MMMM #411 -- Erase that video or face arrest!

    

     That was the order given a news employee a TV station in Alabama by security guards at a Federal Facility.
     The photog had been given an assignment to shoot video of signs that had been posted on doors at that facility. They informed the public that services were not available because of the government shutdown.
    After the employee had been shooting for a few minutes, the guards showed up, ordered him to stop reordering, and then, under the threat of arrest, ordered him to erase the video he had shot.
    The videographer couldn't get his bosses on the phone, and so unsure what to do, followed the guard's orders.
    I wish I were able to say more about this bizarre incident, but the information was given to me in confidence.
    However, if I should find myself in similar circumstances, I'll be posting the follow up to this MMMM from behind bars.

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ALSO: Should newspapers feel some obligation to print letters to the editor (and how quaint is that, anyway!) from people who believe NASA space shots are all hoaxes, or who say gravity is just a theory? The L.A. Times has stopped publishing letters from readers who deny the climate-change/human connection. 

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 AND: When reporting on an alleged crime involving a minor, does the media have a different obligation other than just reporting the facts? Did the North Alabama station in this story contribute to a fifteen year old's suicide? 

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of TimLennox.com.]