A nightmare in Perry – for journalists, too

"There's a right way to go about this ethically..."

Jan 05, 2024

Few stories are as emotionally fraught as a school shooting. The early minutes present complex problems for journalists as rumors swirl, people understandably panic, and reliable information is hard to come by. Reporters have information flying at them from all directions. What to report and more important, what NOT to report. Their own emotions are on edge. They want to do a good job and not make a critical mistake. It’s a tough job.

I don’t by any means intend to equate the difficulties journalists face in school shootings with the trauma experienced by students, staff, families and law enforcement. The point of today’s column is that journalists have an important role to play in disseminating information to the community. They can do a lot of good if they act responsibly and they can do a lot of damage if they don’t.

Thursday’s school shooting in Perry that resulted in the death of a sixth-grade student, injuries to four other students and the school principal, as well as the suicide of the 17-year-old shooter, presented news crews with a host of problems.

Unlike the East High School shooting in 2022 or the Starts Right Here shooting on Des Moines’ south side last year, the time it took to get reporters and photographers to Perry, a 40-minute drive, resulted in a long wait until news crews could get their own eyes on the scene. It can feel like an eternity as journalists figure out what to report and when to report it. Newsrooms likely were getting multiple phone calls from Perry residents, some with good information and some with bad information. Social media can run amok in these situations. It takes a lot of restraint to wait and find out solid info before going on the air.

Speed is important during breaking news, but some stories demand a slower approach. School shootings are one story where it pays to take a deep breath before publishing online or going on air.

The mere mention of a school shooting can cause panic. I recall a morning several years ago when the police scanners lit up with word of a shooting at a local school. Our newsroom rushed crews to the scene, but we waited before going on air. Good thing, because all that had happened was a school custodian got to the school parking lot to report for work and when he got out of his car, noticed a bullet hole in his vehicle. It probably had happened overnight while he slept at home. Like a game of telephone gone bad, someone had heard “bullet hole” and called police to say there had been a shooting. Can you imagine the panic we would have caused had we rushed to air with news of a shooting at XYZ school?

Restrained coverage

Observing Thursday’s coverage, I saw a good deal of restraint by the Des Moines television stations as they tried to relay to viewers a sense of what was going on, without having much reliable information. One station kept up an “Active Shooter” banner well past the time when it was clear the shooting was long over. Another station relayed an unconfirmed report of a least one person having been killed. But in general, the anchors on set and reporters on the scene were calm and showed compassion. After all, many of them are parents, too.

A 10:30 am news conference by police provided little new information, which only allows rumors more time to swirl. The one thing police said, though, was that the threat was over and the shooter “had been identified.” That, at least, allowed viewers to read between the lines that the shooter likely was dead. But should journalists make that leap? Probably not.

Explain coverage decisions

Journalists can build credibility by explaining why they’re covering the story in a certain way. For example, KCCI’s anchor Alyx Sacks was on the desk all morning and told viewers why they weren’t reporting information that the newsroom had heard, but couldn’t yet confirm, about who had been shot. “We want to be very clear,” Sacks said. “We find it very important that we confirm to you through a reliable source. It has been vetted. And we want to honor law enforcement procedure and protocol.” She continued, “We are talking about people’s lives. We are talking about families who don’t know about victims. They don’t want to hear about it on the news. There is the right way to go about this ethically and that is why we’re going to honor what law enforcement asked.”

As difficult as the first day has been for Iowa journalists, the challenges will continue over the coming days. How do they approach the families of those killed or injured? How much focus on the shooter and where he got the guns is appropriate? Do we really need to know what his motive was? Should reporters show up when school resumes or is it better to stay away and let the kids try to get back to some sense of normalcy? There will be questions of the presidential candidates roaming our state to see who’s the first one to say, “Now is not the time to talk about gun safety measures.”

News managers will need to vet each of these issues, talk them over with trusted staff members, and make the best decisions they can minute-by-minute. All the careful reporting of Thursday can be undone by a careless mistake or insensitive question. Viewers will be watching.

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup

Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Vicki Minor, Relatively Minor, Winterset

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Kali White VanBaale, 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

And thanks to Iowa Capital Dispatch for running selected columns from our writers!

Dave Busiek on Media