KABC Fends Off Critics for Busting Embargo : Television: Channel 7’s decision to ignore the Christopher Commission’s request sparks media debate.

It was a sideshow to the Christopher Commission report this week on the Los Angeles Police Department. Much of the public probably was not even aware of the TV dispute.

But debate was sparked among TV news directors and others in the media following KABC Channel 7’s decision not to honor the 11 a.m. Tuesday embargo set by the commission in a cover note when it handed out the report at 9 a.m.

At 9:20 a.m., KABC broke into its “A.M. Los Angeles” series with an eight-minute report based on a 17-page summary that was part of the panel’s voluminous findings of more than 200 pages. KABC’s report by veteran newswoman Linda Breakstone was ordered by station management, according to Terry Crofoot, general manager of KABC.

KABC’s two principal foes in the ratings competition, KNBC Channel 4 and KCBS Channel 2, had critical words for the station’s decision not to comply with the embargo.

Jose Rios, news director of KCBS, said that he respected the embargo because he thought his station could cover the story best and most accurately by taking the extra time: “Sometimes the drive to be first is appropriate, but not in this case.”

Nancy Valenta, news director of KNBC, said that while she did not always believe in embargoes, she was “fully prepared to honor” the one set by the commission because she felt the group “was acting responsibly on what could be a potentially explosive report.” Because of KABC’s report, said Valenta, KNBC was “forced competitively” to go on with its own at about 9:42 a.m.

Several other news directors weighed in with views.

“I’ve never been loathe to take a potshot at Channel 7,” said Warren Cereghino of KTLA Channel 5, “but I don’t know if it was that big a deal. Embargoes historically have been broken and will continue to be broken. I thought this was another Channel 7 trick.”

Added Jeff Wald, head of news at KCOP Channel 13: “I don’t believe in embargoes in general. The only time I feel it’s a necessary evil is if a person’s life is at stake or if it’s a situation of national security that might hurt somebody, or, in a case like this, where the individuals involved may not be notified yet.”

However, added Wald, “If they (KABC) made an agreement (to honor the embargo), then they broke it. But they were right in going ahead if they didn’t agree to the general premise.”

Bryce Nelson, spokesman for the Christopher Commission, was angered by KABC’s decision, calling it “unprofessional. I think people have a responsibility if they accept material under embargo to adhere to it.” Nelson’s cover note for the report said:

“In response to many press requests, the (commission) is giving members of the press two hours to digest the contents of this report before the 11 a.m. press conference and the release of this report.

“This two-hour period for reading the report is meant for your journalistic use only in better understanding and writing about the report. The commission understands that you will not share it with the public before 11 a.m. and will not use its findings to request comment from public officials or other members of the public before 11 a.m.”

But Crofoot confirmed that he and KABC news director Roger Bell had made the decision to ignore the embargo even before the report was handed out on Tuesday morning.

“It’s a tempest in a teapot,” he said. “The report was released. It was an arbitrary decision, in our opinion, to hold it for two hours. We thought the public wanted to know the results of the report as soon as possible.

“The two-hour embargo was very capricious from our point of view and made the presumption that broadcast reporters would take two hours to digest a report. That was our impression. And we had Linda Breakstone, who has worked as a reporter at the Herald Examiner and now is at Channel 7 and has very good journalistic credentials.

“In my opinion, this whole thing is silly. The story is what the city is going to do about police activities. The two-hour delay was akin to managing the news.”

Crofoot said his decision also resulted from his belief that “some of the elements of the report were in the L.A. Times” in the last few days leading up to the release of the report: “We felt the embargo had already been breached. There were some elements that in our opinion had not been reported elsewhere and must have been leaked to The Times.”

Craig Turner, metropolitan editor of The Times, said: “There’s a difference between breaking an embargo and enterprise reporting. The Times obtained our copy of the report at 9 a.m., the same time everyone else did. We had agreed to the embargo and adhered to it. None of the stories that appeared in The Times previous to Wednesday (the day after the report was released) were based on the report.”

On Monday, The Times ran a story about how the Christopher Commission report might alter the legacy of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. On Tuesday, another story dealt with racial insensitivity by some officers and noted that the commission had uncovered additional slurs in “offensive” messages sent on police car computer terminals.

“Those stories were based on good investigative reporting,” said Turner. He said that “in Tuesday’s story, in which we did disclose exclusive information that was included in the report,” it was stated that information came from “sources familiar with testimony and evidence presented to the 10-member panel.”

Embargoes are often considered an onerous device, even by reporters and news organizations that agree to them. At times, they can, indeed, smack of managing the news--and are often intended for just that. At other times, however, an embargo can help ensure that valuable information gets maximum exposure.

It is a complex issue. Breakstone, my longtime colleague at the Herald Examiner, is a tough, knowledgeable reporter who, in fact, did an effective job in TV terms in her controversial report this week--thinking quickly on her feet, even responding to phone calls from “A.M. Los Angeles” viewers and stating honestly that she had only read the summary.

Lisa Kridos, supervising producer of “A.M. Los Angeles,” says management told her “before the show” that a report was coming. Commission spokesman Nelson decries KABC’s quest “for a few minutes’ advantage.” KCOP’s Wald says embargoes “are like dictation--I’d rather have the report handed to me at 11 a.m. and break it like everybody else.” KTLA’s Cereghino thinks the commission felt it was handling the story in “the most orderly way.”

The debate continues.