‘Integrity vs. a Man’s Life’

Rohrlich’s article missed the point entirely. During the terrifying KNBC gunman incident, I was standing five feet away from Capra when he picked up the phone and shouted his order to the studio to “Cut the mikes and go to black.”

Stating that his reason for doing so was to preserve the “integrity of the station’s newscast” at the risk of Horowitz’s life was just plain wrong, or at worst, a premise that Rohrlich posed from which he built a biased story.

Capra made his decision to go off the air, as he clearly explained to me and to everyone who asked, because you don’t make deals with terrorists. Had Capra allowed that man’s statement to go on the air, it would have been a lesson to a legion of would-be messengers on how to commandeer air time. Instead, in an unprecedented situation in our area, Capra sent a clear message to these people not to bother. They will not be heard.

I’m grateful for that. For myself and for my colleagues who also sit in studios vulnerable to this kind of terrorism if Capra had allowed it this first time, the next time we might not be so lucky.

KELLY LANGE

Los Angeles