Battle Over Victims a Sign of Pressure in TV Industry

Wangling TV interviews with high-profile newsmakers has never been a pretty business: The competition between shows is intense and the ethical lines fuzzy. But some TV news veterans say the feeding frenzy reached a new level of hysteria last weekend, when the ABC, NBC and CBS morning news programs battled it out for an interview with the two Antelope Valley girls who had been rescued after a kidnapping.

Since Monday, when NBC’s “Today” show aired an exclusive interview with the two girls, the three programs have traded allegations of dirty tricks, none on the record, and none agreeing on the exact details of what happened. One producer was said to have swerved into another on the highway; one was said to have sobbed to the girls that she would be fired if the interview didn’t take place. Another was alleged to have called the police to complain that the competition was stalking the girls, in order to keep them away.

The only thing those involved agree on is that fighting it out over two underage girls who had just been through a harrowing kidnapping and rape ordeal was an unseemly indicator of the high-stakes pressure in the business.

“These kids and families are simply not used to this kind of thing,” said Dr. Billy Pricer, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department chaplain in Lancaster who has been serving as the girls’ therapist. Because of the trauma they went through and the newness of the media frenzy, he said, “it’s easy for them to be swayed by whoever has possession of them at the time.” He said he was “disappointed that there wasn’t more cooperation.”

The competition has been ratcheted up in recent weeks due to a confluence of nail-biting, tear-jerking stories--a spate of child kidnappings and a dramatic rescue of coal miners--and new cable personalities such as CNN’s Connie Chung trying to put themselves on the map. The free-for-all atmosphere has blandishments flying, producers playing cat and mouse, and jilted networks charging that the opposition is using ethically questionable practices.

In the weekend dust-up, NBC admits that a producer for “Today” bought one interviewee $80 worth of clothes, using an NBC credit card. An NBC News spokeswoman said that the clothes were bought after the interview was secured and that the employee bought them “because she felt bad for someone going through such an emotional time.”

The action violated NBC News’ policies, and network sources said the employee has been suspended for about a week and the division is meeting with employees to reiterate its policies. The spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment on the specifics of an internal personnel matter.

It turns out that was only one element of a ferociously competitive effort for network supremacy.

Numerous local and national media outlets converged on the Antelope Valley late last week hoping to land interviews, no doubt inspired by the willingness of one of the victims to talk to the media. Pricer said he passed some requests along to the girls and Glen Scott, an uncle of one girl, said he got requests through the hospital where they were treated.

One request came from the “Today” show’s Katie Couric, already in Los Angeles to tape an exclusive interview with Priscilla Presley. After many conversations and family meetings, Scott said his niece decided to do just one interview, with the “Today” co-anchor. “I made a suggestion that Katie Couric would be a good choice. She’s responsible, and she would be respectful,” Scott said.

Speaking only for his family, he said that there was never any intention to do interviews with ABC and CBS, and that “there was no coercion; we weren’t forced to do this, we weren’t bribed.” He added, “I’d like the world to know she’s a responsible journalist and a wonderful human being.”

But Pricer, who had been in contact with the other girl’s family, thought there would be three interviews: Couric, followed by the others, “one, two, three,” at a Lancaster-area Marriott hotel. ABC and CBS also thought they’d be interviewing the girls.

At the last minute, Pricer said, he was told to go to a different hotel, a move ABC and CBS sources allege was an effort by NBC to keep the girls away from its rivals. ABC and CBS went to the second hotel, where NBC had booked most if not all of the rooms, and they set up cameras in a public area, hoping to catch the girls after they finished with NBC.

That made the families uncomfortable, Pricer said, and they asked him to tell ABC and CBS to return to the Marriott, where the girls would return later. The networks complied, he said.

But then, he said, something changed, and he points to NBC. “I witnessed them saying [to the girls], ‘You shouldn’t do the interviews,’ ” he said. “They were adamant.”

Later, he said, NBC whisked the girls off in limos for an undisclosed location.

ABC and CBS didn’t get the interviews they thought they were getting. An NBC source said it had always understood that the interview was exclusive.

As one NBC employee said, “No one should walk out saying they are very pleased with how people acted. It was inappropriate for ‘Today’ to buy a gift for the guest, but all the bookers on the scene acted inappropriately.”

Not true, said Shelley Ross, executive producer of ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “I’m very proud of the professionalism and integrity of our booking department. Everybody does play by the rules here.”

As for whether law enforcement got involved, ABC and CBS sources said the local police confronted them at the hotel, saying there had been a charge they were stalking the girls. An NBC source said they called the police at the request of the families, to escort the girls out. Scott said he saw no police when he left the hotel with his niece.

And the Lancaster authorities can’t corroborate that they were called to the scene. “I’m not aware of any problem with the media at all,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Pigott. “I know [the girls] have reached celebrity status. I’m sure that will wax and wane.”

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report from Lancaster.