If it was taped during her employment at NBC (WMAQ) they own the rights to the tape. If Amy was a good reporter and really cared about the victims she would and should have turned it into the police.
Mystic Chic - it is common (published) knowledge that while Craig Stebic agreed to speak with Amy J, several times.....he would
not (on the advice of his attorney Dion Davi) allow the photojournalist, often accompanying her, to
roll (tape) on the discussions.
So
WMAQ NBC5 owns nothing save for their previously aired reports, raw footage of interviews and notes filed by Amy.
In my business, Investigative Journalists are
not required to tape, take hard notes or audio record any part of their research unless they wish to.
It is only when they get everything lined up properly, for that all-important interview, do they bring in the cameras/phone recorders/undercover lipstick cams-in-bags, etc.
It was strictly up to Amy's discretion as to when
& if to do this, in any of the stories she was assigned to cover, as an Investigative Reporter.
And who is to say that she did
not provide the more salient pieces of those un-recorded discussions to the PPD/FBI, if she felt that it might give them a better insight into Lisa's whereabouts?
It was noted in the
Chicago Tribune that Amy had, indeed, mentioned a few insights to the PPD just prior to her Live Shots for
WMAQ-NBC5, which she felt might help them in their investigation.
She put forth, in one interview, that there is an important supportive, inter-relationship (as far as she was concerned) between LE and the Media, when trying to solve a possible crime.
Especially one as excruciating as Lisa's.
Many journalists disagree with her (see Eric Zorn's editorial columns).. but, then again, those folks weren't ever in the Stebic's Plainfield home - looking directly into Lisa's childrens eyes.
The question I would like you all to ask yourselves, quietly, is that if you (being a parent of your own children) see two motherless children in obvious pain...and you alone had an opportunity to try to help them, as well as cover both sides of the story....what would you do?
I pointed out before ( in another posting - which has since been removed by the Admin) that Amy was there that Friday at the direct invitation of Craig's sister -
Jill - and her family (complete with young children) to get to know them...and
their side of the story.
Their departure for their home in Iowa was imminent....a slim window.
Now, you would think that Lisa's family might not approve of this visit...but you would be
wrong.
Anything which will help end this agony
was and is welcome.
The
edited reporter package from
CBS2 portrayed an erroneous visual.
This was a meeting of two women with small children, on a swelteringly hot day, concerning a mysterious disappearance of a young mother ...and had very little to do with directly interviewing (or gathering information from) Craig Stebic, himself.
But people didn't want to see or know of the truth of this situation...the worldwide media frenzy (starting with the
CBS2 newsroom) wanted to assign/project a more prurient image of this working play-date.
There was no "pool party"...in the normal terms, as we all know them.
This was a impromptu visit, requested by Craig's family, at the last minute - on Amy's day off.
Her young children see the pool, they are all in bathing suits anyway (since Amy & her kids - both under the age of 4 - were on their way to their private club) and they beg to get into the pool, to cool off prior to having a bite to eat before the women have a chance to sit down and talk.
Meanwhile, the
CBS2 crew cruises into the neighborhood (attempting to get a SOT from Craig, as to if he is planning to attend the next day's search in
Silver Springs State Park but are denied access to the property) recognize Amy's vehicle...and proceeds to stakeout the Stebic home....filming the backyard pool area utilizing a professional Betacam, mounted on a large tripod, upfitted with an Extender (this is what we call special Zoom attachment, in TV News photography), undercover, via a neighbors living room window.
(This neighbor, btw, was also a totally innocent bystander in this situation - believing they were helping to solve Lisa's disappearance, according to the
CBS2 crew).
There's more to the story of the airing of the video-tape...but as you can see on the
CBS2 website...the management was pressured (by the public outcry) into showing the entire 6 minutes of the unedited videotape, admit that the tape was shot professionally by their own crew (it did NOT just "fall into their laps", btw) and defend their decision to air a strictly sensationalistic story, intended to discredit their competition (during a Nielsen Ratings Book/July Sweeps period).
Although they registered a record amount of hits to their website in the initial days of the airing of the story...their overall numbers for their 10pm (the most revenue-rich newscast of any television station) dropped precipitously for the July Book (by approx. one-third).
So, in light of all of this loss...on the part of
everyone involved....
Now that all is perceived in retrospect...what
good did this do, for
anyone..and especially for Lisa and her children?
Lives, Careers, Trusts ruined...and
for what ?!
