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Article from the aggrieved newspaper with offending picture....

http://www.showmenews.com/2006/Feb/20060223News003.asp

‘48 Hours’ apologizes for altered image

By SARA AGNEW of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, February 23, 2006

The executive producer of CBS’ "48 Hours Mystery" has apologized for airing an altered image of the front page of the Tribune in an episode about the murder trial of Ryan Ferguson that aired Saturday night.

CBS aired an altered image of the Tribune’s front page for its “48 Hours Mystery.” Above is the original Tribune front page. Below is an image from the show.
The producer, Susan Zirinsky, said she didn’t know the image of the front page containing the story about Ferguson’s sentencing had been manipulated until this week after Tribune Managing Editor Jim Robertson complained to CBS in an e-mail.

"It was an egregious oversight for us not to know it," Zirinsky said. "It was a graphic, and we don’t feel it changed the editorial value of the story, per se."

Bob Steele, a senior ethics faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a premier journalism training center in Florida, said CBS executives should apologize to viewers and use the network’s Web site to explain what went wrong and accept responsibility for an ethical failure.

"What they did wrong was twofold," he said. "One, they altered reality by changing a piece of documentary journalism.

"Secondly, they deceived their viewers because they left them with the impression that what they showed was a truthful representation of what the newspaper showed."

The TV newsmagazine showed several front pages from the Tribune during its hourlong program "Dream Killer," about the trial of Ferguson, found guilty in October of killing Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt.

During the show, which raised the question of whether Ferguson was wrongly convicted, a graphic of the Tribune’s Dec. 5 front page showed a photograph of Ferguson that was different from what actually appeared in the Tribune. The original photograph showed Ferguson in a jail uniform as he appeared at his sentencing. In "Dream Killer," Ferguson was shown in a suit and tie.

Zirinsky said the graphic has been changed in the master tape of the program to accurately reflect the Tribune’s front page. A freelancer hired by CBS for the first time was responsible for the alteration, Zirinsky said.

"We feel we are doing the right thing," she said. "We have apologized to the editor."

Steele, of the Poynter Institute, said CBS can explain what went wrong in terms of the action of its freelancer but said that doesn’t absolve the network of its responsibility.

"CBS retains the responsibility of what they put on the air, including how" its news "is gathered and how it is produced," he said.

Ferguson, 21, was found guilty Oct. 21 of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the slaying of Heitholt, whose bludgeoned and strangled body was found in the early hours of Nov. 1, 2001, in a parking lot next to the Tribune. Ferguson and Chuck Erickson were arrested March 10, 2004, after witnesses told police Erickson had spoken of the crime to a friend. Erickson later told police that he and Ferguson killed Heitholt.

Erickson, who was a pivotal witness in the Ferguson trial, told jurors he repressed his memory of the crime for two years until news articles jogged his recollection.

Erickson declined interviews with "48 Hours" reporters, who focused most of their coverage on the trial and interviews with the Ferguson family and friends.

Bill Ferguson said his family has received hundreds of e-mails and many phone calls since the story aired. "I thought" the show "was very fair and well-presented," he said.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane said he’s heard complaints from other people who were at the trial that the "48 Hours" episode was slanted in favor of Ferguson. While he said he thought producers went out of their way to portray Ferguson as an innocent victim, he said the show was more balanced than he expected. "The fact is: They did put enough of Chuck on the stand and juxtaposed that with interviews" with Ferguson "in prison and on the stand so that you could gauge the credibility of both guys," he said. "They showed enough of Chuck to show how he came across to the jury."

Kali Heitholt said she was disappointed the program didn’t show more about her father and who he was. "We think that he was lost in the story," she said in an e-mail. "It saddens us that ‘48 Hours’ didn’t end up being a vehicle for people to see the life of such an extraordinary and lovely person."

Reach Sara Agnew at (573) 815-1717 or sagnew@tribmail.com.