Media asked to voluntarily restrict live coverage

PORTLAND – It’s an image police want to avoid: a hostage situation where the hostage taker sits in front of a television watching live coverage that shows the positions of police officers outside.

On Tuesday, Greater Portland media representatives met with law enforcement officials to discuss voluntary restrictions on live coverage to ensure the safety of hostages, police officers and the public.

The Maine Department of Public Safety doesn’t want to restrict coverage, but it does want to delay the airing of some news footage.

“There are certain aspects that we want the media to understand not only put hostages’ lives at stake, but also the lives of members of law enforcement and of the public,” said spokesman Stephen McCausland.

McCausland provided a video presentation at the Portland Police Department auditorium in which members of the media watched the way TV journalists handled breaking news events in different states.

He also had with him a document outlining “live coverage protocol” that the media representatives were asked to review.

None of the representatives agreed to the protocol on Tuesday, but they said it was good that police and reporters were talking. A similar meeting with Bangor area media earlier this fall ended with similar results.

“What was important at the meeting was that we opened a dialogue about the needs of each other,” said Mike Curry, news director of WCSH-TV in Portland and its sister station, WLBZ-TV in Bangor.

But he said all news stories are different, and he declined to sign off on a protocol that purports to work in every circumstance.

“We did not and will not agree to any kind of live coverage protocol. We need to, on a case-by-case basis, make the call that we believe is best for coverage,” Curry said afterward.

The protocol called for no broadcast or publication that shows the locations or actions of law enforcement personnel in cases involving barricaded subjects, hostages, suicide threats or explosive devices until after the fact.

It also called for news helicopters and aircraft to stay at least a mile away from the incident site to avoid interference with police communications equipment.

For its part, the state committed itself to providing a public information officer to assist with regular updates and to provide a location for a camera for “pool” coverage as close to the event as possible.

“We’re not restricting the flow of information. This agreement places no restrictions on publishing or broadcasting materials – after the event is resolved,” McCausland said.

Maine is the latest state in which news media have worked with law enforcement agencies to establish guidelines for live coverage.

News media in Portland, Ore., Tampa, Fla., and Boston have similar agreements already in place, McCausland said. Miami and Tucson, Ariz., also recently reached agreements.