From the archives - This article was originally published on 10 August 2008. Despite the fact that the news story is now old the topic and issues remain important so I have re-posted the story.
I spent two very enjoyable years working as a newspaper reporter for The Eagle Newspaper. During that time I learned a few things about news reporting and writing headlines. Accurate reporting does not have to be boring; Attention-grabbing headlines do not have to be intentionally misleading.
I can honestly say that The Eagle, despite being a small-town weekly, worked hard to produce accurate and reliable news. Conversely, I used to be amazed at how I could attend the same event as major-market news reporters (TV or print) and end up with a completely different story. I would be amazed at the spin they would put on an article to suit whatever bias they felt compelled to apply. On more than one occasion I was not certain that I was reading or watching news about the same event that I covered!
As a child I can recall my father being slandered in the news during a controversial church vs. state legal battle in Concord, NH. (The church won, by the way, because my father was willing to risk arrest to stand for his convictions. I learned to stand strong for what I believe early on – a legacy I am proud to be able to claim!) I have also been sandbagged by a news reporter while managing a company in Binghamton, NY. The reporter misrepresented the focus of a Sunday Feature to obtain interviews with several companies in our market and then proceeded to slander us in the Sunday newspaper.
These experiences colored my opinion of news reporters before I ever entered the industry. My philosophy as a reporter was that the story was what the story was – nothing more and nothing less. I reported the story as the story actually was – for good or bad. I refused to spice up a story just to make a better article. I also did not gloss over uncomfortable components of stories either. As a result of my journalistic integrity I frequently received positive feedback and commendations from readers who appreciated my honesty and accuracy in reporting.
Prior to joining the staff at The Eagle I spent more than five years working as an EMT for a commercial ambulance service in Washington County, NY. This experience allowed me to see the inner workings of our regional emergency system.
All of these reflections bring me to the point of this article. I have been watching a local news situation develop and become scandalized here in Washington County, NY. Last Saturday morning, Francine Morgan made a 911 call on her mobile phone from her home in Wells, VT. According to news reports, the call was received by Washington County Public Safety at 0357. Wells, VT is a border town adjacent to Granville, NY. (This is one of those unique situations in this area where Granville, NY provides EMS coverage in Wells, VT.) Morgan was unable to provide her name or location at the time of her call. Washington County Public Safety was unable to determine an exact location for Morgan based off her mobile 911 call. Washington County Public Safety is apparently equipped to receive GPS information from mobile phones but did not have Vermont mapping software available and thus was unable to determine Morgan’s location.
Washington County Public Safety dispatchers attempted to call Morgan back and were able to learn her first name from her voicemail message. Dispatchers then contacted Verizon Wireless to obtain Morgan’s location. A Verizon representative advised the Public Safety office that they would need to send in a fax before Verizon would provide them with Morgan’s location. The dispatchers prepared a fax for Verizon only to discover that the fax line was busy and they were unable to transmit the fax! (Verizon representatives had since gone on record insisting that they would have waived this requirement in an emergency. Yeah, okay…) Washington County Public Safety personnel worked diligently for around 30 minutes to determine Morgan’s location. Upon obtaining this information the dispatchers contacted Vermont State Police and provided them with the information. Vermont State Police arrived on the scene at 0529 to find Morgan beaten and shot to death. Police have arrested Morgan’s teenaged son and charged him with her murder.
Where this story becomes more interesting to me, and the reason I am writing this article, is that the local daily newspaper (The Post Star) has turned this tragedy into something that it is not. The Post Star published an article on Friday, August 8, with the headline “Vermont Mother’s 911 Call Bungled: Washington County Unable to Respond Swiftly Over State Line.” The headline blatantly suggests, and the article continues to insinuate, that Washington County Public Safety somehow bungled this emergency call and is therefore responsible. The range of comments on the Post Star’s website are divided between those who have some understanding of the emergency system and those who are clueless and ignorant but still opinionated. The Post Star published a second article on Saturday, August 9, with the headline “Responders Upgrading Map System: Washington County Set to Use New Maps for Vermont 911 Calls.” This article also suggests that Washington County Public Safety is largely responsible for Morgan’s death by not having a Vermont State Police officer at her residence sooner. This is complete foolishness. This article completely ignores the fact that Verizon Wireless refused to cooperate in a timely manner and that the Vermont State Police took 62 minutes from dispatch to arrival on scene since they did not have an officer on patrol that night! One commenter on the Post Star website rightly notes that, even had an officer been on duty, the State Police cannot travel faster than a bullet!
The tragedy and scandal here is that a teenager murdered his own mother in their home. Period. This is a tragedy and symptomatic of many national social problems as well as evidence of some obvious problems that were already well underway in the Morgan household. This story did not start in the early hours of Saturday morning; this story started long ago for a young man did not just one day decide to murder his mother.
The Post Star’s coverage of this tragedy has, in my humble opinion (yeah, right!), been sensational and tabloid-style. The Post Star has ignored or minimized pertinent facts in favor of sensational reporting. Washington County Public Safety did an outstanding job in a difficult situation. Verizon Wireless has a broken system for providing emergency information to public safety agencies. However, even without that breakdown, Wells is a rural community in a rural area. Police, fire and medical responses are almost always slower in rural areas than in urban areas due to fewer responders (frequently volunteers) and larger coverage areas. Even if Washington County Public Safety had known exactly where Morgan was when she made her 911 call it is highly unlikely that she would have survived for another 62 minutes while waiting for a Vermont State Police officer to arrive at her residence.
Washington County Public Safety consistently does a good job with a limited budget and challenging geography and terrain. Saratoga County installed a new 911 system around the same time Washington County did; Saratoga County outspent Washington County by approximately 10 times and still has coverage problems with their radio system. Those who think Washington County should have more and better equipment (this would include the Post Star) might better address the issue with the County Supervisors who develop the County budget each year rather than faulting the dedicated men and women who staff the Public Safety Department.
To follow the Post Star’s faulty logic, a Washington County Public Safety dispatcher should have jumped in their car and driven to Wells to fix the situation at the Morgan residence. Sound preposterous? You bet, but that is the only way these dispatchers could have gotten help to Morgan faster. Vermont State Police still did not have an officer available at the time Morgan called for help. For the record, unlike on television, police officers are not always available when we want them to be available. Officers may be off duty (as in this case) or they may be tied up with another incident and not available to respond immediately.
The August 8 article in the Post Star relates part of an interview with Washington County Director of Public Safety Bill Cook:
“Cook, the public safety director, said dispatchers did an excellent job despite the trouble they faced.
‘We did our job very well,’ Cook said. ‘Our guys worked very hard to get this done given the technological roadblocks put in front of them.’”
Mr. Cook, I couldn’t agree more. Kudos to the men and women at Washington County Public Safety for your dedicated efforts. Shame on the Post Star for your consistent lack of journalistic and editorial integrity. This story is a tragedy, but one that originated, developed and concluded in Wells, VT and not in Fort Edward, NY.
For those who want to read/view more of the mainstream news reporting on this story I have compiled a few links.