I like to pick stories we do, to discuss how we did them. This week, it is our interview with the Mother and the Fireman, and the little girl who was in that famous frontpage picture with the Fireman after the Oklahoma City bombing. Oklahoma City, A Decade Later

Bill Radke’s intro had me riveted to the interviews, but I can’t decide whether this piece contributed to my understanding, or whether it just let me wallow -- like a voyeur -- in a woman’s still-raw grief. Is this a story that we ought to have done – did it serve some valuable purpose or was it just a “media event” like a made-for-TV movie? I am troubled by this piece … not in the way we handled it, which was excellent and sensitive … but by whether we should have done it at all. While we really do want to get very close to people we talk to and about in our show, does there need a socially valuable purpose for doing so … to avoid mere voyeurism? If so, did this piece pass the test?

Jim Russell
Executive Producer

If nothing else, the mom knew her grief was shared by many. Perhaps for some it was voyeurism; but not for me. Through the years since I have thought about so many of the people involved, and sent prayers their way, and hoped the best for them. But then again, I'm an Okie.