Statement by President/CEO Mike Woolfolk on the Death of Ted Holtzclaw

Ted Holtzclaw
Photo by: Marc Willis

I am deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing this morning of Ted Holtzclaw.  Ted was a dedicated broadcast news manager and strong supporter of the National Association of Black Journalists Multi-Media Short Course at North Carolina A&T State University for many years.

Ted was a fabulous mentor, not only to those interested in video journalism and other news operations support staff positions, but to anyone seeking his advice, training and help.  When I served as NABJ Vice President-Broadcast with oversight of the A&T Short Course, I greatly valued Ted's assistance and participation which continued through the most recent program held this past March.  He made a lasting impression on the careers of many young and veteran journalists, alike.

I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and pray that God will grant them strength during their time of bereavement and beyond.

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Ted Holtzclaw was the News Operations Manager at WABC-TV in New York City.  Prior to joining WABC, Holtzclaw worked at WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durahm, North Carolina.  He died suddenly on Monday, August 13, 2012.

The Race to be First: Social Media's Slippery News Slope

There are lessons we all can learn from the handling of information concerning the death of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.  Coach Paterno died on Sunday morning following a two-month battle with lung cancer.  Unfortunately, several news organizations prematurely reported Paterno's passing on Saturday night based, ultimately, on unconfirmed information first posted by a student media website on the Penn State campus.

Onward State claimed it had multiple sources who confirmed Coach Paterno's death and posted the news online around 8:45 pm Saturday.  CBS Sports gave the story viral life by posting a Paterno obituary on its website, seemingly based on information from the Onward State post.

Many organizations and individuals followed suit, tweeting and re-tweeting links to the CBS story on Twitter and posting on Facebook.  (I'm guilty of both.)  Here in Columbia, the mis-information found its way into coverage of the GOP primary as news anchors paused to announce the "breaking news" that Joe Paterno had died.  In all cases, ti would seem that everyone trusted (assumed) that CBS had vetted the information and that it was accurate.  We learned how wrong that we were when Paterno's sons took to Twitter to let everyone know the rumors of their father's death were premature.

Covering Funerals: What's Appropriate

The caskets of Devean Duley and Ja'van Duley arrive for funeral services in Orangeburg, SC.
(Photo Credit: Mary Ann Chastain/The Associated Press)

I received a phone call on Thursday from a television reporter in Columbia, South Carolina who wanted to ask my opinion on using some pictures that her videographer shot during their assignment. They were covering the visitation for Devean and Ja’van Duley, two toddlers allegedly killed by their mother and disposed of in the Edisto River in Orangeburg County.

The reporter informed me that they had video of the boys in their caksets while family members and others paid respects at the funeral home. Some of the video clearly showed the boys from various angles, some of them being close-up shots. The reporter’s question was, “would it be appropriate to use the video?”