Re: City seeks tapes of Parkin interview about Police Department

["Dan C." <dwcole@mediaone.net>]

On 6 Oct 2000, at 14:11, Dave Faneuf wrote:


> I agree, at this point destroying the tapes would land the stations in
> a heep o' trouble,  but when I was faced with the same issue (a matter
> that is still unresolved) I made sure there is now a policy in place
> regarding the destruction and recycling of broadcast material.  I
> certainly would never hand over unedited tapes.  I think the lawyers
> for the tv stations make a good point.  Since there is no ongoing
> investigation then the subpoenas themselves are questionable.  I
> thought it was an interesting comment from the police that they wanted
> the tapes for their files...Correct me if I am wrong but I didn't
> think journalists were a division of the police department, I don't
> know, maybe things are different in Maine?  (tongue in cheek)
> 

I don't know.  If we are a division then where's my badge?
Seriously, police are police...some are media-savvy.  The police 
chiefs in Portland and Dover come to mind for that.  Others have no 
clue, or look at us with total suspicion.  Whatever.
As to saving tapes.  In this day of digital and going direct to hard 
drive....keeping unedited old material around is a luxury some 
stations cannot afford, especially when you need to free up space. I 
rarely keep the raw sound around more than a few days, unless its 
something really special.  The finished products are always saved and 
sound bites are morgued.  The only exception would be a major event 
or ongoing issue.  Something along those lines.  It was much easier 
when everything was cassette or you had a big reel devoted to keeping 
daily sound.

Dan