# Is it believable that the media would run something like this?



## ironpony (Feb 3, 2018)

Basically for my story, it is set in a modern American type city (haven't decided which one yet).  And a police officer is killed in a shoot out.  Later on, the media receives a video, where the leader of a gang, in a mask and with a scrambled voice, says that he is the leader of that gang, and that if the police department does not back off in their investigations, that more cops will be killed per week.

The reason the video is sent to the media, with the hopes that they would run it for all to see, but would the media run a video like that for everyone to see?


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## NathanielleC (Feb 3, 2018)

It happens all the time in real life so, yeah. 

The thing to remember is that "the media" is just an all encompassing term that describes millions of people working an industry that spans the globe.

A killer who wants attention will send the video to as many news outlets as possible to keep investigators from being able to narrow down the source. 

Each media outlet will handle the information in accordance with their own ethical standards. 

Some journalists want to work with and help the police. Others only want to sell newspapers.


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## ironpony (Feb 4, 2018)

Okay thanks, but how will the killer sending it to more than one news outlet keep investigators from narrowing the source?  I mean if the killer mails the video in, with no prints or dna on it, and it's mailed in anonymously, isn't that enough?  If it's mailed in to more than one, the police can try to trace all the other ones back to, so wouldn't mailing to it multiple outlets increase the killer's chance of possibly making a mistake?


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## NathanielleC (Feb 4, 2018)

Look at it this way. One tape sent to one location in one jurisdiction is a hell of a lot easier to trace. In the first place, what decade does your story take place in? In the here and now, anonymous mail that weighs a certain amount is an immediate red flag to the US Postal service as I imagine it would be postal services in other countries.

So how was it delivered? By mail? By hand? A journalist that wants to make a career is going to track it down so they can milk it for all it's worth. A news outlet that actually obeys the ethical standards of journalism will work closely with the police to make sure a cop killer is brought to justice. All of these are questions that would be asked as soon as the tape changed hands. 

And someone delivering a package is a mistake in and of itself. Walking into a place where people have cameras on their coffee mugs is practically begging to be noticed anyway. 

Using a public wifi in a crowded place on cheap tablet or a burner phone that can be bought on the cheap with cash, then destroyed or wiped clean, then dropped in a garbage bin, to donated to charity is way more practical in this day and age. And multiple news outlets to various jurisdictions keeps the police in one jurisdiction from being able to stop it from going viral.


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## Bayview (Feb 4, 2018)

If this is set in the modern day I'd be pretty surprised by a physical copy of the video being involved.

I also don't think it'd be necessary for the mainstream media to be involved in the distribution. They might pick the story up, of course, but if the video was diseminated online, it could get a lot of exposure pretty quickly without any professionals being involved at all.


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## ironpony (Feb 4, 2018)

Yeah, it's set in modern times.  I could have it sent online, if that's better, it's just people wouldn't know where to look for it, as oppose to the media shoving it into people's faces on the news and what not.  As for how it's delivered to the media, I'm not sure.  I don't want it to be traced though.  The villains are still caught later on, but in a totally different way, and I want them to get away with sending this video, without a trace.  So whichever way is best?

Even if it's set to multiple media outlets, I would assume the police would investigate each one though.  I don't want to spend too much time in this part of the plot though.  I want the video to be shown, and for all the key characters to see it, to drive the plot... then the police say they couldn't trace where it came from and just leave it at that and move on.  So which way would be best then?


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## NathanielleC (Feb 4, 2018)

Whatever works for the story. I can't choose for you.


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## Ralph Rotten (Feb 4, 2018)

If you are doing a historical piece then sending a video would be the way. But if you are writing a modern story then consider something a bit edgier.  Possibly they hijack a prominent video on YouTube, or they coopt satellite feed so everyone is forced to watch it, or maybe it's part of a virus unleashed on the police.  Or possibly if they took over a jumbotron at a game or in NYC times square (or at superbowl).  Just an idea.

But in answer to your question, the press COULD run the video, but likely they would contact the police first in the hopes that if they work with the police they will get a real scoop.  Usually if a news agency helps police, they get the lead when the story can finally be broken.  Police-press cooperation was how they got the unabomber.


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## moderan (Feb 5, 2018)

I thought this was 'research'?
This stuff is more like 'polling a small sample size'.


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## ironpony (Feb 5, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> If you are doing a historical piece then sending a video would be the way. But if you are writing a modern story then consider something a bit edgier.  Possibly they hijack a prominent video on YouTube, or they coopt satellite feed so everyone is forced to watch it, or maybe it's part of a virus unleashed on the police.  Or possibly if they took over a jumbotron at a game or in NYC times square (or at superbowl).  Just an idea.
> 
> But in answer to your question, the press COULD run the video, but likely they would contact the police first in the hopes that if they work with the police they will get a real scoop.  Usually if a news agency helps police, they get the lead when the story can finally be broken.  Police-press cooperation was how they got the unabomber.



Okay thanks.  I thought that hijacking something like that would take more time though, and I kind of want to keep it quick and simple and move on with the plot, but maybe I could write it so they hijack something like that.

As for the press working with the police, wouldn't the police immediately want to boycott a video like that out of respect for the murdered officer?


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## NathanielleC (Feb 6, 2018)

What good would boycotting do? So the police don't watch the news channel that airs the video in protest and that accomplishes what exactly?

Not to play hardball here but on another forum you frequent, where you basically ask the same questions, and you've gotten roughly the same responses, you once told how you know real police officers who sometimes answer your questions. Why can't you ask them this now?


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## ironpony (Feb 6, 2018)

The cops I asked before have been out of contact lately.

Sorry I used boycotting in the wrong sense.  What I mean is, wouldn't the police try to keep the media from airing the video, if the media told the police about it.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 6, 2018)

One video is harder to track than multiple.

The more that's sent/posted, the more likely the police would be able to find the source.

Would the police try to stop it from being aired? I doubt it. Why would they? The general population won't care that police are being targeted.

Now if the general population is the target, then there'd be panic, and the police might try to squash that. But the news organizations don't want panic either, so there'd likely be cooperation. Except for fringe news. They would probably prefer the "scoop" to cooperation. So it would get out eventually.

But if the target is the general population, then a video is not necessary. Murder is news. Simply kill someone and leave a message.


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## ironpony (Feb 6, 2018)

Oh okay thanks.  I thought the police would want to try to stop it from being aired out of respect to a murdered officer, especially since it shows the officer being murdered in a brutal execution by the gang leader, and then the gang leader telling the police that's what they get.  So I thought the police would want to stop it from being aired out of bad taste towards them.


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## DanR84 (Mar 27, 2018)

I don't know, if someone already posted this but if it's set in modern times and in a modern city would it not make more sence to upload the video to various on - line outlets like facebook and youtube and then have media pick up on it from there


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## ironpony (Mar 29, 2018)

Okay thanks, but the thing, is that I don't think youtube and facebook would allow a video of a real murder to be uploaded, especially when the uploader is keeping himself anonymous and untraceable.  Those sites would take the video down of a real murder, sent in by the alleged killer, wouldn't they?

But also, if the video were sent to youtube, and youtube did allow it, I don't think it generate the reaction I want from the police characters.  If it was uploaded to youtube, the cops will think we got to find whoever uploaded that, but if it's sent to the police station directly to them, they will take it as a spiteful F$%k you to the police and take it a lot more personally, and tempers will run higher, which is what I want for how I want the story to go, compared to witnessing it being uploaded on youtube or facebook, wouldn't they?


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 29, 2018)

I think you're not understanding how things get on Facebook or YouTube. A person uploads it. It's not sent to another person to upload it. No one looks at it. It's just uploaded.

You have to have an account, and there's supposed to be info provided. But nothing's really verified. Now maybe that's changed recently, but last I checked, there was no verification.

I think a year or so ago, a suicide was uploaded, livestream, to Facebook. It was removed after people saw it and realized it was real. Maybe Facebook tighten security after that, but livestreaming is real time, so there aren't checks before loading.


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## Bayview (Mar 29, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks, but the thing, is that I don't think youtube and facebook would allow a video of a real murder to be uploaded, especially when the uploader is keeping himself anonymous and untraceable.  Those sites would take the video down of a real murder, sent in by the alleged killer, wouldn't they?



This is a valid argument. I think you're wrong, because as Jack says, there's nobody really screening Youtube videos before they're uploaded - you may run into a situation in which the video is taken down after someone complains, but by then it would already be "out there" and probably copied, available elsewhere, etc. But it's still a valid thing for you to be concerned about.

But...



> But also, if the video were sent to youtube, and youtube did allow it, I don't think it generate the reaction I want from the police characters.



THIS is not a good path for a writer to go down, as far as I'm concerned. Once you start bending reality to the demands of your plot, where do you stop? And where do your readers' eyerolls stop? If there's a conflict between reality and your plot, change your plot, not reality.


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## ironpony (Mar 29, 2018)

Okay thanks.  Am I doing something to change reality from the plot too much?  I didn't think there was a conflict between reality and the plot, unless I missed it?

When I said, if it was uploaded to youtube, that it wouldn't generate the reaction I want, I don't have to go with youtube.  The people can send the video to the police directly, if that's better.


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## Bayview (Mar 29, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks.  Am I doing something to change reality from the plot too much?  I didn't think there was a conflict between reality and the plot, unless I missed it?
> 
> When I said, if it was uploaded to youtube, that it wouldn't generate the reaction I want, I don't have to go with youtube.  The people can send the video to the police directly, if that's better.



REALITY: this would probably be uploaded to YouTube
YOUR PLOT DEMANDS: this shouldn't be uploaded to YouTube

These two elements are in conflict - you want the characters to do something for plot reasons, but the characters probably wouldn't do that for reality reasons.

So, for me, I'd change the plot, not change the reality.


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## ironpony (Mar 29, 2018)

Okay thanks.  Well what if I wrote it so that it was sent into the police station to spite the police instead of having it uploaded to youtube.  It can be uploaded later, but what if the police get it first?   Would they still have a harsher reaction therefore?

Or I could write it so that the police characters are so offended by the video being uploaded to youtube, that they feel like seeking revenge on the killer anyway.

Also you say the reality is, is that a video like that would be uploaded to youtube. However, if it was mailed to the police, who would upload it to youtube? The police?


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 29, 2018)

Think about it from the criminal perspective.

You have a video that would offend police. Would you ...
A) send it to the police?
B) upload it to YouTube?

If it goes to the police, only the police will get to see it. Would that achieve your purpose? I kinda doubt it. Plus, it would give the police a chance to check for fingerprints, look at the device (USB chip or VHS tape or whatever) and try to track you down through that, look at the post mark to narrow down where it was sent from, etc. This increases the chance of being caught.

If upload it, then lots of poeple have the chance to see it, and it has the possibility of going viral. Does that suit your purpose? Can the police still track you? Maybe. But if you follow hacker stuff for hiding where you are, the odds of getting away with one upload are pretty good. No fingerprints. No device. Just the trail. But there's ways, or so I understand, of obscuring your URL and hiding your location.

If I were a criminal type, I think uploading it would make the most "sense", though simply abusing others doesn't really make sense.


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## ironpony (Mar 29, 2018)

Okay thanks.  I thought if it was sent to the police directly, they would take it as a more a screw you to them, and it would be more spiteful.  Of course the sender, would have to make sure than his prints and DNA are not on it.  But if the police would be more offended by it being uploaded online instead, then I can go with that perhaps.

When you say simply abusing others does not make sense, do you mean the person sending it, abusing the police?

If I write it so that it's uploaded online, that means every character is going to see it, since it's viral, which means the rest of the plot will have to happen right away, since characters now know of it, that I didn't want to know of it till later on.


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## NathanielleC (Mar 30, 2018)

Just because something goes viral doesn't mean everyone in the world has to know about it straight away. Hard as it is to believe there are about sixteen hours in a 24 hour period I which I am not glued to the Internet and/or television.

Furthermore, how you write the story is, as always, up to you. 

We can only your question as you present it to us. You don't expect your GPS to know about every traffic accident, road work, or major flooding that may or may not be on your journey, because the GPS is not then one behind the wheel.


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## ironpony (Mar 30, 2018)

Okay thanks, but in my story, the person sending in the video, doesn't want everyone to know about it, just the police.  So I'm wondering why he would upload it to youtube, when he only wants the police to know about it, and not want to have a specific character find out, which that character will if it was uploaded to youtube.

I understand that uploading my be safer, but it gets in the way of the characters motives, in which he wants the police to find out, but not everyone.  So I feel maybe the character would risk sending it in by mail, even though it's riskier, cause he doesn't want it to go viral, at least not yet.  But is it really that hard to mail in a video, when all you have to do pretty much is wear gloves when handling it?


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## Bayview (Mar 30, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks, but in my story, the person sending in the video, doesn't want everyone to know about it, just the police.



vs.

"The reason the video is sent to the media, with the hopes that they would run it for all to see," from the OP.

So...?!?


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## ironpony (Mar 30, 2018)

Sorry for the confusion.  He wants all to see it later on, but that's for later.  Earlier, he wants the police to see the video, and just the police.  Cause that gives the police time to do all these other things, that are required for his plan, before everyone else sees it.  But he releases it to the media right away, before the police, the villains will have time to act, before the police do, and the timing of things in the main character's plan gets thrown off.


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## NathanielleC (Mar 31, 2018)

It's obvious you want the story to go a certain way regardless of what anyone tells you, so why bother asking?


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## ironpony (Mar 31, 2018)

Sorry, I don't mean to sound stubborn, I just feel if the story must go a different way, I need to know WHY.  If the main character would upload the video to youtube for all to see, and thereby changing his plan, I need to know why he is changing his plan, otherwise I won't understand the changes being suggested.  If someone could just explain the 'why' of the change, that would help me understand


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## Bayview (Mar 31, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Sorry, I don't mean to sound stubborn, I just feel if the story must go a different way, I need to know WHY.  If the main character would upload the video to youtube for all to see, and thereby changing his plan, I need to know why he is changing his plan, otherwise I won't understand the changes being suggested.  If someone could just explain the 'why' of the change, that would help me understand



"Why" is _your _job. You're the author.

You've asked us whether something is believable, and you've gotten some answers. Now you can either accept those responses and work on your story, or you can reject them and work on your story. But we can't write your story for you. "Why" is your job.


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## ironpony (Mar 31, 2018)

Okay thanks, I know the why is my job, but when someone says that it's more realistic that my character would do something else instead, I feel that maybe that person knows my character better than I do, and has a better 'why', or so it seems from the suggestions.  Like if someone tells me 'what' my character should do instead, but I cannot find a 'why' to that suggested 'what', then how does the author come up with a 'why' to that 'what'?

But it was also suggested to me that I should change the plot and not the reality.  So it's more realistic that the person would upload it to youtube.  I understand that.  I just don't understand why he would upload it to youtube.  Why is that more realistic?

I guess the suggestion of uploading it youtube creates a plot hole, and not sure how to apply the suggestion, if there's a hole in it, without addressing it.


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## Bayview (Mar 31, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks, I know the why is my job, but when someone says that it's more realistic that my character would do something else instead, I feel that maybe that person knows my character better than I do, and has a better 'why', or so it seems from the suggestions.  Like if someone tells me 'what' my character should do instead, but I cannot find a 'why' to that suggested 'what', then how does the author come up with a 'why' to that 'what'?
> 
> But it was also suggested to me that I should change the plot and not the reality.  So it's more realistic that the person would upload it to youtube.  I understand that.  I just don't understand why he would upload it to youtube.  Why is that more realistic?



So stop asking people questions and start writing! This is your story. We know what feels realistic to us, but we don't know your characters or your setting or the demands of your plot. YOU know that stuff, so YOU have to figure out how to write a compelling story using those tools.


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## ironpony (Mar 31, 2018)

Okay thanks.  I have most of it written out, it's just some of the police and court procedures that I have left, such as whether or not the police would give the video to media to air, and things like that.  I feel I have the 'why' for my characters, just not sure how some of the legal stuff works that is fuzzy for me.


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