2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: MAY I ask this: Do people here who remember Watergate [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)we cover wild fires, and locally the only reason the big boys and girls actually cover the back country wild fires is... we scoop them regularly and I have to drive just as far. (We also happen to have a news vehicle that can hack it in those conditions, a jeep)
That said, even we little people need economic support to keep doing this.
But the other reason, shh... is that really some of the big boys and girls should NOT be on the fire line. They got no clue what they are doing. So the Fire Service has at times to keep everybody at the CP... and trust me with good safety wise reasons. But on a far bigger note, the news media is truly and really compromised. As to the choppers, news helicopters also need to be certified to share the space with fire fighting aircraft Here, they get that every year. But yes, our media...it is a sign of fascism.
Going to that court case. I took the time to look up the charges. I know exactly what this kid has been charged with. It is a locally hot case because if the county loses in superior court, it will cost them millions in civil court, federal. So they are even playing with fire with one of the charges. I understand why trying to say that pepper spray is lethal of force, can get tricky for cops. It is less than lethal. The DA is going there though. So while not watergate, this case could easily go all the way to the state supreme court.
My counterparts have no idea. I actually talked to the local UT reporter, and she does not get it why this case, might become precedent setting. Both the prosecution and the defense like our coverage, as small as we are, becuase we are presenting both sides, including the exchanges between the lawyers and the judge... and they both understand we have looked at this and read what he was he was charged with. These days it should be easier. I have a full legal library on the other side of the wire, on the google. Yup, the California Criminal Code is indexed fully online.
No fireworks today. I will be putting it up in a minute or so.