'ET' Didn't Get Much for Alleged Aurora Checkbook Journalism

AP
Adam Martin 528 Views Jul 26, 2012

The Denver Post's television critic Joanne Ostrow reported on Thursday that news outlets were paying for exclusive interviews with Aurora victims and witnesses, but the only one she named was Entertainment Tonight, which doesn't appear to have gotten much for its supposed money. The longrunning syndicated Hollywood news show made an exclusive arrangement with the family of Torrence Brown Jr., who was in the theater that night, Brown's father told the Post. But Brown is also the one who filed the first lawsuit in relation to the shooting, so his story will presumably be available through that complaint. ET does appear to have gotten a major exclusive with Brown so far: An interview available on the show's the website (and embedded below) has Brown describing how the shooter wedged the theater's emergency door open with his foot, tossed in some kind of gas bomb, then walked in and opened fire. But lots of networks got interviews with witnesses, most of whom told similar stories. Brown spoke as a source exclusively to ET, but that certainly doesn't mean the story was an exclusive.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Related Articles   More by Adam Martin

Networks Attempt to Justify Paying for Stories

Mother of 6-Year-Old Aurora Shooting Victim Also Suffers Miscarriage

'Dark Knight' Shooting Is Making Warner Bros. Rethink 'Gangster Squad'

 

Shep Smith Apologizes After Fox News Airs a Suicide

France Plans to Tax Millionaires at 75%

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App