Getting it fast and getting it right go hand in hand. The new video from the Center for Public Safety Innovation (CPSI), called “Law Enforcement & Media Today: The Complexity of Credible Coverage,” shows journalists how to get the best information from law enforcement when time matters.
The CPSI video also shows officers how today’s media works and why social media plays a critical role. The goal is to improve the often-rocky relationship between law enforcement and media and to achieve the common goal of getting it right. Preparation is a key to success and knowing how both media and law enforcement approach the same event in different ways is beneficial when responding to and reporting on future incidents.
See also: “Breaking News,” March 2016 edition of DomPrep Journal
This project was supported by Grant No. 2010-DD-BX-K018 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to St. Petersburg College’s Center for Public Safety Innovation. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.
The Center for Public Safety Innovation (CPSI) is primarily grant-funded, is based at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has been creating informative and cutting-edge training on various platforms for more than 20 years. From hyper-local community policing sessions to global trainings about international drug trafficking, CPSI has the expertise to create, execute, and evaluate effective trainings. CPSI has established a reputation for producing neweas, solutions, and leaders in the public safety arena. Its mission is to develop and deliver high-quality training for emergency and first responders, military personnel, and the public in a variety of formats using state-of-the-art technology and best practices in education and training. @CPSITraining
Scott Libin
Scott Libin is the Hubbard senior fellow at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association board of directors, representing the upper Midwest, and is chair of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Ethics Committee. He has three decades of experience as a journalist (including jobs on camera and behind the scenes), as a news director, and as an educator. He is a consultant, coach, and communications professional, specializing in broadcast and digital journalism. He was vice president of news and content at Internet Broadcasting in 2011-2014. He previously led newsrooms at WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota and at WGHP-TV in the Greensboro, North Carolina. He has twice been a full-time member of the resident faculty at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has trained journalists from Canada to South Africa to China. He began his career as a congressional press secretary and as a bureau reporter in Washington, D.C. He was a reporter and weekend anchor in North Carolina before entering management. He serves on the ThreeSixty Journalism board of advisors. ThreeSixty is a teen outreach program of the University of St. Thomas. He is also on the board of directors of the National Scholastic Press Association and Associated Collegiate Press.
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Lane Michaelsen
Lane Michaelsen is a group news director for the Sinclair Broadcast Group. His career started running teleprompter at WQAD in Moline, Illinois. Not liking the idea of sitting a studio all day, he took a pay cut to become a photographer. He is a three-time National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) regional photographer of the year and two-time runner-up NPPA photographer of the year, plus he was director of photography when KARE in Minneapolis won NPPA station of the year. Along the way, he picked up more than a dozen regional Emmy’s, a Murrow, several film festival gold medals, and many other awards. He has worked as an instructor at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, as a news director at several stations, and as a corporate news executive for Gannett and now for Sinclair.
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Yolanda Fernandez
Yolanda Fernandez is the community awareness manager for the St. Petersburg Police Department. Through her position, she handles media relations, social media, and community relations for the department. Before joining the police department, she spent 30 years in the television news business where she worked as an on-air reporter and anchor. She was born in Cuba and is fluent in Spanish. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Troy State University, Troy, Alabama. She was also Miss Alabama and third runner-up to Miss America in 1982.
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Harold Rochon
Captain Harold Rochon is a 30-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department. He has been assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Gang Intelligence Unit and the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Gangs Gun Task Force. He also served as the commanding officer for the Detroit Police/FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, which is a multijurisdictional task force that includes federal, state, county, and local law enforcement agencies. He has also worked as a task force officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Safe Homes Task Force, working organized drug/gang organizations. He is an experienced instructor and has been a keynote speaker at many conferences and seminars within the United States, Virgin Islands, and Canada.
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Stan Rhoads
Stan Rhoads has been in the media business for more than 30 years with extensive experience both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes. He has been hosting video programs for CPSI for more than 12 years. When not hosting programs or spending time with his wife, he can usually be found behind the viewfinder of a camera for professional sporting events in the Tampa Bay area working for the networks covering the National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball.
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