Aiding a Surrender   

Colorado TV news anchor helps Texas fugitives turn themselves in.

A POSSIBLE BLOODBATH became a peaceful surrender when KKTV news anchor Eric Singer played a vital role in ending the 42-day "Texas Seven" manhunt at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Singer, 43, a veteran of covering news in the Pikes Peak region, had never before become personally involved in unfolding dramas. But that changed on January 24 when convicted rapist Patrick H. Murphy Jr., 39, and armed robber Donald K. Newbury, 38, said that they would turn themselves in to police if they could make live statements on KKTV News Channel 11, a CBS affiliate. Newbury and Murphy talked about the "corrupt" justice system in Texas during the interviews and said the parole stipulations and tough sentences were too extreme. Police said that without Singer's assistance, these armed fugitives could have turned a sensitive operation into a fatal one. AJR editorial assistant Ananda Shorey talked to Singer about his interview with the last two remaining fugitives who escaped from a prison near San Antonio in December.
AJR: What made you decide to interview the fugitives?
SINGER: We had been on the story from start to finish. We owned this story. We got live shots out there.... My first thought was that I am not a trained negotiator, but [the police] wanted a male because one of the escapees had a history with sexual abuse. It was not a decision that was willy-nilly. We felt at that instant that, one, we owned the story from start to finish; and, second, we thought it was appropriate because isn't that what the ultimate job of a journalist is--to help others? Isn't it the ultimate help to save a life?
AJR: Did you feel that you were playing too much of a role in the news?
SINGER: Interesting. Actually, we followed the RTNDA [Radio-Television News Directors Association] recommendations to the letter. Before we did the interview we did a preamble. I told the people at home what was going on.... It was ethically valid because we were saving a life. There was a higher concern and the higher concern was to try and save a life. I think that sometimes journalists forget that we are part of the community. We here at Channel 11 believe in news you can use. Isn't that taking it one step further?
AJR: What reactions did you receive from other journalists and from viewers across the country?
SINGER: Overwhelmingly, the viewers in this instance, in this situation, agreed with us. Everyone has to follow their own path. We chose to follow the course that we set out to follow, which in this instance was to try and save lives. Overwhelmingly, our community has agreed with us, too. I am amazed that all of this happened and luckily these men came out. I look back and there is a big blur.
AJR: Were you concerned that you were giving the convicts too much airtime or that they would say something inappropriate on the air?
SINGER: Not really. We were allowed inside [the Holiday Inn's sales office] to listen to the negotiators who had been prepping [Newbury and Murphy] for hours. The questions I asked were my own, and I had to come up with questions as I went. I had to think each time about whether or not what I was asking them would set them off. I had to think about whether I was asking them hot-button questions or not. I asked Newbury a question that was something along the lines of: "You left the van because why? What was going through your mind at that moment?"
AJR: Is there anything you would have done differently?
SINGER: As a journalist I would have liked to ask: "What happened when you first broke out of prison?" But...[in this situation it was too dangerous] to set them off for a 15-second sound bite.