KCTV gets a wrist slap for the fertilizer story

Last year KCTV-5′s Dave Helling got caught making shit up when he tricked a small town fertilizer salesman into selling him fertilizer for a bomb, even though the stuff he bought wasn’t actually explosive. Now the journalism watchdog Columbia Journalism Review has admonished Helling and KCTV for the incident. They also praise St. Louis’ KMOV-TV for their legitimate, well-executed version of the same concept. So not only did KCTV copy an idea from another station, they did so very badly. What part of “Live, Late-Breaking, Investigative” does this fall under?

Helling solemnly concluded, “It is clear tonight — very clear — that security remains a concern across the country.” Indeed it does. It is also clear — very clear — that shoddy journalism remains a concern across the country. Just ask Mr. McGraw.

Columbia Journalism Review, February 2005
Pitch Weekly’s Tony Ortega: Channel 5’s fertilizer bomb story keeps growing.
BlogKC: KCTV-5 Sleaze Exhibit A