Lively Case Discussion #567 12/30

Transcript of last nights Dana Pretzer show (partial) by Heli at RU:

PRETZER SHOW Dec 29/06 -- TRANSCRIPT

DANA PRETZER SHOW
December 29, 2006

Excerpts transcribed December 30, 2006 from Podcast of the Dana Pretzer Show for December 29, 2006

Guests: Clint van Zandt, Tim Miller and Red

Dana:

Clint, let's talk about the public's fascination with high profile cases, the Holloway case for example. That's a very sad case which you can spin 50 different ways from corruption to incompetent investigation to all of a sudden there's civil suits going on, but the bottom line is that the family doesn't have any answer yet; they haven't been able to bring their daughter home.

This is a big time media event, although we don't see mainstream media dealing with it anymore unless something comes forward. What went wrong or what went right say with the Holloway case and the media?

Clint:

Well, I think for the case itself, it started out in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't think, I've been down to Aruba. I went down for NBC and MSNBC, to do some investigative reporting at the time. I was down in Aruba and some of the islands as an FBI agent helping on investigations when I was a profiler, so I'm familiar with LE in those areas and sometimes they get crimes that are just, jurisdictions, departments can get a crime that's simply over their heads.

The investigation, although it should be Investigation 101, can get away from them but most agencies are not familiar with what happens when you have a tremendous media rush. The OJ Simpson, the JonBenet Ramsey, the Laci Peterson cases in the States, other high profile kidnap and homicides, that if you as a law enforcement officer and agency, if you haven't seen the tsunami that the media can bring across your front yard and over the top of your police department, it's a lesson to behold and to understand that you have to get hold of the case and get some type of relationship going with the media before you simply lose control.

In the case of Natalee Holloway, again having been down there and I spoke to one of the Kalpoe brothers myself, I know Beth, Natalee's mother, very well from numerous interviews and television shows that she and I have done together and you know, I saw a lot of people over that one year where that story was very, very prominent in the media really bashing, really taking shots at Beth Holloway Twitty and you know, knowing her personally, this was not anyone who was out for anything for herself other than one simple thing which she said over and over again "I just want to know what happened to my daughter". That's all she was asking. You know, I didn't see her as someone who was out sensationalizing, but I did see the media putting their teeth in it.

A couple of months ago I was walking in to MSNBC to do an interview and Greta van Susteren was walking in at the same time so we started talking and I said, you know, Greta, are you still doing something on the Holloway case? And she said, you know, we kind of painted ourselves into a corner on that, she said we ran with that story so much and the reality is, Greta didn't say it but on her behalf, her ratings doubled at least because she was running that story, so Greta said we've sort of painted ourselves into a corner that we've run with this story so much that the listening public expects us to continue and if we don't, someone else will do it. And that's the interesting thing now, if we have like in the States we have Fox, we have CNN, MSNBC, all in competition, all in an absolute dog race trying to get the maximum ratings they can, well does that mean you have to sensationalize these stories?

Again, in the DC sniper case, I was on TV night and day talking about that and working very hard just as you would have done Dana, not to get carried away in speculation, I heard so many guys, some New York City cops saying it's going to be two skinny white kids and I heard, to include myself saying, well statistically it's a lone white male but in this case I don't think so I said. Number 1, any lone white male driving a white panel truck, of which there was 60,000 in the local area, has already been stopped and proned out on the highway by the State Police, the City Police and the FBI. We know who's driving these vehicles, so I don't think it's a white van that's being used and Number 2, I don't think it's a white guy and I think it's two guys not because I'm a brain, not because I'm smart but you need one guy to drive and one guy to shoot if you're going to get away. It's just common sense, so in my sense, I said it's probably two black guys, a younger and an older, one with military experience, they're driving a vehicle together, one's driving and one's shooting. Well, you know that turned out as the case was. I remember Jerry McXXX who was running MSNBC at the time, I called him up and told him I don't want to be on television anymore talking about this case, I think it's wrong. I think myself and every other talking head, I think we're feeding this case. I think there's a media frenzy going on. I said Number 1 this is more information than the public needs and Number 2 I think the shooters are watching us every night and I think we're feeding their desire to go out and do this. I said we're wrong, I think I'm wrong and I don't want to do this anymore.

...........

The media is still going to run with a story and it just depends on the network how sensationalistic they want to get or do they want to stick with the facts that you and I have learned in law enforcement and investigations over the years and the question is does the public demand the Holloway story, the JonBenet Ramsey story? Is the public out there demanding the media to do it or is the media spoonfeeding us something that's so sensational, it's like a soap opera that draws us back night after night to see what's new?

I mean, look at the Holloway case; in over a year nothing really changed: three primary suspects, she got in a car, she drove away with them, it's very likely that somehow they knew something about how she expired that night. They were interviewed, no physical evidence, I mean that's the story and the media, television in america ran with that for almost a year, re-telling the same half dozen sets of facts over and over again

Dana:

Yeah, for sure and I think you said it best Clint: common sense investigating, common sense reporting, amazing what that can do. Thank you for coming on my friend ....

Yeah, maybe if we'd had common sense investigation and common sense reporting Natalee Holloway would be home.

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Dana:

On the line we have the head monkey himself, haven't heard from you in awhile Red, how are you sir?

Red:

I'm doing fine Dana, how are you?

Dana:

Good, your thought about the Butcher of Baghdad meeting his Waterloo and again I want to thank him for deciding to do that during a Dana Pretzer Show and too bad we couldn't have arranged the rights to have it done live here on Scared Monkeys Radio Network.

Red:

I was trying to see if I could get an interview with him to see what was going through his mind before they tied the noose around his neck, but the comical thing was first they announced it was going to be done on Sunday, then they said Saturday, hey why wait, the man deserves it.

Dana:

Might as well get rid of him. How have you been? How was your Christmas? What's going on?

Red:

Oh it's been, you know, kind of a crazy time. With the holiday season, Christmas and New Year's I certainly wanted to call in and wish you a Happy New Year. I'm sure it's a crazy time for you a police officer

Dana:

Yup

Red:

as people can do some foolish things this time of year.

Dana:

It's weird, but anyone who's in public service, policing, EMS, hospitals from about the 15th to the 30th of November until about the 15th to the 30th of January, you might as well have a full freakin moon all the time and you know I tell you, it takes away from you know, you deck the halls and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and stuff like that I really don't want to see another drunken Christmas party or anything for a long time and my kids call me Scrooge but I guess I've been a cop too long.

Listen, your thoughts on Clint van Zandt and Tim Miller tonight. I wanted to talk to Clint about the media and you've got to admit this has been a hell of a year, 2006 for the media and high profile cases, whether it's ramsey, Holloway you name it, it just seems to go on and on and on. Have they done a good job?

Red:

I mean Dana, they've had their highlights and they've certainly had their lowlights. What's interesting is I've heard many of the shows they do around this time of year, they talk about all the things that have transpired in the last year and some of them have even made fun of their own coverage which is comical, because I've heard more often than not the whole flight back by John Mark Karr and the media being critical, yet they're being critical of what they themselves put on the air which is even more bizarre than I guess the original showing / watching a man eating shrimp and sipping champagne on a plane. They spent thousands of dollars, I think Clint had said it on a past show: would there have been anyone on the plane if it weren't for the media....

I hope for 2007 that many of these producers, some of whom I know personally, get a quote as to what the american public really wants to hear and watch because there are so many stories and I know we're going to be doing a lot of things that are much different in 2007 to give light and give voice to many stories that just aren't heard on the mainstream media and hopefully by giving them a voice they in turn will be given a fair shot by the mainstream media itself.

Dana:

Absolutely, that's what it's all about. If I were to rate the cable news shows I'd give them a "C" for their coverage. Again, Clint is a friend and a great guest but I think he naila it a lot of the time when he talked about having conversation with Greta van Susteren .....

Red:

I think the media goes into a story with an obvious slant, a bias and an agenda and it becomes more and more apparent depending on the story, whether we're talking about the Duke Lacrosse case, whether we're talking about Natalee Holloway and Greta has been covering that recently, whether it's any of them, they cannot just go in with an open mind, they have to slant it a certain way and it becomes fairly obvious that that's what they're doing and then if it doesn't turn out the way that they picked the side, they have egg on their face. It's crazy in the sense that you would alienate half your audience by reporting in this manner and like I said, it only goes on so many times

You've done many interviews this year with the Melinda Duckett case, and there's a certain slant there, you're either on one side or the other but the reality is you should be on the side of the missing child

Dana:

For sure, before I let you go I want to thank you, the rest of the monkeys, Tom and everybody who's been there for 2006 and I think we'll have a great 2007. We're doing something here and you guys are doing things at Scared Monkeys that nobody else is doing right now and we're going to make a difference, we are making a difference and I'm really looking forward to 2007 and working more with you sir.

Red:

Thank you very much Dana, it's been great having you as an addition on to the site. Tom has done yeomen's work as well of course (Anne??) has been, I just don't know where we'd be without her. Like I said, it's all about trying to make sure we make a difference and try to spotlight what really is important and there are so many important that we will obviously try to do better in 2007 and there's some things behind the scenes even (inaudible) we've been talking to some people about doing some stuff a little bit different and hopefully in the new year it will only get better. I really appreciate you coming on and being the "Speak no Evil" monkey.

Dana:

I love when Clint comes on, he always has a monkey comparison.....