The news of the untimely death of Redskins star Sean Taylor traveled quickly Tuesday morning. CNN was the first to break the news around 5 a.m. Tuesday, but soon after that local outlets WTOP, WMAL, NBC4, FOX5, ABC7 and CBS9 all were reporting the death of Taylor as the lead news story.
The Washington sports community had Triple X ESPN, SportsTalk 980 and WJFK-FM all air special shows that allowed Redskins fans to share their thoughts and grief with plenty of thoughtful and insightful talk.
WTEM’s Doc Walker and Andy Pollin did an outstanding job of getting quality guests along with fielding e-mails and phone calls. The Junkies on WJFK were the first local radio to have an interview with friends of the Taylor family.
Triple X ESPN used its insider advantage to have some moving clips and interviews with coach Joe Gibbs and a number of players with kudos going out to Larry Michaels, Bram Weinstein and the cast of the John Riggins Show for their quality work.
Both CSN and MASN showed that, when it comes to local sports coverage, they are the leaders on the TV side. As regional cable networks they have a huge advantage over the tradional news stations when it comes to being flexible.
CSN really proved that it is the go-to outlet for sports news in the region — spending more than 10 hours on live coverage, which no local TV station can do. Russ Thaler anchored the early coverage and then, after going to Redskins Park for the Redskins Show on the radio, CSN continued to run player interviews and aired the Daniel Snyder-Joe Gibbs news conference live. CSN continued its coverage with extended versions of WPL and SportsNite.
Kelli Johnson was on hand in Miami, Chick Hernandez was on hand at Redskins Park and both showed genuine emotion when talking about Taylor and their many on and off camera conversations with him.
MASN aired 6 hours of the special edition of the John Riggins Show and again there was plenty or emotional stories from players, coaches and the fans.
NBC4, FOX5, ABC7, CBS9 all covered the news part of the story with reporters and sports anchors on the ground in Miami and at Redskins Park. This gave viewers both the news and the sports angles of this complex and tragic story.
When local news turns national
Sean Taylor’s death in a Miami hospital made quite a splash around the country.
The ESPN family of networks, Fox Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio, and Sirius NFL Radio all led with coverage of Taylor’s passing.
“First Take” on ESPN2 led with Taylor’s death.
Mainstream news CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, and the BBC all had reports of the violent death of the 24-year-old NFL star.
Yes, bad news travels fast in the age of instant messaging, and 24-hour news channels. On Tuesday a young man who had made an impact on the Redskins, their fans and football fans league-wide was the latest to have his life cut short.
— Jim Williams
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watchthis! on www.examiner.com.
