Haleigh Cummings Update – Radio Wrap Up For Jan/31

Haleigh Cummings Update – Radio Wrap Up For Jan/31

http://www.bloggernews.net/123702

Well I think it would be fair to say that it was another lively program. Or regular panel of Simon and Jan Barrett, Denny Griffin, TJ Hart, and Levi Page were in action.

I have to admit that TJ was on top form, the subject of missing children is not a humorous one, however every case does have its humorous aspects. There has been a bit of an inside press joke going on for some months now concerning the use of the word ‘Exclusive’ by various news organizations and reporters in this case.

Jacksonville.com ran a story this morning on the subject. I have to admit that when I read it I just about fell out of my chair laughing. So to anyone that was listening in, that was where TJ was coming from.

Much of todays discussion centered around the ‘Famous Five’ that are currently cooling their heels at the tax payers expense in various law enforcement locations. I had thought that once this merry band was behind bars with huge bond ammounts assigned the tactic by Law Enforcement would be to offer reduced charges or even immunity to whoever decided to talk. Clearly that is not the case. They seem to have gone in the opposite direction.

Ronald Cummings has been moved from his vacation home in Flagler County back to Putnam County and put in the ‘general population’ of the jail. This situation is likely not ideal for his peace of mind. It does not take much investigative shoe leather to realize that directly or indirectly the Haleigh Cummings disappearance has resulted in a number of people being incarcerated on drug charges. It would be hard to believe that many people in the Purnam facility are pleased with Ronald Cummings.

Misty Croslin’s brother Tommy is also finding himself in some ever deeper water. His ante had already been upped by being placed on a ‘no bond’ hold. Well now he finds that more charges are being placed against him. The theft of a gun from a neighbor. And my all time favorite, the theft of two bottles of Dawn liquid detergent! I will bet that LE had a good chuckle over this charge.

Donna Brock also finds herself in an untenable position. She faces a somewhat unusual court appearance to determin exactly who she is, what she owns, and where she lives. This is a wonderful opportunity for a serious fishing expedition.

Misty Croslin and Hope Sykes seemed to have dodged the bullet so far. One can speculate that LE feels that with Misty on almost a $1 million bond it is unlikely that she will be getting out of jail any time soon. Hope Sykes is a dark horse, it is possible that she was merely collateral damage in the drug sweep.


You can listen to the entire program here.



Simon and Jan Barrett

There's a reason Nancy Grace's 'exclusive' sounded familiar

http://jacksonville.com/news/columnists/mark_woods/2010-01-30/story/theres_a_reason_nancy_graces_exclusive_sounded_familiar

I’m glad we don’t often use the word “exclusive” to describe a story or interview.

Even though I suppose many stories and interviews done by reporters at this and other local papers could be described as such, doing so often seems like sensational, look-at-me journalism.

Besides, after catching some of Nancy Grace on television last week, I’m a little confused about the definition of “exclusive.”

For a couple of days, in logos and screen crawls, in blogs and headlines, the HLN show used the e-word over and over.

Breaking News Exclusive!

Haleigh’s Dad’s Exclusive Jailhouse Interview!

Exclusive interview: Ronald Cummings explodes behind bars!

Much of Grace’s show last week was built around audio of an interview, done in the Flagler County jail, by Times-Union reporter Dana Treen. Or, as we now call him in the newsroom, “inaudible.”

Let me explain.

Dana has spent much of the last year trying to keep up with the saga of Haleigh Cummings and her family. I don’t envy him. It was hard enough to cover the tragic beginning. But since then, I imagine it has been kind of like covering one very long episode of Jerry Springer.

That’s my description, not Dana’s. He has covered this professionally. He has spent long hours working on story after story. And every time it seems like he might be able to get away from it, some new twist pulls him back.

So last Sunday, after Haleigh’s father and former stepmother were arrested on charges of trafficking in prescription drugs, Treen spoke with Cummings by phone.

The conversation was recorded and made a public record.

We ran a story about what Cummings said on Jacksonville.com and in the paper Monday. We never used the e-word.

But when the audio became public, Grace filled hours of her prime-time cable show with it, inevitably labeling it an exclusive. If you didn’t know better, you would have thought it was the show’s exclusive, that Grace’s people did the interview and had the only record of it.

And she and her staff made sure viewers didn’t know better, never mentioning the Times-Union, Dana Treen or -- minor detail -- that others had the audio.

Beyond that, when the show played conversation that included Cummings calling the reporter by name, the transcript on the screen included every word except one. The name.

“[Inaudible],” it said.

Maybe I should cut Grace some slack. It was a long week. She had to appear in court for a deposition in a wrongful death suit filed against her and CNN. Her lawyers fought against having it videotaped, basically saying they feared someone might get ahold of the clips and use them in ways they couldn’t control.

Imagine that.

A sense of irony never has been one of Grace’s strengths. She once co-wrote a book saying, among other things, the “24/7 media” was hurting our justice system, which is kind of like Mark McGwire writing a book saying “bulked-up ’roid heads” tainted our baseball records.

By the end of the week, Grace was losing her voice. But fear not. Even if she is unable able to talk, I’m sure she and her staff will come up with something to air. Perhaps a Nancy Grace “exclusive flashback.”

The [Inaudable]/Nixon interviews!