Highlights of APM coverage of the Boston bombings

Hello colleagues,

As the Boston bombing story unfolded last week we all watched and listened intently as the investigation unfolded. National program producers were right there too, listening and reacting to the news. They took special care to find different angles and other stories that complimented the on-going breaking news in Boston.

Our national programming is adept at creating rich and timely programming to accent live news coverage. This is a brief rundown of how three APM national news programs adapted and enhanced their own programming to responsive to on-going events.

The Story

  • Tuesday 4/16 Lead Story: Bombings at the Boston Marathon— Dick Gordon spoke with longtime Boston Marathon announcer and runner Kathrine Switzer.
  • Wednesday 4/17 Lead Story: Combing the Debris after the Bombing— Malcolm Brady, former assistant director of the ATF, talked to host Dick Gordon about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and how they dug into the rubble to get the frame of the van that carried the explosives — and identify who put it there.
  • Monday 4/22 Lead Story: News in 140 Characters— As news of the Boston Marathon bombings emerged, people at the scene took pictures, tweeted and shared police wanted posters on their phones. Guest host Sean Cole sat down with Brooke Gladstone, host of NPR’s On the Media, to figure out what people got right and what they got.
  • Wednesday 4/24 Lead Story: Roots in Chechnya— Magomed Imakaev is a twenty-eight year old contractor in the Boston area. He moved to the U.S. from Chechnya nine years ago. He is now worried that everyone will view him and his family with suspicion. He talks with Dick Gordon about the violence he left behind in Chechnya and he wonders about the motives of the men accused of bringing it to the U.S.

Marketplace
Marketplace Morning Report

    Tuesday, April 16th Leads the morning

  • David Brancaccio interviewed Mark Garrison (reporting from Boston) about the efforts by law enforcement to crowd-source video/photo evidence of the bombings. David also looked at the temporary collapse of the city’s cell phone network.
  • Jeremy Hobson debriefed Mark on the latest developments in Boston, focusing specifically on the city’s decision to close off a large portion of the downtown.
  • Jeremy interviewed the head of a small, Boston-based non-profit about how she accounted for/communicated with her employees in the immediate aftermath of the bombings and what kind of support she’ll need to provide her employees as they come to grips with the tragedy.
  • Jeremy also interviewed a Boston-based psychologist about her work in a situation like this.
  • David looked at how law enforcement will process the incredible volume of photo/video evidence.
    Friday, April 19th, Leads the morning

  • As the search for suspects intensified, David did an interview about the surge in — and danger of — amateur sleuthing on web sites like Reddit.
  • Jeremy interviewed an Associated Press reporter about the latest developments in the manhunt, focusing mainly on the city’s decision to shut down the public transportation system and its request that people avoid going to work.
  • Jeremy interviewed the owner of a donut shop in Belmont, MA who had locked himself in his shop as the manhunt unfolded.
  • David looked at the request by law enforcement that people using Twitter stop disclosing police scanner activity and SWAT locations as the search for the suspects — and the fight for information — reached a frenzy.
    Tuesday, April 23rd:

  • In the aftermath of the Boston bombings, we looked at the size and growth of the surveillance industry.

Marketplace PM Show

  • An updated feed on Monday, April 15th, featuring an account of the bombing from a reporter in Boston.
  • On Tuesday, April 16th, the story of two businesses in the area of the bombing… a florist and a wine shop and a report on the mechanics of forensic video gathering and investigation.
  • The cost of the lockdown on Friday, April 19th, an interview with a CEO whose company employs 1000 people in Watertown.
  • And several updated feeds to reflect the fast moving events late Friday when the second suspect was found and captured.

BBC

  • BBC added two extra Newshour live shows to accommodate reporting out of Boston on Friday, April 19th. Newshour is the flagship show produced by the BBC World Service.
  • As the BBC has reporters on the ground all over the US, they were also able to provide live updates throughout all their additional news programming throughout the week.