The WIVB-TV (Channel 4) interview Wednesday with convicted murderer Ralph “Bucky” Phillips about the parallels of his experience to escaped murder suspect Michael Burham set off a debate in journalism circles on two separate issues.
The first one is how appropriate it was to interview someone who is prison for life for fatally shooting State Trooper Joseph A. Longobardo and wounding his partner, Donald H. Baker Jr., in 2006. Phillips also escaped from prison and hid out in the woods while police conducted a manhunt to bring him in.
The second is whether Channel 4 investigative reporter Luke Moretti and producer Daniel Telvock handled the interview well after they concluded it was worth doing.
According to sources inside Channel 4, there was internal debate over whether doing the story was a good idea.
The same sources said Moretti and Telvock had a head start on the story. They had been corresponding with Phillips for a while and had done a two-hour interview with him in a Central New York prison a month or so ago for a story that may eventually become its own program.
People are also reading…
Their conversations with Phillips became more frequent after Burham escaped from the Warren County (Pa.) Jail, where he was being held after being federally charged with kidnapping a couple in Warren County and taking them to South Carolina. He also is a suspect in the May 11 fatal shooting of a Jamestown mother, Kala Hodgkin, but has not been charged in that case as prosecutors await results of lab tests.
I was uncomfortable watching Phillips being used as an expert on how a survivalist like Burham can avoid capture in the woods. But sometimes journalists must do uncomfortable stories.
I initially thought Channel 4 could have done an interview with a survivalist who hadn’t killed someone to explain how Burham could avoid capture. However, there probably is no one better than Phillips to address what Burham may be doing, since he lived it 17 years ago.
The comparisons made between Burham and Phillips undoubtedly led to the belief that an interview with the convicted murderer had news value, even if some viewers might be offended.
The story was No. 1 on the WIVB.com website for some time, so there is no question many people were interested in it. I’m told the reaction on social networks was mixed, which isn’t surprising since the public rarely understands that journalists often make difficult calls.
The arguments for doing the story were that the parallels between the two escapes made it a compelling story and there was a chance that Phillips might be able to say something that would help law enforcement find Burham.
Once the decision was made to pursue the story, the question is how well it was executed.
Of course, any reporters will be open to criticism for how they handle an attention-getting story like this. Not everyone will be satisfied.
My concerns about the way it was handled were mostly about how it was arranged and packaged. The most uncomfortable part of the story was that it didn’t accentuate enough the heinous crimes that Phillips committed.
It took about two and a half minutes of the five-minute story to get to Phillips’ expertise on how to survive in the woods, which was the main point of the story.
Before that, it allowed Phillips to say he was “disgusted” by the comparisons with Burham because “I never hurt any civilian. That ain’t cool.”
It was a stomach-turning quote that suggested the murder of a state trooper was any less disturbing than what Burham is being accused of. I probably would have cut that disturbing remark and more quickly have gone to Phillips’ expertise as a survivalist.
Moretti added one line immediately after Phillips’ offensive comment to try to offer some balance.
“The State Police see it differently,” Moretti said.
He then showed an old clip after Phillips’ arrest in which a State Police representative said they were “the good guys” and Phillips was “the bad guy.”
“Bad guy” didn’t cut it. It wasn’t enough balance.
Since Moretti kept Phillips’ remark, it would have been better if he had done a more recent interview with a State Police representative to get a lengthier reaction to Phillips’ offensive remark rather than rely on an old clip.
Since he was relying on old comments, Moretti might have added a quote from Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr. in sentencing Phillips to life in prison without the possibility of parole in December 2006.
“You’re about to become irrelevant,” the judge told Phillips.
According to a 2006 story by Buffalo News reporter Lou Michel, the judge “made it known to Phillips he was about the become a nobody.”
“The truth is, Trooper Longobardo is loved,” Kloch told Phillips. “But you’ll be forgotten in a few weeks. You’re about to become irrelevant.”
He became relevant briefly again this week because of his expertise into what he believes Burham can do and how long he can stay free.
The most valuable part of the interview was Phillips’ explanation of how Burham could survive by eating berries and nuts in the woods and by fishing. He suggested the suspect also would try to keep a low profile during the day and come out only at night.
During a recent Pennsylvania State Police press conference, one of the leaders of the search noted that technology has changed in the 17 years since Phillips hid in the woods for five months, which suggested authorities might have a chance of capturing Burham sooner.
Phillips painted a less-optimistic picture of Burham being captured.
At the end of his story, Moretti said Phillips predicted that as long as Burham stays clear of people and sticks to his strategy, “the chances of catching him right away are slim.”
The new technology made one wonder if some of Phillips’ experiences were so long ago that his prediction of how long Burham can stay on the loose might not be as relevant as the Channel 4 story would have you believe.
