Did Killeen get a fair shake in the media? Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 19 2009 05:15 AM By Hailey Persinger
Killeen Daily Herald

Just 24 hours after a gunman opened fire Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, hundreds of reporters, photographers and cameramen descended on Central Texas.

More than 360 reporters from across the nation representing about 80 news outlets traveled to Fort Hood to cover the shooting that killed 13 and wounded 38. The hundreds of subsequent news reports focused not only on the shooting but also on the Central Texas community and its ties to Fort Hood.

Some articles and broadcasts painted Killeen as a city that consistently deals with violence. Others focused on the camaraderie that had grown out of the tragedy.

The headline of a Nov. 9 New York Times article noted that at Fort Hood, "some violence is too familiar." Several cable news outlets reminded viewers that a Killeen Luby's was the site of another mass shooting in 1991 that left 23 dead. Similar reports continued to emerge as reporters fanned out across the city and neighboring towns of Harker Heights and Copperas Cove.

For local business owners like Jerry Henderson of Henderson's Family Restaurant in downtown Killeen, the influx of reporters was an opportunity to provide a window into the close-knit community. Sensitivity to the situation, Henderson said, was something he saw as predominant in national coverage.

"We had people from all over, from way off just to find out what little information they could," he said. "The community, Fort Hood, the news people, the police department; I think they all worked as one. I was proud of them."

Jennings Matthews, manager of the restaurant, was on a trip to Florida on the day of the shooting. Despite the 2,000-plus miles between Fort Hood and his boat off the Florida coast, he said he still felt tied to the community as details and stories unfolded on his TV screen.

But for others, the rapid-fire release of information thought to be factual was frustrating. The first bits of information released to reporters included what Fort Hood later called "internal miscommunication" that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspected shooter, had been killed.

The release and later retraction of vital elements of the shooting story had an effect on the already on-edge Killeen and Fort Hood residents, David Webb said.

"It's competitiveness. They want to get the story in," Webb said. "The Army wasn't confirming anything and they wanted something to report."

Though the national media coverage of the events themselves has tapered off, stories about the investigation into the shooting and Hasan continue to dominate airtime. Central Texas residents and Fort Hood soldiers and their families will continue to heal as the nation and reporters move on to the next big story.

For Windell Sullivann, the shift in coverage to something new will be welcome and will allow the area a semblance of normalcy.

"I was really overwhelmed," he said. "I personally don't care for as much coverage as they got – over coverage."

Contact Hailey Persinger at haileyp@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7568.