Television producers quickly locked up eyewitnesses, legal experts and others in the wake of the Aurora shootings, competing with other media outlets and, in some cases, paying a fee for exclusive access.
While the mainstream networks and news organizations have rules that prohibit paying for interviews — a practice known as “checkbook journalism” — there are ways around that rule.
And whereas the practitioners of checkbook journalism used to be restricted to supermarket tabloids, the race to score big “gets” has extended to the TV networks and online media outlets.
“Entertainment Tonight” is among those tapping sources in Colorado, and offering payments for information. Shooting eyewitness Torrence Brown Jr.’s father told a Denver Post reporter he couldn’t talk because the family had “an exclusive contract” with Entertainment Tonight.
Such arrangements are standard practice for many new media outfits. TMZ founder Harvey Levin has acknowledged paying “tip fees” to sources. Gawker.com founder Nick Denton has also acknowledged participating in so-called “checkbook journalism.” The payments are considered consulting fees.
Generally, consultants’ payments range from $5,000 to $10,000 and cover a period of days or weeks, according to a longtime TV business reporter. Fees to celebrity consultants go much higher.
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox deny that they pay for interviews. However, the networks do offer airfare, lodging, restaurant vouchers and the like to those who agree to speak on the air. And some pay licensing fees for photos, home movies and video/audio recordings.
As recently as a year ago, ABC News acknowledged the network paid Casey Anthony $200,000 for exclusive rights to video and photos, and paid as much as $15,000 to Meagan Broussard for a photo she exchanged with former New York congressman Anthony Weiner.
The practice was not uncommon, particularly in the morning show battle, where NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” fight for exclusive bookings.
ABC News said last year that it would no longer pay sources.
“ABC News does not license photos or cellphone video from its interview subjects,” a network spokesperson said Wednesday. Acknowledging the network used to pay sources to license images and recordings, the ABC News spokesperson said, “that is no longer the policy.”
The Columbia Journalism Review recently warned of checkbook journalism’s “slippery slope,” noting “Murdoch’s scandals show why paying for news is a bad idea.”
The Poynter Institute claims checkbook journalism is corrupting the entire field: “When news organizations pay for information, it hurts journalism’s credibility. The practice invites viewers to question the reliability of the stories we tell.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
