outside for him in the parking lot and he was going to do him in."

 

The Sheriff's Office was called by Walmart, but Cantrell had left the store before deputies arrived. Before leaving, he told the manager "I'm not the person to F _ _ k with, next time I come in I will beat his ass." A deputy investigated the case as employees were afraid for their safety. A video was captured by store security and PCSO deputies recognized Cantrell from prior contacts. Deputies were unable to locate him at his last known address...

 

Cantrell posted on his "Facebook" account (December 2nd, 2013) "Tonight I almost whipped a Walmart employees ass." One of his Facebook friends responded to his post and said, "I know you heard Joes gonna kill you in the back of your head. But you did the right thing by walking away mad and not kicking his ass and doing to jail." (sic.) Cantrell then responded back to that post by saying, "I have to be honest with you Richard I came very close."

That was actually on December 2, when Cantrell was, yes, causing a stink because a Walmart employee explained to him that they wouldn't do a price-match for the "Black Friday" ads he brought in.

 

But the details provided by PCSO were conveniently omitted from the initial story, of a man who just loved the low prices at Walmart so much that they banned him for life.

 

According to the Sheriff's Office, Cantrell's arrest came three days later, when he went back to the Walmart.

 

"Cantrell was detained by deputies and then cited and released for one count of Disorderly Conduct and one count of Threatening and Intimidating," according to the press release. "Earlier this week, the Pinal County Courts issued an injunction against harassment ordering Cantrell to have no further contact with one of the employees involved in this incident; otherwise he shall face arrest and further prosecution."

[24994J 5277]

"And the Emmy goes to..."

 

[Samantha 2878]

"Taking Action"—for what? This is why 15 is a cellar dweller in Phoenix. Don't let that station excellence Emmy they recently grabbed fool you—they're OK, but they recently have tried to be KPHO's shadow (largely because KPHO is having its best ratings in decades).

[MidwestTV 1173]

So where does the fault here lie? The reporter or someone higher up?

[TheRob 920]

That's a former co-worker of mine who did the original story.

 

TV stations get these calls a lot: person (a) says entity (x) is doing them wrong, entity (x) says this is what happened, and the truth is somewhere in between. When law enforcement is involved, it is imperative to get a police report. Even with a police report, we've passed on a lot of stories because it turns out to be two antisocial people who crossed paths.

 

At most shops, a manager must approve the written copy before the actual story can be edited. I noticed KNXV did a followup story the next day with Walmart's description of the incident. In the comments of the original story, only a handful of viewers questioned the behavior of the subject. I suspect KNXV got what they wanted out of the story, even if another publication called them out for omitting an important element and falling for the guy's act.

[WXmanTim 88]

We had a similar story at Fox 26 about 18 months ago. Guy claimed he was wrongly accused, wrongly jailed. We promoted the story all day "Tonight at 5".

 

Literally 90 minutes before the newscast the real story came out. End result, we spiked the story.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

 

"Taking Action"—for what? This is why 15 is a cellar dweller in Phoenix. Don't let that station excellence Emmy they recently grabbed fool you—they're OK, but they recently have tried to be KPHO's shadow (largely because KPHO is having its best ratings in decades).

 

KPHO has to rely on different contests ("pay your mortgage for a year," "win a Toyota Corolla") to bring in viewers. Otherwise, Phoenicians are set in their ways (Cooney and Curtis).

 

On the other hand, KTVK is finally getting serious about hard news for the first time in decades.

[Samantha 2878]

 

KPHO has to rely on different contests ("pay your mortgage for a year," "win a Toyota Corolla") to bring in viewers. Otherwise, Phoenicians are set in their ways (Cooney and Curtis).

 

On the other hand, KTVK is finally getting serious about hard news for the first time in decades.

 

KTVK's rolling at levels it hasn't seen in 20 years. Unfortunately it won't immediately translate into ratings, which is a huge shame because 3 are really on their game right now.

[sanewsguy 509]

This is not the first time this station has had controversy:

KNXV Called Racist For Where They Got Zimmerman Trial Reaction

By Kevin Eck on July 18, 2013 11:45 AM

 

Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV is getting called out by viewers and the local media over where it chose to look for reaction to this weekend’s George Zimmerman verdict.

 

The night the verdict was announced, KNXV reporter Sara Goldenberg went to Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles restaurant in downtown Phoenix to ask patrons for their thoughts on the verdict.

 

Shortly after the piece aired, Phoenix Business Journal editor Ilana Lowery tweeted, “As a journalist, I’m appalled @abc15phx went to Lolo’s in Phoenix to get reaction to #ZimmermanVerdict. Why a chicken and waffle restaurant?”

 

Alt Weekly, Phoenix New Times wrote an article on the story asking if the local basketball courts weren’t good enough, then drove the point home by writing, “If this is flying right over your head, allow us to explain — the belief that African-Americans like fried chicken and waffles (or are good at playing basketball) is what’s called a stereotype.”

 

The station’s facebook page has been relatively quiet. One viewer wrote, “Really, ABC15? You look like a bunch of ignorant racists right now.” While Lowery told TVSpy not much else has come of the complaints other than retweets and a mention in New Times.

 

 

>UPDATE: Pat Costello, news director at KNXV told TVSpy he wasn’t happy with the choice of interview venue. “We want to be balanced in how we report the news and we fell far below our bar in this case.” He said the station was still gathering facts about what happened.

[PupReporter 0]

 

KPHO has to rely on different contests ("pay your mortgage for a year," "win a Toyota Corolla") to bring in viewers. Otherwise, Phoenicians are set in their ways (Cooney and Curtis).

 

On the other hand, KTVK is finally getting serious about hard news for the first time in decades.

 

That's thanks to the fabulous Cameryn Beck. I love her and I sincerely hope Meredith doesn't cut her when KPHO and KTVK merge their newsrooms.

[TheRob 920]

Meanwhile, the sheriff's department decided to publicly humiliate KNXV for somehow turning a car crash into a helicopter collision.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/sheriffs-department-resorts-to-publicly-shaming-phoenix-station-for-inaccurate-reports_b112267

[Samantha 2878]

*15 facepalms*

 

Unfortunately for KNXV, being a copycat of KPHO is not working out well for them.

[A3N 996]

I'm sure they must have gotten a few calls/emails from the head honchos at Scripps wanting an explanation. It looks like Scripps needs to make some drastic changes at the management level at ABC 15.

[MidwestTV 1173]

 

I'm sure they must have gotten a few calls/emails from the head honchos at Scripps wanting an explanation. It looks like Scripps needs to make some drastic changes at the management level at ABC 15.

 

Yes, such as firing the GM and ND to start off with. How in the living hell do you take a rollover car accident and turn it into a freaking helicopter collision? I almost wonder if they're being ordered to blow things out of proportions.

[PupReporter 0]

 

Yes, such as firing the GM and ND to start off with. How in the living hell do you take a rollover car accident and turn it into a freaking helicopter collision? I almost wonder if they're being ordered to blow things out of proportions.

 

Pat Costello is ND. He was hired from Seattle. AND is Dan Wilson, and I believe he came from Vegas. Managing Editor is Andy Ramirez and he has been with the station since college, I'm thinking he told me 1998. I interviewed with Andy in the fall. The station has a larger operation and as everyone knows, their own helicopter, which Andy said they get 80 hours a month from the leasing company. Completely irrelevant but a fun fact.

 

What is ironic is that the station's helicopter was involved in a collision with KTVK's chopper a few years ago. In ABC15's defense, maybe emotions were running high and they got emotionally wrapped up into the news, with flashbacks from their own fatal helicopter crash?

 

ABC 15 is a great operation but Scripps already has them down to bare bones. When I interviewed in the fall, the tour of the station revealed they had a lot of resources at their disposal, but it also showed that their reporters are self-shooting everything and are acting as MMJs except during live shots, when a photog meets them to shoot the live hit.

 

In my opinion, in a market size such as Phoenix, there shouldn't be MMJs. For one, it doesn't let the reporter get a second opinion from a partner, or co-pilot (pun intended). None of the above has to do with the topic of discussion, but at any rate, I think this all falls back onto the assignment desk, whose job is to vet stories. Andy is a super nice guy, I mean that, too, super nice, but he oversees the assignment desk and it looks like he might be the one at fault.

[1place4news 5]

 

Yes, such as firing the GM and ND to start off with. How in the living hell do you take a rollover car accident and turn it into a freaking helicopter collision? I almost wonder if they're being ordered to blow things out of proportions.

 

You can't rule it out. KGTV, the Scripps station in San Diego, is notorious for making stories bigger than they are by fabricating details and quotes/interviews, not to mention flagrantly stealing video and audio elements from other stations in the market. And they operated this way long before being acquired by Scripps.

 

It seems to me this particular case likey stems from an inexperienced assignment editor mishearing something over the scanner, telling an over-zealous producer or executive producer who put it out on Twitter before confirming it. It happens everywhere: Being first with the big breaking news story supercedes confirming the facts and verifying its authenticity.

[A3N 996]

 

Pat Costello is ND. He was hired from Seattle. AND is Dan Wilson, and I believe he came from Vegas. Managing Editor is Andy Ramirez and he has been with the station since college, I'm thinking he told me 1998. I interviewed with Andy in the fall. The station has a larger operation and as everyone knows, their own helicopter, which Andy said they get 80 hours a month from the leasing company. Completely irrelevant but a fun fact.

 

What is ironic is that the station's helicopter was involved in a collision with KTVK's chopper a few years ago. In ABC15's defense, maybe emotions were running high and they got emotionally wrapped up into the news, with flashbacks from their own fatal helicopter crash?

 

ABC 15 is a great operation but Scripps already has them down to bare bones. When I interviewed in the fall, the tour of the station revealed they had a lot of resources at their disposal, but it also showed that their reporters are self-shooting everything and are acting as MMJs except during live shots, when a photog meets them to shoot the live hit.

 

In my opinion, in a market size such as Phoenix, there shouldn't be MMJs. For one, it doesn't let the reporter get a second opinion from a partner, or co-pilot (pun intended). None of the above has to do with the topic of discussion, but at any rate, I think this all falls back onto the assignment desk, whose job is to vet stories. Andy is a super nice guy, I mean that, too, super nice, but he oversees the assignment desk and it looks like he might be the one at fault.

 

MMJ's are the reality, they are here to stay. There are larger markets than Phoenix that have MMJ's. Yes it sucks but what is one going to do about it? Just throwing this out there, but having MMJ's or a thin staff is not an excuse for piss-poor journalism.

 

 

You can't rule it out. KGTV, the Scripps station in San Diego, is notorious for making stories bigger than they are by fabricating details and quotes/interviews, not to mention flagrantly stealing video and audio elements from other stations in the market. And they operated this way long before being acquired by Scripps.

 

It seems to me this particular case likey stems from an inexperienced assignment editor mishearing something over the scanner, telling an over-zealous producer or executive producer who put it out on Twitter before confirming it. It happens everywhere: Being first with the big breaking news story supercedes confirming the facts and verifying its authenticity.

 

It seems like KGTV has been doing that a lot more since Scripps took over. They must be enjoying the fact that Scripps is investing a lot more in the station than MGH did and more than Scripps invests in its other stations.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

After KTVK and KPHO merge operations, there will be no excuse for KNXV to beef up its news operations and hire some of the talented people who will be let go by Meredith.

[C Block 1488]

I've gotten the same feeling from KMGH too. For the last few years, they've really slimmed down the staff to just concentrating on investigative stories, crime, and weather, with meaningless national packages to fill up the rest (caught on tape in Florida, some idiot drove a Cadillac into a 7-11...) Sometimes, the investigative stories do add more to it than what's already there, such as suggesting that the Denver mayor was a customer of a prostitution ring. I hoped that Scripps would invest a little more into the station, but I haven't seen many changes.

 

Somehow, though, it must be working for them. Their ratings are up, and the other stations in town (especially KCNC) have tried copying their style of cold/short opens and pointless developing news banners onto every story.

[ihEARDtHAT 8]

How could ABC15 get the story wrong. Somebody did not listen to the information being passed on by Southwest Ambulance. Here is a retweet of the @abc15 post:

 

@abc15: Southwest Ambulance officials say 2 helicopters collided in Pinal County. 3 people taken to hospital. ABC15 crews on the way Prayers

 

I would think that Southwest Ambulance told them that there was an rollover accident (which might have been reported as a collision) and two helicopters (later changed to three) were being used to transport the victims. This happened on a holiday so who knows the level of staffing in the newsroom that afternoon. A simple collision with two helicopters enroute becomes two helicopters collided.

 

I do love the statement from the Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu: “If there isn’t enough drama for the evening news, don’t worry ABC15 will make up more.”

[TVIntheDesert 183]

The Pinal County Sheriff's Department is now after KPHO over what they believe is "doctored footage" of a police shooting.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kpho-accused-of-doctoring-footage-of-deadly-police-shooting_b115565

 

To me, it seems that Sheriff Babeu has an issue with the local media in general, first attacking KNXV, and now KPHO. I'm certain KSAZ is not on his "naughty list."

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

The Pinal County Sheriff's Department is now after KPHO over what they believe is "doctored footage" of a police shooting.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kpho-accused-of-doctoring-footage-of-deadly-police-shooting_b115565

 

To me, it seems that Sheriff Babeu has an issue with the local media in general, first attacking KNXV, and now KPHO. I'm certain KSAZ is not on his "naughty list."

 

I know the Maricopa County Sheriff is corrupt beyond all belief, but does the Pinal County Sheriff's Department have the same notoriety?

 

Just read this story and the whole thing just sickens me.

[Samantha 2878]

 

I know the Maricopa County Sheriff is corrupt beyond all belief, but does the Pinal County Sheriff's Department have the same notoriety?

 

Just read this story and the whole thing just sickens me.

 

Sheriff Paul Babeu is a younger conservative who attempted to run for Congress in a heavily Republican new district in 2012 (he didn't end up winning the primary because incumbent Paul Gosar moved into that district; redistricting). He doesn't have the same notoriety as Arpaio but he has a lot of the same "toughness" without the flamboyance.

 

I should point out Pinal County is home to some of the fastest-growing areas of the Phoenix metro, such as Maricopa (pop. 43,000) and San Tan Valley (unincorporated, pop. 80,000, did not exist until the last five-seven years); the county seat is Florence, and Casa Grande is another city of size in the county. It is the third-largest in the state, only behind Maricopa (Phoenix) and Pima (Tucson) counties.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

 

Sheriff Paul Babeu is a younger conservative who attempted to run for Congress in a heavily Republican new district in 2012 (he didn't end up winning the primary because incumbent Paul Gosar moved into that district; redistricting). He doesn't have the same notoriety as Arpaio but he has a lot of the same "toughness" without the flamboyance.

 

I believe Babeu has been interviewed a few times by Fox News Channel. If he dare attacked KSAZ for doing something similar, Roger Ailes wouldn't have him back on FNC, and therefore tarnishing his rising star in the Arizona GOP.