Television Arrest

It was with sad resignation that I read about Paul Bloom, Channel 39’s reporter for the “Crime Watch” program, and his decision to have William Hammond arrested during a television interview (“Activist Couple Question Ethics of TV Reporter in On-Camera Arrest,” Feb. 11).

Bloom has been dropped as anchorman and now appears to be joining a growing trend toward sensationalist (I hesitate to use the word) journalism. In his defense, Bloom avers that Hammond was “a wanted criminal” and he was only doing his civic duty by setting up the public arrest of this man. It also seems clear that Bloom believed this leader of San Diego’s homeless to be a “dangerous” man who should be returned to prison.

One can only wonder, then, that if these assertions are true, why didn’t Bloom urge Hammond’s immediate arrest prior to air time? Surely if the authorities felt him to be a major threat to society, hopefully they wouldn’t have waited until the taped interview. To wait, however, until the time of the interview and then in a coordinated fashion have the arrest be the highlight of the program can only underscore the desire of this reporter to join in a growing trend with others who seek to be more TV “personalities” than empirical, critical and professional purveyors of the news.

ASBURY L. BROWN

San Diego