The Sun-Sentinel's version is the only story out there, all the other blogs and internet sources just copied their stuff with various choices of outrage vocabulary. It is a bit odd that there has been no follow-up anywhere. This happened on November 7th. The reporter did apparently see the 911 transcripts or listen to the tapes, so that sources one side pretty well.
I'm always a bit leery of single-source stories, no matter how many copy it. There may well be more to the story from the perspective of the law enforcement response; of course they may indeed have screwed up, but there could also be additional info not publicly available yet.
Living in Vegas I can tell you exactly how that works. With LE, follow up on a sticky story means no more invites to briefings, the other TV stations mysteriously know about incidents before yours, your reporters never get past the line, never get called for questions at news conferences. Do an article the casino industry doesn't like (suicides is a major taboo) and you may find that advertising revenue for your media outlet is suddenly much reduced.
If you
really work at it you can get in the poo with both. Watched a TV reporter edge up to, but not quite say, "gang war" in early 2008. You could see the guy on the podium pretty much glaring "say gang war out loud and you'll be sorry". Oh, and just to be clear, there was a Class A tit-for-tat gang war underway. Free press? Sure, right up until it hits their bottom line.
They are less subtle in the UK. It was called "The D notice" when I lived there. When the special envoy for the Church of England, a guy named Terry Waite, was kidnapped in Lebanon, we had a solid (and very precise
) two weeks of "Terry Waite is still missing" from every media outlet. Two weeks to the day, nothing about him on any TV channel, radio news show or in any newspaper. Poof! Like magic, he was no longer news. Hmm, wonder how that happened.
