My freshman daughter was in her drama class at Kirkwood High School when the school was put on lockdown last Thursday afternoon. She sat in a darkened room with classmates, not knowing what the following minutes would hold.
She didn’t know the lockdown was caused by a KSDK Channel 5 staff member, sent on a mission to find gaps in security at area schools. She didn’t know of unanswered calls to his cell phone or that the station would not confirm whether the man was a reporter.
She didn’t know that it was a ratings stunt or that news director Mike Shipley later would defend his station’s actions with one of the most self-serving, pompous, and infuriating statements ever released by a television station.
She just knew something was wrong and that she could be in danger. She knew that her classmates were frightened, with some of the students texting their parents to let them know that they loved them. She heard footsteps on the roof above her, and she didn’t know who they belonged to.
When I picked her up from school, she told me that she was not terrified. I hugged her. I told her that I'd been alerted the lockdown was caused by Channel 5, so I wasn't afraid for her safety.
Still, I remain livid about the entire situation. No apology will ever quell my disgust with Shipley and his television channel.
On Thursday, there were likely many unlocked doors at many schools across the St. Louis region. KSDK found one and exploited it for ratings. I’m not buying the “safety concern” or the “watching out for the public” lines.
There was a security lapse at Kirkwood High School, but I know the campus and its many buildings. To keep every door locked at every minute is virtually impossible.
For those who say that I should be thankful that it was not a real intruder, I ask, “Would a person intent on doing harm turn around and leave because they found a locked door?” We know that not to be true because of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, in which Adam Lanza "shot his way through a window near the front office to gain entry to the school."
Referring to KSDK's story, Poyner Intstitute media ethicist Kelly McBride said, “I think it is shallow and presumptuous to test the security system that way. You could do it with real reporting, and talking to people who come and go often. It’s sort of a cheap and easy way to do it.”
KSDK could pull the same kind of reporting stunt at hospitals, sporting events, or municipal buildings. But the station won’t because it knows there would be hell to pay.
I know several people have filed complaints with the FCC. I know advertisers have been contacted. I have no idea if these efforts will have any consequence. I doubt it.
There has been uproar since Thursday. Most who have shared opinions on message boards or through social media are highly critical of KSDK. Some say Kirkwood is totally at fault.
In my opinion, Bill McClellan’s column in the Sunday St. Louis Post-Dispatch best explains the feelings of most Kirkwood parents and district staff members.
KSDK was moved to air another, more in-depth apology on its 10 p.m. Sunday news. Anchorman Mike Bush noted that Lynn Beall, the station’s general manager, met in person with Kirkwood superintendent Tom Williams to apologize.
I serve on a superintendent’s advisory committee, and I am on the Kirkwood School Foundation board of directors. You can call me bias in this matter, but on Thursday, I was simply a parent incensed by the behavior of KSDK.
I reached Shipley by phone late Thursday, and I was surprised he was available. He was quite unapologetic, other than to say his station didn’t mean to cause the lockdown. Obviously, something changed his tune and that of KSDK.
I do have several questions remaining for KSDK:
• Why didn’t the purported staffer, identified as John Kelley, answer his cell phone?
• Why was KSDK so unwilling to identify Kelley, even after the station was told that if it didn’t confirm that a reporter was sent to KHS, the school would have to be put on lockdown?
• How were the targeted schools selected? Were any sons or daughters of KSDK staff members involved in the planning and execution of this so-called investigative piece attending any of the schools?
• How can you compare security at elementary schools to a multi-building high school, which is what KSDK did Thursday?
Commentary by Alvin Reid
