Journalistic investigations (for students-magisters of the second level of higher education, lecturer – Associate Professor Аleksandrova Maryna Vyacheslavivna)

THE CASE: PART 3

 

[Later in the Newsroom, After the Thonka Press Conference]

The newspaper’s driver returns from his brother's well-known restaurant, Green Park Paradise, with somosas and other snacks for the reporters. He tells them he has spotted small bonfires in the crowded alleys of Green Park, and that the demonstrators are becoming increasingly agitated.

Half an hour later, the phone rings. A man on the phone says that he is a Green Park resident, but refuses to give his name. His message is the following:

“Things are getting out of control. Fighting has erupted in the streets. The policemen have gone mad, because one of their colleagues has been killed in Green Park. They have called in reinforcements and have started to clear the area near the Paradise Restaurant. People have been arrested and taken away-even children, including my niece, and she is only eleven!”

 

[Wednesday Morning in the Newsroom]

The reporter who was in Green Park yesterday evening and stayed until past midnight delivers an account of his observations. He notes that the parents of some of the children who were taken away told him that they were very grateful to the police for protecting the children by moving them away from the clashes. “Not a single arrest was made,” the reporter tells you. The children were safely returned to their families as the protesters withdrew from the streets during the evening. The area was quiet around midnight. Nobody was injured, except a young girl who was hit and seriously injured by a black luxury car. The driver fled the scene of the accident.

Another reporter has called the police. The message on the telephone answering machine is as follows:

“Until 4 p.m. today, no assistance from this office is available because all our staff will be attending the memorial service of a colleague who died tragically yesterday in Green Park.”

A third reporter has called the Town Hall and talked to the mayor's secretary. She told him the mayor will issue a statement at 4 p.m.

 

[5 p.m. in the Newsroom]

Radio Freedonia has just broadcast a speech made by Mr. Peter Lusso, the chief of police, at the memorial service of the deceased policeman. He fiercelv attacked the media for their reporting on the unrest in Green Park, describing the reports as “a complete distortion of facts.”

He quotes selected stories from today’s papers: “Policeman Killed by Riotous Crowd,” “Policemen Go Mad,” “Unconfirmed Reports Sav Policeman Killed,” “Fighting in Streets as Police Rampage,” “Cop Killed in Green Park Disturbances.”

Mr. Lusso continues: “This is a disgrace to the nation and a personal agony for the family and friends of a respected and beloved colleague. While we are gathered here in common grief, the public has been presented with a distorted picture of yesterday’s unfortunate events. The police had complete control of the situation in Green Park. There was no violence. Our respected colleague, Sam Lujak, died of a sudden and unprovoked heart attack. Why do the national media resort to such practices of irresponsible, tabloid slandering by publishing what they refer to as “unconfirmed reports” about a killing that never took place?”

End of broadcast. A few minutes later, Freedonia’s News Agency sends out the complete text of Mr. Lusso’s speech.

Meanwhile, Palisades’s mayor, Mr. Michael Cramer, has completed his press conference at the Town Hall. His message is the following:

“An attractive piece of land in the district of Flora, 20 kilometers south of Palisades, has been designated to be given to the Green Park squatters. They are free to move out there immediately. Each family will be given a fertile plot of land there and a sum of money. Otherwise, families will be offered an apartment elsewhere in the city Whichever they choose, these families will be enabled to join Freedonia’s transformation to a prosperous, democratic society. Regarding the hotel project, the plans will continue. Work will start on Monday, and will provide at least 1,100 jobs for the community.”

 

THE TASK:

1. What is to be done now? Immediate decisions are needed. Your readers expect to be informed. Discuss how you plan to follow up on the Green Park case and decide what goes into the main Green Park story in tomorrow’s paper (take notes).

2. Present your plan of action.

3. Write the frame of your main story (headline, subhead, and lead)