With you working in the media I guess you hear so much more than us... No need for details related to any case... just curious about the relationship you guys have with detectives. It must be challenging work
Thank you for your questions, and to avoid derailing this thread, I'll attempt to frame my response in a general way that's hopefully enlightening for WS users broadly in an Australian setting. And one aside before I answer, I'm not currently working in a broadcasting role, instead a more 'behind the scenes' media job after several years as a radio journalist, so this is based on my personal experience.
Q. I was watching a documentary about Alison Baden Clay last night, and a journalist said all the horrible things she had heard, but wasn't able to print. Is this common stuff for you guys?"
I think it's not too bold of me to suggest that when reading/watching/listening to crime reports, you should always assume a journalist knows more than they are allowed to publish/broadcast.
I'm going to be extra specific and qualify that this may not be the case if the journalist has only sourced their information from other media reports; or if they've not directly engaged authorities for specific information.
If the reporter has been on the scene, has acquired information from authorities (esp. outside the police media unit) and spoken to family/witnesses, my assumption is that there's information withheld.
I'd ask people not to be upset about this too, because the motivation could be anything from sensitivity for the victim's family, defamation potential if the info was included, a condition of someone giving a statement to the journo, it can't be verified, or to your next point, the authorities are asking for suppression of the facts.
I'll also say, sometimes the media is kept completely in the dark by authorities and firsthand sources.
Q. Do police routinely tell you what "not" to mention, or what to pull, if once already mentioned?
The only people allowed to give statements about investigations to the media are generally quite high ranking in the force and therefore very used to dealing with us. There is an inherent reciprocal nature to them speaking with us; I get a story, they get public exposure which hopefully lead to tips from the community.
If the police don't see a purpose giving certain details, or if it could compromise their investigation when published, we have to respect that.
Something I recommend looking into is the frequent use of suppression orders in this country (relates more to court proceedings but can apply to people already charged by police and giving information awaiting sentencing as part of a plea arrangement.)
If something's published and it's a misinterpretation of the facts by the journalist, police may reach out to correct the record.
Instead of them telling everything to a journalist and saying "off the record" about certain details, it's more that they say protect info by not disclosing in the first place.
However, as there's always exceptions, you may strike up a good relationship with a member of the force and be privy to a lot of information based on trusting that you won't quote them directly (and thus circumventing the media unit's policies) or won't publish certain things they want suppressed.
I hope this was helpful, and I'll share a quick story to round out my verbose and potentially self invested response haha!
I worked in a regional news market and was informed two police were downstairs for me, which actually made me panic that I'd screwed up badly on something. Turns out they'd heard me run a story while on patrol about a series of petrol thefts, burgs, police evasions and dangerous driving over a seven day period, conducted by a couple.
The two officers were working the case by driving immediately to where the public had made a sighting of the vehicle. They'd been frustrated by the couple's willingness to conduct highly dangerous driving to evade capture, including driving head on at a semi trailer while overtaking on a two way leg of the highway.
We arranged that the patrol would call me with their location tip offs throughout the morning, and I'd update my next bulletin (every half hour) to keep drivers informed that there's a dangerous vehicle in a specific area that they should be avoiding, while the patrol could also start getting more time-sensitive tip offs to strategically catch the offenders.
I also asked if they wanted to give me an audio grab, but the sentiment of the response was basically "Haha nah, we are here under unusual circumstances and don't want to get in trouble from the boss if they knew we were here giving these details out"
Their media strategy worked. The vehicle was tipped off to be in a very busy supermarket parking garage and the pair were apprehended following a dangerous get away attempt. It was one of the best days on the job, proving to me that the community, media and authorities can actually pull it together to stop crime, as it happens.