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How Not to Make a Difference
We get a lesson in how reporters who only want to make a difference can be more menace than moral via Fark.
A Kansas City, Kansas, television station has broadcast an “investigative” story which accuses a Tonganoxie, Kansas, fertilizer business of ….
wait for it…
selling fertilizer!
That’s right. Their hardworking, hard-hitting investigative reporter cum anchor Dave Helling broke a story that should get him absolutely no awards. In a follow-up article in the newspaper there we get this cut:
“Ammonium nitrate,” said KCTV 5 reporter Dave Helling. “It’s a cheap and common fertilizer and when mixed with diesel fuel in the right proportions … it could cause an explosion.”
Helling claimed his crew found it fairly easy to obtain ammonium nitrate.
“Six stores actually told us no, but it only takes one,” he said. “McGraw Fertilizer … sold us all we wanted.”
That’s when the camera zeroed in on the rural Tonganoxie business. The only time McGraw is shown on camera is when he says the 20-10-10 fertilizer blend will burn, but will not explode. That’s followed by Helling saying, “But he’s wrong. Experts told TV 5 that the ammonium nitrate bought from McGraw can be made into a bomb. Remember, we bought 500 pounds.”
That’s right. The lawns at KCTV should be really really green, either from the quarter ton of fertilizer they bought or the fertilizer produced by Dave Helling’s reporting.
Think I’m being too harsh? Let’s look at responses to the segment:
Because of the Oklahoma bombing, and threats by terrorists, it is difficult to find experts willing to say — on the record — what will and will not explode. But on Friday, a federal official who had seen the broadcast, agreed to comment anonymously.
“It was a cheap shot,” he said of the broadcast. “If a terrorist was going out to buy some stuff to make a bomb, he would not be buying 20-10-10. … It was a total cheap shot on the guy they bought it from.”
Kent Harris, assistant Olathe fire chief, agreed, saying the 20-10-10 fertilizer bought by a Channel 5 reporter would not be efficient to use in making explosives.
And Leavenworth resident Leroy Seifert, who owns a lawn business, was irate.
When the broadcast aired a close-up view of the fertilizer, Seifert noticed the grains were three colors. That told him he was seeing was a blend used for fertilizing lawns — not straight ammonium nitrate.
“I told my wife there ain’t no way in hell that would build a bomb,” Seifert said.
He e-mailed KCTV 5 news anchor Dave Helling.
“I told him I don’t know where they got the information but there was no way that would make a bomb,” Seifert said.
And, he added, Helling replied.
“He said experts said that it would make a bomb,” he said. “I’m here to tell you there ain’t no way — there’s too much phosphate and potash in it.”
I’d like a list of those experts. One reason is that they’re apparently better experts than the government has since the FBI doesn’t think that 20-10-10 fertilizer is what UBL is looking for to use in his next attack. And while government experts are not the end-all-be-all, I would expect them to have some form of idea of what forms of ammonium nitrate would be best used in an explosive device.
This is a quick and dirty lesson in the best and worst of journalism. The best we find in the newspaper reporter who is trying to make things right. The worst we find in Dave Helling who just makes things up. Probably because he just wanted to make a difference. Or, maybe he was just hoping to get picked up by CBS to replace Dan Rather.
MickC @ December 9, 2004
Thanks for your comments on this story. KCTV has removed the story from their webpage, but they will not retract or correct the story on air. Apparently, a bomb can be made from 20-10-10 fertilizer … if you have a pair of tweezers and a whole lot of time. Of course, a bomb can be made of virtually anything if you’re willing to spend that much time and effort. The whole point of the story is the ease with which a bomb can be made from readily available materials. In the story (sorry, transcript no longer available), the reporter claims that he bought all of the ammonium nitrate he wanted, and he claims that the product he bought when mixed with diesel fuel in the right proportions would make a bomb. Both of those statements are patently false.
Here is the press release from the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association on the KCTV story:
TV Station’s Ammonium Nitrate Report Misleads
On Wednesday evening, December 1, 2004, KCTV Channel 5 in Kansas City aired an investigative report detailing the purchase of what was allegedly a large quantity of ammonium nitrate from a Northeast Kansas fertilizer retailer. Ammonium nitrate gained notoriety when it was mixed with fuel to make the bomb that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
The goal of KCTV’s investigative report by Dave Helling was to demonstrate how easy it is to buy ammonium nitrate from Kansas fertilizer retailers. They failed to meet their goal, but reported otherwise. Six northeast Kansas retailers turned down a request by their undercover reporters to purchase ammonium nitrate.
However, the report indicates that they were able to buy a large quantity of the product from McGraw Fertilizer in Tonganoxie. That is false.
McGraw Fertilizer sold KCTV 500lbs of 20-10-10 lawn fertilizer – not ammonium nitrate. The 20-10-10 fertilizer is a common blend, containing 20% ammonium nitrogen, 10% phosphorous and 10% potash that can be purchased at most lawn and garden centers and department stores in Kansas. Ammonium nitrate is 34-0-0. Fertilizer experts who have seen video footage of the fertilizer purchased in the report can clearly see that the product is not ammonium nitrate because of the different colors of material in the blend.
The fertilizer blend sold to KCTV did include some ammonium nitrate, but only roughly 17%. Experts agree that anything less than a 70% blend of ammonium nitrate is not explosive. In fact, the fertilizer blend sold to KCTV is not even classified as a hazardous material by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The KCTV report also claims that they were never asked for identification. While McGraw Fertilizer did not ask to see a driver’s license, they did ask for and received the name and address of the truck driver. In addition, they recorded the license plate of the vehicle to match it with the address that was given.
The KCTV report also misleadingly claims that the fertilizer industry is resistant to restricting the use of ammonium nitrate. Again – not true. Since the Oklahoma City bombing, the fertilizer industry has taken dramatic steps to secure the product and educate retailers about the dangers associated.
The Topeka-based Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and The Fertilizer Institute based in D.C. have cooperated on awareness efforts for Kansas fertilizer retailers.
Recently, the Department of Homeland Security has indicated its plans to endorse The Fertilizer Institute’s “America’s Security Begins with You,” ammonium nitrate awareness campaign.
“America’s Security Begins with You” urges everyone who handles ammonium nitrate to implement security plans, maintain records of all sales of ammonium nitrate and alert law enforcement officials of suspicious activity by utilizing ATF’s toll-free hotline 800-800-3855. The campaign posters and window stickers place those with illicit intent on notice that U.S. agribusinesses are on high alert and stand ready to contact federal law enforcement officials.
“America’s Security Begins with You” materials have been distributed to all KARA members in Kansas.
The Fertilizer Institute recently issued the following statement regarding the introduction of H.R. 5140 by U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D – N.Y.)
“The fertilizer industry is keenly interested in Congressional efforts to establish a uniform federal system for securing ammonium nitrate from those with criminal intent, and the introduction of this legislation is a first step in a welcome dialogue on this issue.
TFI has met with Rep. Hinchey’s staff and is working closely with agricultural and security leaders in Congress to investigate options for keeping ammonium nitrate safe and available for use in American agriculture.”
The Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and the Kansas Department of Agriculture have been working to educate fertilizer retailers and farmers about the danger of letting ammonium nitrate fall into the wrong hands. The success of their efforts was demonstrated by the KCTV report which shows that the undercover reporters were unsuccessful in purchasing ammonium nitrate in all seven cases.
“Our Association is pleased by the voluntary efforts of our members to control the sales of ammonium nitrate as demonstrated by the KCTV report. Unfortunately, KCTV chose not to emphasize that positive aspect of their report, instead, choosing to focus on negative aspects based on incorrect information,” Tom R. Tunnell, KARA President said.
The Kansas Agribusiness Retailer’s Association represents over 750 businesses that are primarily retail agribusiness operations that provide fertilizer, crop protection chemicals, seed, fuel and propane products and services to Kansas producers. In addition to serving the interests of retail agribusiness, KARA also represents crop input distribution firms, ag chemical manufacturing firms, application equipment manufacturers and other businesses related to the crop production industry.
KARA, 816 SW Tyler, Topeka, Kansas, 66612, 785-234-0463, Fax 785-234-2930, http://www.kansasag.org
Thanks. I’ve been following this story as best I can, and will continue to do so as best I can.
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fark is wonderful.