CBS Camera at Track Meet May Not Have Been Candid

The New Orleans Times-Picayune and CBS Sports clashed Saturday over whether a network video crew asked the family of an athlete to recreate their reaction to his victory.

The newspaper reported in a small note Saturday that CBS cameras located the mother and brother of Tennessee junior high jumper Randy Jenkins shortly after he won the NCAA title Thursday night.

“The CBS people convinced the pair to recreate for the cameras, which missed the initial emotion, their reaction to Jenkins’ victory,” the paper reported.

Jenkins, who recently overcame Hodgkin’s disease, won the championship at 7 feet 5 3/4 inches.

CBS issued a printed denial of the incident Saturday, saying they unequivocally denied that any member of its crew asked Jenkins’ relatives to stage a reaction.

“Not only did my crew not ask Jenkins’ relatives to re-enact anything, but CBS Sports would never make such a request under any circumstance,” sports producer Michael Burks said in the statement.

The newspaper said it was sticking with its story, and today printed a story saying a temporary CBS employee--a runner--was seen going into the stands and prompting Jewel Jenkins and her son Ricky to stand and cheer. The runner told the paper he was following the orders of assistant producer Suzanne Smith.

“I don’t know why CBS is saying they didn’t do it,” Randy Jenkins told the Times-Picayune. “Because it’s no big deal.”