Thursday, December 6, 2007

Perrault: KMTV Should Have Had Alternate Plan

Matt Perrault, while expressing compassion for the victims, said he was disappointed that KMTV-3 did not have an “alternate plan” to show Wednesday night’s Creighton-Xavier men’s basketball game. The KXSP (590 AM) afternoon sports radio host said he was inundated with messages from unhappy Bluejay fans who had hoped to watch the game on KMTV at 7 p.m.

“I was hoping for at least a split screen (broadcast) of the game,” Perrault said Thursday morning on “Todd and Tyler’s Radio Empire” on KEZO (92.3 FM)

KEZO, KMTV and KXSP are all owned by the Journal Broadcast Group.

Perrault said he will take time during “The Big Show” from 2-6 p.m. to talk about the shootings.

"There is a sports angle to this with Virginia Tech and how they dealt with it and how they moved on afterwards, how did they respond, how did the community respond," Perrault said.

Click here to listen to the segment in its entirety.

A poll on "The Bluejay Cafe," a message board for Creighton fans, was running 3-to-1 early Thursday morning in favor of KMTV showing the game.

99 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but sports should be the last thing people worry about during this time.

I can understand Bluejay fans wishing to watch the game and all, but this wasn't some event that happened elsewhere - this was in our backyard. The coverage given by all of the stations was warranted.

And as far as Perrault stating there is a "sports angle to the story"? Really? While I won't be able to listen to his show, I'm curious to know how that could be possible.

The analogy to the Virginia Tech shootings is not a good one. Had the event in Omaha taken place at Creighton or UN-O, you'd have your analogy.

Maybe it is good that I can't tune in, then. *shakes head*

Anonymous said...

Get him out of this town now. He was tough to listen to before, but to find out he is that much of a selfish jackass makes him either worse. Virginia Tech angle?

I hope this story gets more attention. He deserves to be fired on the spot.

Anonymous said...

What planet is he and those "unhappy Bluejay fans" on?

Anonymous said...

At the same time - why would "unhappy Bluejay fans" send Perrault messages about the game not being broadcast on KMTV...wouldn't it be more productive for them to have contacted KMTV, instead?

Sounds like Perrault is exercising his storytelling abilities yet again.

Anonymous said...

Seems like Perrault has gone to the "say something outrageous" to get noticed card. Trends must have looked really good for the "Big Show"

Anonymous said...

For crying out. Matt Perrault, could you possibly be any more of a jerk? Who the hell cares about an early season Creighton basketball game. I'm pretty sure there will be another one. When I saw the anchors talking about maybe showing the game on KMTV, I sat there thinking, "They wouldn't dare be that stupid". And they weren't.

Matt Perrault, if you're honestly thinking a college basketball game deserves to share a screen with the biggest massacre in this state's history, then you don't know what you're talking about and you ought to keep your mouth shut...As impossible as that may be for you.

Anonymous said...

I'll bet the station got toooonnns of angry calls. When KPTM broke in with the Pelini presser on Sunday they got atleast 18...

Anonymous said...

Where's the compassion? I agree with 6:37, that should have been the last thing on his mind. Yesterday was the worse day of violence in Nebraska history. Our minds, hearts, and souls should be with the victims and their families of yesterday's horrific event. Shame on you Perrault for being an insensative asshole!

Anonymous said...

KMTV has a digital sub channel they could have used (I suppose) if they wanted to show the game, but there is no way they should tie up their main channel with a game that pales in comparison to what happened in Omaha.

I would also venture that Dana and Bruce would agree that this was a little more important than the basketball game being on TV.

I cannot believe Journal hasn't canned this guy for some of his activities. Knowing what I know about Journal and they way they handled another employee who spoke out about another station it's hard to believe he's still there. One has to wonder who he (MP) has pictures of and with whom.

Ben said...

What did we learn from 7:00-9:00 last night that couldn't have been learned either from the scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen or by interrupting the game broadcast? By 6:30 we'd already learned the kid's name, that he'd killed himself, that the victim's names weren't going to be released til this morning, and so forth. So all KMTV did by pre-empting the game was show shots of the Westroads Parking lot and a guy standing outside a house for 2 hours, giving us little to no new information.

It's not that I don't have compassion for those affected, but at the same point, this was 6 hours after the shooting had occured. Everything that needed to be said had already been said ad nauseum. Some of us were tired of watching the same talking heads over and over again, and watching Creighton play a ranked team would have been a nice diversion for a few hours. And given that the sports bar I was at was pretty full, apparently others in the city felt the same way.

Anonymous said...

Ben, there were plenty of developments, including the police raiding his home and his parents home. (Not to mention the police robot).

This wasn't the Final Four. It was a pre-Christmas game against a non-conference opponent. You're lucky Channel 3 even broadcasts the games.

You make me sick.

Anonymous said...

Matt:

While I generally listened to your show for the most part, I will not be listening anymore. This was a terrible tragedy in the history of this state and to believe that Blue Jay basketball should have run is absolutely reprehensible.

You have proven yourself to be as classless as many of your detractors have said. You can count me out as loyal listener from here on out.

SM

Ben said...

Right, I make you sick. Because I no longer wanted to watch the news after 5 straight hours of coverage.

So we learned from 7-9 that the police searched his house and his parents house. Great, KMTV could've broken into coverage of the game to tell us that.

The fact remains, that by 6:30, 99% of what was being said on TV had already been brought up 50 times before earlier in the day by every single network, including CNN/Fox News/MSNBC.

Again, it's not that I don't care, but my tolerance of TV news talking heads is already lower than most. Once they start babbling incohernetly just to fill airtime with news that is no longer new, I reach my limit really quickly.

Anonymous said...

So shut it off...read a book...expand your knowledge...

Anonymous said...

Thing is, Ben...not everyone had the opportunity to know what was going on or to view or read of the coverage given earlier in the day, for various reasons.

As it was, any network closing down their coverage earlier than the others would have risked being criticized from those of their viewers who were interested in following the story.

Believe me when I say that whether someone is a Creighton fan or not, no one would have preferred the event to have occurred at all.

Sports may be a distraction (believe me, I'm a big sports fan), but the coverage had its rightful place yesterday, whether you liked it or not.

Anonymous said...

Matt, you are pathetic. A sporting event means nothing in comparision to this. NOTHING! You should be fired today. Your ratings indicate that you probably will be anyway. Nice job on those. 1620 moves up nicely and you barely nudge out of last place again. Just leave.

Anonymous said...

Well duh. Of course a poll at a website for Creighton fans is going to be in favor of showing the game.

But go ahead and run that same poll anywhere else in the universe and we'll see what kind of results you get.

Ben said...

I ended up watching Nebraska-Western Kentucky with about 100 others at a sports bar, so I did shut it off.

I still think KMTV made the wrong decision, however.

Ask yourself this, and answer it honestly: What if we were talking about Husker football instead of Creighton basketball? Think the game might have been shown then?

Anonymous said...

No. Not in this case. This is far too important of a story.

Anonymous said...

Hey dude, was it not on radio?

Anonymous said...

Ben..

You are correct about Husker Football. I remember when their was the Tornado Warning during the USC game a couple of years ago. They split the screen during that. I agree with you that I would have liked to watch the game. You can only take so much of this wall to wall coverage. They were showing alot of the same video clips over and over, just got old after awhile.

Anonymous said...

Plus all this wall to wall coverage does only one thing..glorify the killer. Wow, accoring to his note, that is just what he wanted. Glad we could give this peice of trash what he wanted.

Anonymous said...

Stop the bashing, and please just take a moment and be thankful this didn't happen to you or any member of your family. My thoughs and prayers are continuing to be with the victims, their families, and those affected by yesterday's mayhem.

Anonymous said...

It was only a couple of years ago when Creighton didn't have ANY fans.

I feel sorry for NONE of you.

Those of you bitching should be ashamed of yourself. If you cared that much, you would have followed them before 2001.

Anonymous said...

Even worse, they didn't show "Deal Or No Deal". And if Judge Joe Brown is interrupted today because of this silly shooting foolishness, I will really be in an uproar.

I mean for God's sakes. They could have detonated an atomic bomb at Westroads yesterday and people still would have been whining, "I can't believe they didn't show the Creighton game"

Anonymous said...

Let's jump on Matt's back for being honest. The news sucks, and 99% of the people doing it are idiots. The best part about saying that is I know most of you idiots are reading this.

Ben was right too. All of the coverage after 5pm was spent making this kid famous.

Now it's time to dance puppets!

Anonymous said...

Bravo! News people are THEE most selfish, self centered, blood-suckers around. They get joy out of these situations. I guarantee every reporter that was there will have this on their reel tape for the next big job!

Hearing them call someone else selfish is comical!

Anonymous said...

First of all I have followed Creighton since I was 12. That's over 20 years.

Second, there were two other media outlets covering the story.

Third, very little broke after seven o'clock. This can be proven my the fact that stations were recylcing the same information over again.

Fourth, they could have put the game on their digital HD channel.

Overall, it was a bad decision by KMTV and yes I called the station.

Anonymous said...

Creighton lost last night. There. You're all caught up.

I'm sorry you missed seeing it on live television. The thoughts and prayers of everyone in Omaha are with you as you try to pick up the shattered pieces of your lives.

Anonymous said...

Here’s the thing.

Everybody handles tragedies differently.

Some will want to watch hours of news. That is fine.

Some will want a distraction like a sporting event. That is fine.

The fact that many people in the city were tired of the constant coverage by 7:00 and wanted to watch a basketball game or another program does not make them less of persons or mean that they are handling the tragedy in appropriately.

Brian said...

Jake, two things:

One: Not everyone was able to have seen the "constant coverage by 7:00" as not everyone has jobs where they can access a TV, radio or internet much or at all.

Two : I'm willing to bet that more than "many people in the city" were concerned about the events that took place yesterday and didn't give a damn about whether KMTV broadcast the Creighton game or not.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't say for sure. But I'm willing to bet there were well over a hundred other cable channels not showing the mall coverage.

And I'd be willing to bet the various ESPN channels kept right on showing a distraction in the form of some sort of sporting event.

So that logic doesn't wash.

Anonymous said...

Geez people...it's a damn basketball game...get a life. People were murdered. That does not happen everyday in such a violent way in Omaha, Nebraska. Therefore, that said I completely understand why the media did the wall to wall coverage. This is big news, whether you like it or not. And please, before you start bashing me, because I know you will, be thankful that it was not you or anyone in your family that was witness or involved in the shooting.

Anonymous said...

Geez people...it's a damn basketball game...get a life. People were murdered. That does not happen everyday in such a violent way in Omaha, Nebraska. Therefore, that said I completely understand why the media did the wall to wall coverage. This is big news, whether you like it or not. And please, before you start bashing me, because I know you will, be thankful that it was not you or anyone in your family that was witness or involved in the shooting.

Anonymous said...

Some of you act like KMTV is the only station in town. There were two other stations to chose from if you wanted to watch coverage. I can respect that.

Furthermore, with respect to KMTV their news is the least watched of the major year. I'd like to how many of you were actually watching their news.

It was a COY decision by KMTV as they did not want to be the first ones back to regular programming.

Anonymous said...

So, according to your way of thinking, KMTV shouldn't even be having a newscast in the first place.

I mean, why should KMTV waste the 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 time-frames with a newscast when there are two other stations capable of informing the public?

And if their ratings are so low...I am pretty sure that the news ratings won't improve if they are known as the station willing to drop coverage of the biggest local news event in years because a few angry callers are upset about a basketball game.

Anonymous said...

Of course they didn't want to be the first ones back to regular programming.

Shoot, why not have a crawl banner telling their viewers - feel free to click over to one of the other local stations because we enjoy any opportunity to drive our viewers elsewhere!

Once again, it is a no-win situation. In the end, they weighed angry community vs. angry Creighton fans and decided correctly.

Seriously Jake, quit bitching about it because you're in the minority on this one.

Anonymous said...

Who gives a shit about baseketball, get over it, and carry on with your lives. At least you have your lives to live. We can't say that for the 8 people who died yesterday, and the fact their family members will be without a loved one. There will be other basketball games. However, there will be no more life lived for those 8 victims.

Anonymous said...

time for a math lesson.

I may be in the minority here, but consider this.

CU averages 16,000 fans.
Assume the Bluejay cafe is representive of the overall opinion of the Bluejay nation.

16,000 * .70 means there were about 11,200 disappointed Bluejay fans last night.

If they showed the game everybody is happy CU fans, and people that would have wanted news could have turned elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Jake, er, Math Professor...

You assume too much. For someone that is over 32 years of age (based on your previous post), you should probably try and come up with a better way to present your side.

Considering that the Omaha metropolitan area is over 800,000 people, your numbers are still paltry in comparison.

I'm also willing to bet that, if you asked Creighton basketball players themselves, I'm pretty sure I know what their answer would have been.

Quit crying about missing the game...it's pretty sad that you're willing to go the lengths you have to whine about it.

Anonymous said...

Please tell me you are not serious. An entire news station shutting down coverage of this news story in order to placate 11,000 Creighton fans.

I mean, was something absolutely incredible supposed to happen at this game? Were they playing the Harlem Globetrotters or something?

Anonymous said...

I find it funny than many of you have resorted to 3rd grade tactics by calling me names rather than debate.

KMTV had options they blew it.

They could have asked cox 2 to show the game. They could have put the game on their digital hd channel. They did none of these these things. The story was 5 hours old. There was no major breaking news for a while. All of the major stations should have returned to regularly scheduled programming at 7:00. They gave the shooter exactly want he wanted. Fame. I am out.

Anonymous said...

it was a road game against a rival and a top 25 team.

Anonymous said...

Well there you go, they were playing against a rival. I stand corrected. Let me know when the march on KMTV is and I'll be there with my sign:

"We want rivalry games against top 25 teams televised on Cox Channel Two or on Digital HD! You shouldn't be covering a mass murder because it will give the killer fame!!"

Granted, I'll need a really, really big sign...Or I'll have to write in very small handwriting.

Anonymous said...

You're "out"? Good...because just as you have been complaining about the coverage being old and recycled by game time, so too has your poor excuse for reasons why the game should have been shown.

KMTV had options, yes. Just like all of the other networks following the story.

I watched one channel during the whole thing, but I commend ALL of them for the work that they did to try and bring THEIR viewers the information as it was coming in.

By the way - if you were so hard up for watching Creighton basketball, you could have watched it online last night...

http://www.cstv.com/cstvppv/mbasketball/

Anonymous said...

Stella

do you work for KMTV?

Anonymous said...

Do some of the Creighton "fans" leaving ridiculous comments both here and elsewhere have any CLUE what Creighton University is about? How about those who founded Creighton. What do you think their opinion would be?

It's an absolute shame that sports and recreation has gone this far. Your community was in need. Instead of bitching about being able to see the game, why didn't you go join Teammates or YMCA mentoring program to actually help this from never happening again?

Anonymous said...

I am leaving you news junkies and returning to my basketball junkies at the Bluejaycafe.

Let's agree to disagree.

Brian said...

Well said, 11:11 AM. Well said.

Anonymous said...

LOL @ Jake. Yes...go back there with your tail between your legs to somewhere where the opinion is more favorable to you.

Agree to disagree? Man, some people simply don't get it.

Kind of reminds me of Moxen's Dad in "Varsity Blues". *shakes head*

Anonymous said...

No. I don't work at KMTV. Actually, I usually don't watch the news on KMTV.

But I found the very idea of ceasing coverage of a huge news event like this in order to switch to a college basketball game to be very troubling.

Anonymous said...

As someone far removed from the situation but a Nebraska native, I think there are valid points on both side of this "Should they show the game?" debate.
But my thoughts are this: After six or seven hours of wall-to-wall coverage and no real new news coming out, isn't it time to move on? Work in updates as much as possible during regular programming, plug all of the latest updates as they come in and keep people in the loop. But who is being served by this coverage? Not you, the viewer, you've already heard all of the stuff they are telling you. The victims' families? You honestly think they give a rat's behind what's being shown on TV? What was on TV Wednesday night was not even remotely in their thoughts. They knew all they needed to know: that someone they loved was shot for some unknown reason.
Those being served by the coverage were the news stations, so they could pat themselves on the back, maybe get a 20 or 30 second spot on CNN or Fox News.
To those who say that the Creighton fans needed to "Get over it" or that their "community was in need" don't have a clue either. The Creighton fans who wanted to watch the game were trying to "get over it" and get on with their respective lives.
And how was the "community in need." The shooting took six minutes. After those six minutes, there was nothing threatening or dangerous remaining of the situation. This wasn't a flood, tornado or wildfire, it was one troubled kid's swan song.

The truth is, when an event like this happens, some people get emotionally caught up in it because it happened close to home. Others see the tragedy for what it is, a senseless tragedy, but don't have the emotional attachment that others do. These people just want things to get back to normal. There's nothing wrong with that, especially when something so abnormal happens.

Anonymous said...

Two questions:

1) Channel 3 is still on the air?
2) Who's Matt Perrault?

Anonymous said...

Stella,

I find it distributing that anyone could watch six to seven hours of this morbid, horrible, story straight through without a distration distribuing

Anonymous said...

LOL @ 12:17 PM...

"distributing"? You mean disturbing?

"distration"? You mean distraction?

"distribuing"? You mean disturbing?

Wow...I hope your job isn't as a proofreader. :-p

Anonymous said...

The things is with breaking news is that you don't KNOW when more news will be coming out... or what KIND of news it will be. What was going on at the Westroads could have been just the tip of things.

He had broken up with his girlfriend. Was she all right? We heard from the "landlord" he was staying with, but nothing from his family. Would we find them dead in their house too? Was the Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot rigged with a booby trap?

Remember, we didn't find out there were nine fatalities until Sgt. Teresa Negron told us. Before that, it was 2 fatalities. We were waiting for Chief Warren to get back from out of town to give us an update (they started talking about that around 7 p.m., but he didn't go on air until around 9 p.m.). I was surprised we didn't get more "victim" information from the media (families coming forward to name their loved one as a victim) between 6-10 p.m.

So unless you KNOW definitively what additional information will be coming out, you stay on the air.

The whiny Creighton fans who are upset they missed their game need to get a life. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. I'm weird like that. Interested in updates. Looking for new information. Learning how this impacted people. Wondering if victim's names might be released and if one of them is somebody I know.

Strange, I know.

I'd like to thank the Omaha media for catering to my wishes and mine alone. Instead of succumbing to the pressure of everybody else in Omaha who had their hearts set on watching college basketball and Deal or No Deal.

Anonymous said...

Well put, newsjunkie. Considering all that you mentioned, it made more sense to continue staying on than to break into other programming often had they cut out earlier.

While the networks did re-hash info from time to time, I took that as it was figuring that not everyone may have been able to have been watching for very long.

Anonymous said...

Jake mentioned a crawler....I think that is a wonderful alternative....KM3rd could have put the Creighton Score on the crawler....then at least they could have an updated score.

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, 1:14 PM! I about spit out my drink when I read your post. Turnabout is fair play! :-)

Anonymous said...

Lets get this thread back to where it should be...bashing Perrault.

How bout them latest numbers there Matty?

Anonymous said...

It's simple.

Game on KMTV - Digital
News on KMTV - Analog (main)

Everybody is happy.

KMTV from a business point of view, screwed up as they left themselves with a no win decision.

Anonymous said...

@1:23.

I like Perrault. He offers a different non-kool aid opinion.

Anonymous said...

Some of us work. We are not all losers who were sitting at home from 2:00 until 7:00 watching the coverage. Speaking as someone who is a professional and got home at a little after 6:30, I am thankful they (and their advertisers) care more about me than you and how you will spend your welfare check.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and how the F does Matt still have a show?

Anonymous said...

I amazed this is even being debated.

First of all, it was an early December Creighton basketball game. People are treating it like it was the Super Bowl or game seven of the World Series.

How many other Creighton games are never televised? Should KMTV be devoting countless hours of manpower and cost in order to televise every single one of them on their digital channel to make 11,000 Creighton fans happy?

Trust me, you Creighton fans are EASILY in the minority. Has KMTV put out a public statement apologizing for not showing the game in favor of the mall shooting coverage? Until they do, that ought to tell you how much clout you people have.

Finally, get some perspective. One month from now, is anybody even going to remember that Creighton played basketball that night?

Anonymous said...

Basketball aside. News stations go completely overboard with their coverage of these events. Everybody should have returned to regular programming at 7:00 and broke in as needed.

Anonymous said...

Stella,

I find it funny you are criticizing channel 3's anchors in another thread, but definding them here.

Anonymous said...

There are more of us than you think.

Anonymous said...

2:23

I will concede that point. However, they still lost out of a great deal of ad dollars.

Anonymous said...

anonymous 2:22pm, you are mistaken.

I have said nothing defending or praising the anchors on KMTV. I am only defending their station's decision to keep covering the story instead of broadcasting a basketball game or spending time running around trying to figure out how they can show it on only their digital channel.

Anonymous said...

at 10 am thought I would watch the Creighton Game..at 2:30pm..Forgot about due to the shootings..Remembered the game was on when I read this Stupid Post..Dear God ! How selfish..I was able to see the news from 2:30 till 6:30 so I guess I am done...Yet Thousands of others still had not witness the news or events... News Station did what they did because its what they do!!!! And If I managed a station and this happened..Damn Right full coverage!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wall to wall coverage until 7 PM, then breaking in as needed...all networks. Back to wall to wall coverage at 10 PM.

Michael Carnes said...

Matt,

Unbelievable that you would even CONSIDER uttering such a stupid, thoughtless, moronic comment on the air. Even the biggest idiot in radio would have enough intelligence to realize that something as horrible as this tragedy is far beyond ANY sporting event at ANY level at ANY time of the season.

If the management of Journal Broadcast Group has one shred of common sense, you will be shown the door and will be out of a job on the air in these parts.

Anonymous said...

News junkie, excellent post. Breaking news is not planned..there was some repetition obviously, but there was no information coming out.

I do agree though that maybe KMTV could have put the game on digital.
I don't feel too sorry for Jay fans thatn didnt get the chance to see their team get smoked.

Anonymous said...

I wish Matt would listen to his mom and show that he's too good for Omaha... by leaving.

Anonymous said...

If any of these rich prick Creighton fans really wanted to follow last night's game while they sipped their zinfandel, they could have turned on their damned Bose radios & listened to T. Scott. The added bonus to last night's game was that the goatee wasn't stumbling along attempting to do color.

Anonymous said...

Matt

You have alienated any decent person who might have liked you in my opinion. For someone who has only been here 2 years, you sure seem to think you know what is important in this city and what is not! You have stepped over the lines of decency. 13 families of victims were directly affected and 100's and 1000's were also affected by those who were in the mall at the time of the shooting and knowing someone who was. Your lack of compassion is disgusting. The people in the midwest here are caring compassionate people who wanted to be told the latest.

Journal - YOUR EMPLOYER - is trying to rebuild their reputation as a valuable news commodity in this town. Your on air rumors and rants concerning Nebraska alienated many but this one takes the cake. So long and farewell - you are officially crossed off of my relevent list. Please take a job in an industry that you are better suited for.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know of any openings for janitorial work?

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that Matt Perrault and the other 12 outraged people have a simple remedy. Simply boycott KMTV. Don't watch KMTV. Let advertisers know that you won't be purchasing their products because KMTV showed historic local news instead of the basketball game (I'd love to listen in on that conversation).

If your numbers are really that huge then KMTV will suffer dire consequences. And when the last person turns off the light, as the mortgage company forecloses on the KMTV studios, that person will stand there muttering, "My God, Matt Perrault was right".

But then again, there will be nobody broadcasting your precious Creighton games.

So it sounds like to me you're gonna have to deal with it.

Anonymous said...

Journal = Toilet...they are getting beat in the ratings by FOX 42 and that is just SAD!!!

Anonymous said...

If some didn't know, many of the victims were either Creighton graduates or relatives of current Creighton employees. I suspect, if asked, more Creighton fans and alumni, such as myself, would rather have watched the game than having to endure what has been done to the Creighton family by this maniac. However, it was more important for every news outlet to run with this story. This is the most tragic thing to happen in Omaha probably since the tornado of 75. It merited the coverage.

Anonymous said...

I am a recent graduate of a different Jesuit college, and I think the Creighton "fans" defending this crap need to think about something.

A Jesuit education teaches social justice, faith and community betterment. Perhaps you think a non-conference game in December is "community betterment". If you do, then you have more issues than I can fix here.

As a person of faith I can only wonder what the men who founded Creighton University would think of all this. The fact that this is even being discussed is an embarassment to the citizens of Omaha and everyone associated with Creighton university.

Anonymous said...

5:51, a rather eloquant post.
I's wager that most, if not all, of these "I wanted to see the game" posts came from non-Creighton grads. Just like most 'Husker fans' never set foot on the UNL campus save for attending some athletic event.

Anonymous said...

By 7:00, the news was no longer "breaking". IMO, all stations should have returned to regular coverage. People that have not had a chance to her the news yet in detail could have waited until 10:00 or used the internet.

The issue is not really about the game, but rather if the news media in general exercised good judgement in staying live for so long. IMO, they did not.

As an aside, I am really disappointed by some of the name calling and semi-personal attacks on people that might have a different opinion than yourself. It is a sad commentary that many in our society cannot have an polite, intelligent, conversation about an important issue without resorting to elementary school yard tactics. I

Anonymous said...

6:13 AM:

While I do not agree with your assessment of the media coverage; I do agree with you on the name calling. It is just a sad reflection on what has become of society when we cannot engage each other in constructive discourse and that each side has resorted to baseless attacks against the other.

Please, can we keep it above the belt? After what has transpired, the world does not need anymore hate and bad feelings. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

"People that have not had a chance to her the news yet in detail could have waited until 10:00 or used the internet."

There you have it. The sentiments of the these Creighton fans all wrapped up in a single sentence.

Where people's need to learn information that they aren't aware of yet, regarding eight people gunned down in a shopping mall frequented by almost everybody in the city, is deemed an inconvenience.

Next thing you know they'll be screaming at the killer because he didn't have the courtesy to wait until a day when Creighton basketball wasn't on television.

Anonymous said...

Really 7:58.

It is like any other tragic story. Once there is nothing new (and public safety is a non-issues) to report, stations should (and often do)return to regularly scheduled programming. By 7:00, it was non breaking news. Many people, I have spoken with informally at the office the last couple of days have expressed a similar opinion. That the all Omaha television news stations stayed live to you. Instead of insulting Creighton fans, why don't you argue my points. Maybe you cannot.

Anonymous said...

To be perfectly honest; I am not a Creighton fan and I felt that they should have returned to regular programming by 7 PM and alerted us of any updates throughout the evening. This just sensationalizes the killer and the act and gives him the attention that he craved so madly.

Anonymous said...

There was a story in the Tehran times about this incident. It was front page news in Brazil. It was a MAJOR worldwide story, reaching every corner of the globe.

And Creighton fans are crying about FIVE hours of local coverage?

It doesn't matter if the coverage was redundant. It doesn't matter if there "should have been updates". The Creighton game was MEANINGLESS. Why is this so difficult to understand?

I've been around some horrible fans, but this takes the cake. And to think, from a Catholic school too.

Sickening.

Anonymous said...

Oh, "JS", you sad sorry little creature. Yeah, I'm insulting you. So go ahead and get started on the whining.

I'm glad that your consensus of four Creighton drinking buddies came to the same conclusion as you. No seriously, that impresses me.

So the people at the news stations are supposed to be able to predict when new information is going to stop coming in? "Its been five minutes since we've had any new information, we better get back to showing Jeopardy and Judge Judy"

Just how big of a tragedy does it have to be before its okay to interrupt your precious basketball game with information that may or may not have already been stated. Just give us the number of people who actually have to die before its deemed important. That should really help the news people out.

People cling to new information in times like this. While there are those obsessing over a stupid basketball game, there are other people looking for updates on a tragic situation. Sometimes there will be new information. Sometimes there won't. I have yet to find a news station that has been accurately able to predict what news will be happening and when.

Too bad this wasn't a bigger nation wide tragedy. That way the coverage would have been limited to CNN and MSNBC. Oh, sorry. You probably never heard of them...They are news channels. They have shows kind of like SportsCenter but instead of sports, they do news.

Anonymous said...

JS, Get a clue man.Let me put this in simple terms -- the Westroads shootings are kind of a big deal. So sorry you had to miss the Bluejays getting their butts kicked.

Anonymous said...

While I do not agree with JS's points, it's kind of pathetic that people like 4:55 PM have to attack him for it. Yes, this was an emotional and terrible event. Yes, the media should have covered it wall to wall. But to just outright attack someone for having a different opinion is as classless as wanting to watch a B-Ball game. Perhaps if the world could be kinder to each other, we would not have tragedies such as the one that befell our beloeved community. Think about it folks before you run off at the mouth half cocked.

Anonymous said...

4:55 PM I apologize. From another comment made by JS in an above post; I stand corrected and you are certainly more than correct on your assessment of him.

Anonymous said...

4:55. I think you are an insecure person that is compensating for a personal issue. Why else would you feel the need to insult me? By the way, the people I asked at work were not Creighton fans. Some people believe the coverage was excessive and it gave the shooter exactly what he wanted more infamy. So, you and other members of the media 24/7 riech supported giving the shooter exactly what he wanted. I did not. The issue is not limited to a basketball game, but whether the media coverage as a whole was proper. IMO, it was excessive. Like it or not. There are a lot of people that have that opinion. Find five radom people of the street and pose them this question.

"On the night of the westroads' shooting, did you like the local news coverage was excessive? Should they have returned to regular programming before 10:30PM?" You all might be surprised at the answer.

Anonymous said...

JS:

True, the media might be surprised, but it appears that the majority of people blogging on this site seem to think that media was well within their rights to continue coverage.

Omaha has never had something like this occur and even the local officials were not certain when they would annouce any new information or if. It was this sense of the unknown that probably guided the decisions of the three main media outlets in Omaha that terrible day. I understand that it could be considered over-coverage; but this event was something that was well beyond the norm and many people, media, public officials, citizens were not certain how to react to it. You can't fault the media for staying live with this event when even city officials were not certain how to deal with it. If that is the case, the the wall to wall coverage of 9/11 for two or three days beyond that attack could also have been considered excessive. This was a terrible act that affected the psyche of most of the people in Omaha. The media did what they needed to do in the light of the situation.

Anonymous said...

10:19.

While I disagree with your conclusion, that is a well thought out position.

I will not counter. You may have the last word. Happy Holidays.

Anonymous said...

Happy Holidays to you too and thanks for the positive discourse. While we may agree to disagree we have to do what we can to keep it civil.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

why dosent KMTV channel 3 have a sub-channel?

I mean KPTM, KXVO, and KETV and WOWT all have one already.


what is KMTV channel 3 waiting for?