Flight 90 was the Beginning of the End

This evening makes 30 years since one of the pivotal moments in my journalism career, January 13, 1982.

I was a cameraman at WTSP-TV in Tampa. Just before the evening news we started getting reports that a plane had gone down in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.. Shortly after the first reports, we learned that the plane was heading to Tampa International Airport. I raced to the airport.

On the way I radioed in and was told to meet a live truck there and reporter Dennis Roper. They were right at the drop-off curb. The truck operator was setting up, so I grabbed my sticks and camera and hustled over. We figured out where we were putting the camera and I started taping down cables across the sidewalk.

My hand radio was on my hip. The desk called. "Go ahead," I responded.

"Jim, we found out that the people waiting on the flight, up at the gate, haven't been told yet that it crashed. We want you to walk up rolling, inform them of the crash and get their reaction on tape."

I looked at Roper. He looked like he had just swallowed a cockroach, his eyes were like silver dollars and he coughed. I picked up my radio and keyed the mic. "Sorry you are breaking up. Say again."

The desk repeated their idea.

I responded, "Look we must be in a bad spot here, I really can't make out what you are saying." I proceeded to get the live shot ready. We did our live shot.

When I got back to the station, I was basically fired. The assistant news director screamed at me. "Well, young man. It might interest you to know that Channel 8 DID send a crew up to inform those waiting on the flight and got it on tape! You are on very thin ice!"

I walked out and went home.

A day or so later, the Tampa Tribune ran a blistering slam of Channel 8 and their coverage that night. The shooters at my station had been giving me their support by calling me and in the newsroom. My chief photographer was a little more job-scared than that and was testing the wind direction. He merely told me to keep my head down for a bit. A special session of the Press Club was called early that next week to discuss it and to come to the agreement that we do not do that in "the press."

I suppose that I was vindicated, but it took a week or so before the station management seemed to forget about it. I never did. It was the beginning of the end of TV News, from my personal perspective. The Fourth Estate Sale.