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Not a Fan of 7?
By Michael Page | October 4, 2007
The ruling of Judge Hopkins yesterday, saying that WHDH could not air a story revealing the contents of autopsies on two fallen Boston firefighters has me wondering if the judge has a grudge against 7.
The judge ruled that 7 could not air the report that one of those firefighters who died in a West Roxbury fire this summer was drunk, and another showed signs of drug use. While this was going on, other news outlets, such as the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, along with WFXT, WCVB and WBZ all highlighted the new findings. 7 has said it will appeal the ruling, but honestly, this judge made herself look like a “press squasher” with this judgment.
UPDATE: 7 won the appeal to air the story as of Thursday evening.
Topics: WHDH (Channel 7) | 11 Comments »
October 4th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
This is one of those you’re damned if you do or damned if you don’t report it.
I’ve been reading these stories all day…kinda tired of it….but my overall take is there is a serious problem on the BFD..which over shadows the everyday heroes.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
No kidding. It will be interesting to see where it goes. The only reason I posted it is because 7 was so involved.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I had a serious problem with the media trying to ruin the reputation of these dead firefighters. Yes, they had their problems, but they are dead and no longer able to defend themselves. All this story does is destroy their reputation and put their families through hell. I don’t single out Channel 7 but all media outlets who thought this was real news…Really tired of the media who goes for sensationalism over real journalism…I think this is why Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton are all over the 11pm news…So I shouldn’t be surprised. The whole story coming out is totally disgusting.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I don’t know if I was the only one who felt like this, but this seemed like the biggest bomb shell of a story we have seen for quite a while. Any other thoughts?
October 4th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I think that 7 News had done the right thing reorting the information. Rather or the firefighter is dead or not, it should still be out. Maybe if they were sober on the job, they would had a higher likely hood on surviving. And before this, I didn’t know that firefighters don’t have to take a drug test every year. So i think channel 7 had done the right thing and the firefighter union is having a court battle with 7 because they don’t want to know that the firefighters were under the influence while they were on the job.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Well, I understand that news is a business and they need to report it, in this day and age. However, it seems that discretion and values have degraded to the point that no one cares of the impact this will have on their families and to serve no purpose. Officials could have addressed the issues involved here without making this public. Also, I question whether this was personal information and should have been considered private, since the two firemen were only of public notoriety due to their deaths.
I wish, in some cases, we could turn the clock back and treat some matters with more decency. You know, when not every story was treated as breaking Watergate!
October 5th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
People People People . While I agree these firefighters are honerable. One showed up to work drunk 3 times the legal driving limit and the other one was under the influence of cocaine. THIS IS NEWS!
October 5th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Of COURSE they won the appeal. These Liberal activist judges act with clear and unhidden biases and agendas. When pressed on matters of pure LAW (what they SHOULD be basing their rulings on in the first place), appeals are easy to conjure up and even easier to win once in front of a judge who, amazingly, does NOT have an agenda or bias.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I wonder if these Fire people were volunteers in their community. Know what I mean. Its like why would they care, just as long there is a hand to help when needed.
October 6th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Why do they care? Maybe people don’t want someone drunk showing up to save lives.
While I still think the families should get their benefits, the media should report on this
October 12th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
It doesn’t matter if the firefighters died or not. The truth about them should be exposed…period. Yes, it’s very sad they died, but what happened was inevitible. I really don’t feel sorry for them or their families. The firefighters shouldn’t have been drinking and doing drugs on the job. In this case, I disagree with the Union who filed the complaint. I’m glad the decision was overturned and I’m glad that Channel 7 got to do their jobs and report the facts.