TV station reported accurately, loses suit anyway

Steve Safran October 21st, 2006

A Kansas jury has ordered KSNW-TV of Wichita to pay $1.1 million in damages to a man it named as a suspect in the BTK murders. And nobody is disputing the station reported the truth. Some things worth noting: the plaintiff, Roger Valadez, had his house searched in connection with the killings. The station reported that. In fact, the jury even agreed the station was right in calling him a “suspect.” The jury took issue with the extent of the coverage and was especially struck by the station’s ND’s testimony that he hadn’t taken Valadez’s feelings into account when deciding to run Valadez’s name. (Valadez was cleared in the case.) The kinds of arguments we comfort ourselves with in our editorial meetings don’t always mean something to actual juries, gang. Read the story.