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1993-03-05
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03/03/1993 By JAY JORDEN Associated Press Writer DALLAS (AP) -- Airing
a religious cult leader's radio sermon during a standoff was a necessary
part of negotiations, but opened the door to madmen monopolizing the
media, experts said Wednesday.
David Koresh, leader of the heavily armed Branch Davidian religious
sect, had promised an immediate, peaceful surrender Tuesday if radio
stations played his taped 58-minute monologue.
Dallas radio station KRLD and the Christian Broadcasting Network
agreed to the FBI's request to play the tape, but there was no surrender
and the stalemate continued into its fourth day Wednesday.
"In this case, I would certainly have agreed with KRLD. Koresh had
promised that it (the surrender) will happen if you will air this tape,"
said Darwin Payne, head of the journalism program at Southern Methodist
University. "Then, on the other hand ... it would tend to promote other
people to want to demand air time -- unless we don't do that. But the
media has to play into that," Payne said.
Tony Cooper, an expert on terrorism, agreed that playing the tape may
set a dangerous precedent. "Events of a violent nature like this tend to
be contagious," said Cooper, who teaches at the University of Texas at
Dallas. Nevertheless, Cooper said, the media and authorities had little
choice.
"If we had denied him this possibility, would he kill a hostage?" he
said. "The decision was eventually made by the government, which sought
out the media."
The playing of the tape was the latest example of the media's
prominent role in the stalemate that began Sunday in a gunfight that
killed four federal agents and possibly 10 or more cult members.
During the first hours, Koresh telephoned CNN and KRLD to talk about
his position. Other newspaper reporters were able to talk with Koresh
and some cult members inside the compound. Those lines of communication
later were cut.
Hundreds of reporters also crowded close to the compound, but were
moved back Monday evening by the FBI. Some reports have said the cult
has weapons that can reach more than a mile away.
"We went down the road and tried to get you out of harm's way," said
Jeffrey Jamar, the FBI's special agent in charge of the San Antonio
office.
Jamar said officials also sought to limit camera shots of the
compound because "they watch television." The cult is interested in
"anything we do around there (the compound) to get control. That's
precisely why we can't have a camera" nearby, he said.
He also urged media representatives to obey a Federal Aviation
Administration 5-mile ban on flights around the compound. Jamar said the
media had been cooperative, and Cooper also was complimentary.
"You could argue that by extending these facilities to (Koresh), they
exacerbated an already difficult situation," Cooper said. "But you could
also argue that by denying the ability to provide a forum, it could have
created more problems."