Does ?Off Camera? Mean Off the Record?
by June 15, 1998 12:00 am 71 views
A viewer contacted us after seeing the late newscast of KHOG, Channels 29/40 on June 8.
It seems that reporter Roberta English quoted two Baptist ministers from Van Buren who had baptized children without the consent of their parents. The ministers asked not to be filmed, but the cameraman apparently filmed them surreptitiously from a distance as English recorded their conversation. English then told viewers what the ministers had to say about the situation.
When asked if this was an ethical gaffe, Ed Taylor, assistant news director for the station in Fayetteville, said, “We would not characterize that story as unethical, but it might not have been the best way to do that story. … The need to be fair when it concerns a highly emotional story is great. We have to make judgment calls every day.”
When asked if the station was trying to be fair to the ministers or the public at large, Taylor said, “Both.”
We believe the public’s right to know would supersede in this case only if the ministers were a physical threat to these children or others in the community. But baptism, in most Christian sects, is seldom a life-threatening situation.