Md. Prosecuter Says Press Created Climate Of Fear

By: Joe Strupp Just hours after police arrested two suspects in the Washington-area sniper case Thursday, a key prosecutor in the investigation accused the press of contributing to the public's fear surrounding the case, hinting that news reports may have actually spurred the sniper to continue his shooting spree.

"The argument can be made that each time [the press] came out with [a theory of] someone they thought was the killer, someone else would be killed so that the killer didn't think he wasn't getting credit," said Douglas Gansler, Montgomery County (Md.) State's Attorney, who spoke Thursday morning at the Associated Press Managing Editors conference.

Gansler blamed print and broadcast news outlets for heightening the panic around the case, and even accused editors of seeking to "sell newspapers" while investigators worried more about public safety.

"The way people responded to attacks created a sense of fear," Gansler said. "I think the press contributed to that. The fear was such that everyone thought they were going to get shot. Speculation, pontification by people who had no knowledge was amazing."

Although Gansler said that newspapers were much more responsible than cable and broadcast outlets, he still criticized reporters for going after information too aggressively. "I was pleased to see that there was actually some integrity involved," he quipped.

Editors both on the panel and in the audience of about 300 were quick to respond to Gansler's charges, with most defending newspapers' right and need to report what they can.

"The press is not responsible for the fear that comes from shooting 13 people," said Susan Svihlik, executive editor of the Manassas (Va.) Journal Messenger, who slammed Gansler from the audience. "We did what we were supposed to do."

Other editors turned the tables on Gansler, telling him that police should have been more forthcoming about some details of the case, such as the admission that a sniper letter had claimed no children were safe -- which was not revealed for several days. "From our perspective, it was important for parents to know about that," said Sandy Banisky, deputy managing editor for The Sun of Baltimore.

Louise Seals, an editor at the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, also offered frustration at the lack of information from investigators. "It is difficult when you have law enforcement officials who won't say anything," she said.

Later in the discussion, editors shared concerns about what it was like to cover such a major story that moved from location to location and raised fears among millions of readers.

"People would call up saying, 'If you keep trying to get ahead of the story, my life is at stake,'" recalled Banisky. "We had discussions on things that we have never had on any other story."

Lengthy debates ranging from whether to publish a photo of a dead victim to reporting unsubstantiated information just because a cable television outlet had reported it were held in many newsrooms, editors said.

"We were just on pins and needles hoping that every time the phone rang, it was not a sniper call," said Tim Rasmussen, visuals editor at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. "It was not a story you want to be on."