By Alex Burness
Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
BOULDER, Colo. — Around 6 a.m. Wednesday, more than 7 hours after the manhunt for shooting suspect Russell Daniels began, Boulder police spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly approached reporters at the scene to ask whether an officer could be taken up above the search area in the helicopter shared by Denver TV stations.
Boulder already had asked the Denver Police Department for use of its helicopter, but hadn’t heard back. The FBI had offered technical assistance, possibly including aircraft, but not until later in the day.
“We knew that the media helicopter takes off from (Jefferson County) every day at 6 a.m.,” Cordingly said. “I was able to talk to reporters, who talked to their news desk, and we were able to coordinate that the helicopter landed in Boulder. They were able to pick up one of our officers, and that way, we could better search the area for him.”
Less than an hour after the helicopter picked the officer up at Manhattan Middle School in south Boulder, Daniels was taken into custody without issue, thanks in large part, Cordingly said, to coordination between SWAT personnel on the ground and the officer in the helicopter.
“The helicopter was instrumental. ... An invaluable resource,” she said. “It was really a win-win, too, for both sides, because we were able to quickly apprehended Mr. Daniels, and the media, being with us, was able to see and tell the story as it was unfolding, which doesn’t normally happen from a bird’s-eye view.”
Boulder police thank Denver media for use of their shared helicopter during manhunt https://t.co/IcNbqIY4sz pic.twitter.com/tEIZEJnZK5
— City of Boulder (@bouldercolorado) August 24, 2016
Indeed, the “partnership,” as Cordingly called it, was a rare one.
Police and the news media have coordinated on many projects historically, from the common ride-along to NBC’s “To Catch a Predator.”
But Wednesday’s arrangement falls into a “grey area” of media ethics, said Paul Voakes, journalism department chair at the University of Colorado.
“Often when we do ethical analyses, we have to pay attention to the slippery slope, where one seemingly harmless lapse is deemed to be acceptable,” Voakes said. “Except that there’s an opportunity for greater and greater degrees of ethical lapses to occur because a precedent has been set.
“The really important principle, in my mind, is whether the news media can be regarded as a branch of law enforcement.”
Clayton Sandell, a Denver-based correspondent for ABC News, doesn’t think it’s a close call.
“News organizations should decline this request,” he tweeted early Wednesday. “Journalists are not agents of law enforcement.”
‘The pilot’s decision’
The helicopter used in the hunt for Daniels is shared by KOA News Radio and four Denver TV stations affiliated, respectively, with ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.
While all outlets benefit from the helicopter on a nearly daily basis, the stations rotate quarterly responsibility for communication with and direction of its pilot. This quarter, it’s the responsibility of 9News, the NBC affiliate.
Wednesday afternoon, 9News issued a statement saying the helicopter’s pilot -- and not the news desk or any station employees, as Boulder officials indicated -- granted the police request.
“Helicopters Inc. is the owner and operator of the helicopter and it was the pilot’s decision to onboard the officer this morning,” 9News said in its statement.
Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said the city did not “coerce” 9News or the pilot into any sort of agreement, but rather saw an opportunity that would assist in the pursuit of resolving a dangerous, dynamic situation peacefully.
“The Boulder Police Department understands and respects the sometimes distinct roles that law enforcement and the media play in our community,” city officials said in news release praising the Denver TV stations for their help. “In this case, there was a shared interest in public safety and preventing harm to others, and we thank the Denver media network for considering this unique set of circumstances and assisting police.”
‘Too close to your sources’
Voakes said he believes it was reasonable for Boulder to ask 9News for a ride in the helicopter, given that police “need to explore every resource they have, within the bounds of the law, to protect the safety of the public.”
A harsher light, he added, should be shone on “the journalistic decision to participate in law enforcement.”
“News media credibility depends on news media’s independence from the powerful institutions they’re reporting on,” Voakes said. “It may have seemed like a win-win to the parties involved, but it just makes it that much easier the next time for a local law enforcement agency in Colorado to call upon the news media for assistance.”
Liz Skewes, a CU professor of media ethics, wondered how the story may have been changed as a result of the unusual cooperation.
“It makes the journalism a part of the story, and I think that compromises the journalists’ ability to tell the story from a perspective other than the police perspective,” she said.
The media helicopter’s participation in Tuesday’s manhunt, for example, erased at least one notable storyline: Boulder sought, but could not secure in any timely fashion, the aid of law enforcement partners from Denver and the FBI in getting airborne during the search.
“Who tells the story, then, saying that there’s a real resource issue?” Skewes said.
“The instinct to help somebody out -- I think we all have that. ... If the appearance is that journalism is in agency with police, what does that do for journalism, and the ability of journalism to be an independent monitor of those institutions of power? It’s about being too close to your sources.”
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(c)2016 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)
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