PressEthic

Dateline NBC has been on the air since 1992, won three Emmy awards for journalism this year, yet I never watched an episode until this Sunday.

The episode consisted of two stories. The first, a 20-minute segment called Lynndie’s Story, was an interview with the convicted Army private that featured repeated viewings of the Abu Ghraib photos that made her infamous. Watching, you’re waiting for the new revelation. In light of the photos for porn scandal, people want to know why soldiers are taking so many horrific pictures in Iraq.

She says she was following instructions and names a couple of higher ranking officers who she says approved of these tactics and have been punished for their roles. The biggest surprise is Lynndie England. To hear her speak after many months as the grinning, silent soldier in the photos, to see that she’s gained weight, and watch her play with her son was riveting.

The second story, “Under the Bridge,” took about 40 minutes and focused on a 1997 incident in British Columbia, Canada. A 14-year-old was beaten by a group of teenagers and then drowned by two members of the group. This segment lends itself to spooky visuals since the attack took place at night under a bridge (hence the name of the segment and the book about the incident) by the water.

Dateline NBC speaks with two of the women who were there for the beating, one callous enough to relinquish herself of all responsibility for what happened. This is a closed case - the murder has been solved, the two teenagers charged were convicted (one is appealing). So what’s the newsworthiness? There weren’t any new developments about crime in British Columbia or the foster care system, which housed some of these teenagers. It’s just a story that makes you ask, “What’s the world coming to?”

In the end, I was a little disappointed because I didn’t get what I had anticipated out of the stories. At the same time, I watched fully engaged. The thought of changing the channel never crossed my mind.

In print, we try to write so that people will stay with us through to the last period. And our media are portable information dispensers; magazines and newspapers that can be read while you travel or wait and have nothing else to do. There’s something to be said for Dateline’s ability to tell a story well. They’re aided by what’s on the screen, but they manage to get you hooked, which is the important step one for all journalists.