Authors: Arthur Hailey
The director turned in her chair to speak to Insen
.”
Chuck, we're ready as we'll ever be. Do we go or not
?
”
The executive producer, a telephone cradled in his shoulder, told her
,
"I'm finding out now
.”
He was talking to the News Division president who was in the main
newsroom where Crawford Sloane was pleading for delay
.
The time was 11:52 A.M.
When the shattering national desk announcement began, Crawford Sloane was
at the head of a stairway on the fourth floor, about to descend to the
newsroom. His intention had been to find out more, if he could, about the
earlier report from Larchmont
.
As the speakerphones went live, he stopped to listen, then, scarcely
believing what he had heard, stood briefly, dazed and in a state of
shock. His momentary trance was interrupted by one of the Horseshoe
secretaries who had seen him leave and now came running after him
,
calling out breathlessly, "Oh, Mr. Sloane! The Larchmont police are on
your line. They want to talk to you urgently
.”
He followed the girl back and took the call in his office
.”
Mr. Sloane, this is Detective York. I'm at your home and have some
unfortunate-2'
"I just heard. Tell me what you know
.”
"Actually, sir, it's very little. We know that your wife, son and father
left for the Grand Union supermarket about fifty minutes ago. Inside the
store, according to witnesses, they were approached . .
.”
The detective continued his
recital of known facts, includ
ing the trio's apparently forced departure in a Nissan van. He added, "We've just heard that FBI special agents are on the way here, and someone from FBI is coming over to you. I've been asked to tell you there's concern about your own safety. You'll receive protection, but for the time being you should not leave the building you are in
.”
Sloane's mind was whirling. Consumed with anxiety, he asked, "Is there
any idea who might have done this
?
”
"No, sir. It all happened suddenly. We're absolutely in the dark
.”
"Do many people know about this-what's happened
?
”
"As far as I know, not many
.”
The detective added, "The longer we can
keep it that way, the better
.”
"Why
?
”
"With a kidnapping, Mr. Sloane, publicity can be harmful. We may be
hearing from the kidnappers-they'll probably try to contact you first
.
Then we, or more likely the FBI, will want a dialog with them, a start
to negotiating. We won't want the whole world in on that. Nor will they
because . . “
Sloane interrupted
.”
Detective, I'll talk to you later. Right now there
are things I have to do
.”
Aware of activity around the Horseshoe and knowing what it meant, Sloane
wanted to curb precipitate action. Hurrying from his office he called
out, "Where's Les Chippingham
?
”
"In the newsroom
,”
a senior producer said. Then, more gently, "Crawf
,
we're all damn sorry, but it looks as if we're going on the air
.”
Sloane scarcely heard. He raced for the stairs and descended them
swiftly. Ahead he could see the news president in hasty conference with
several others around the national desk. Chippingham was asking, "How
sure are we of that Larchmont stringer
?
”
Ernie LaSalle answered, "WCBA say he's a little old guy they've had for
years-foursquare, reliable
.”
"Then I guess we should go with what we have
.”
Sloane broke into the circle
.”
No, no, no,
Les, don't go with it. We need
more time. The police just told me they may hear from the kidnappers
.
Publicity could harm my family
.”
LaSalle said, "Crawf, we know what you're going through. But this is a
big story and others have it. They won't hold off. WNBC-
”
Sloane shook his head
.”
I still say no
!”
He faced the news president
directly
.”
Les, I beg of you-delay
!”
There was an embarrassed silence. Everyone knew that in other
circumstances, Sloane would be the first to urge going ahead. But no one
had the heart to say, Crawf you're not thinking coherently
.
Chippingham glanced at the newsroom clock: 11:54
.
LaSalle had taken over the phone call from Insen. Now he reported, "Chuck
says everyone's set to go. He wants to know: Are we breaking into the
network or not
?
”
Chippingham said, "Tell him I'm still deciding
.”
He was debating: Should
they wait until noon? On monitors overhead he could see the national
feeds of all networks. On CBA a popular soap opera was still in progress;
when it concluded, commercials would follow. Cutting in now would be a
costly disruption. Would less than another six minutes make much
difference?
At that moment, simultaneously, several newsroom computers emitted a
"beep
.”
On screens a bright "B
”
appearedthe signal for an urgent press
wire bulletin. Someone reading a screen called out, "AP has the Sloane
kidnap story
.”
On the national desk another phone rang. LaSalle answered, listened, then
said quietly, "Thank you for telling us
.”
Hanging up, he informed the
news president, "That was NBC. They called us as a courtesy to say they
have the story. They're going with it on the hour
.”
The time was fifteen seconds short of 11:55
.
Making a decision, Chippingham said, "We go now
!”
Then to LaSalle, "Tell
Chuck to break the network
.”
In the CBA News headquarters building, two floors below street level in a small, plain room, two male operators sat facing complex switching systems with a galaxy of colored lights and dials, computer terminals and television monitors. Two sides of the room had glass surrounds looking out onto drab corridors. Passersby, if so inclined, could look in. This was network master control, technical command post for the entire CBA national network
.
Through here all network programming flowed---entertainment, news
,
sports, documentaries, presidents' addresses, Capitol Hill follies
,
assorted live coverage and pre
-
recordings, and national commercials
.
Surprisingly, for all its importance as an electronic pulse center
,
master control's location and appearance were uninspiring
.
At master control, each day usually advanced routinely according to a
meticulous plan which codified each twenty-four hours of broadcasting in
terms of minutes, sometimes seconds. Principally, execution of the plan
was by computer, with the two operators overseeing-and occasionally
interceding when unexpected events required regular programming to be
interrupted
.
An interruption was occurring now
.
Moments earlier on a direct line from the News Division control room
,
Chuck Insen had instructed, "We have a news special. It's for the full
network. Were taking air-now
!
”
As Insen spoke, the slide "CBA News Special Bulletin
,”
fed from the news
control room, came up on a master control monitor
.
The experienced master control operator who received the call knew the
command "now
”
meant exactly that. In the absence of that word, if a
p
rogram in progress were within a
minute and a half of finishing, he would wait until its conclusion before breaking into the network feed. Similarly, if a commercial were airing, he would allow it to finish
.
But "now
”
meant no delay, no holding. A one-minute commercial was being
broadcast and had thirty seconds to go. But moving a switch, the operator
cut it, thereby costing CBA in lost revenue some $25,000. With another
switch he put the "Special Bulletin
”
slide on the network video feed
.
Instantly the bright red words appeared on the screens of more than
twelve million television sets
.
For five seconds, as he watched a digital clock in front of him, the
master control operator kept the audio feed silent. This was to allow
control rooms of affiliate stations which had not been broadcasting the
network program to interrupt their local programming and take the special
bulletin. Most did
.
At the end of five seconds the audio feed was opened and an announcer's
voice heard
.”
We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special report from
CBA News. Now, from New York, here is correspondent Don Kettering
.”
In the news control room, the director ordered, "Cue Don
!”
Across the nation, the face of CBA's business correspondent filled
television screens
.
His voice and expression serious, Kettering began, "Police in Larchmont
,
New York, have reported the apparent kidnapping of the wife, young son
and father of CBA News anchorman Crawford Sloane
.”
A slide of Sloane's familiar face appeared as Kettering continued, "The
kidnapping, by unidentified persons, occurred about forty minutes ago
.
According to police and a witness at the scene, it was preceded by a
violent assault
The time was 11:56 A.M
.
Beating out its competitors, CBA News had broken the story first.
PART TWO
The after
effects of CDA's special bulletin announcing the Sloane family kidnap were instantaneous and widespread
.
NBC News, whose decent, courteous gesture of informing CBA had robbed it
of a possible lead, followed with its own bulletin barely a minute
later-ahead of its original plan to break the story at noon
.
CBS, ABC and CNN, alerted by wire reports from AP and Reuters, were all
on the air with the news within minutes. So were TV stations across the
country not connected to a network, but with their own news services
.
Canadian television also made the Sloane kidnapping the lead item on noon
news broadcasts
.
Radio stations, with their lightning immediacy, were even faster than
television in spreading the story
.
From coast to coast, afternoon newspapers at once began replating front
pages with banner headlines. Major out-of-state papers instructed their
New York correspondents to work on individual by-line stories
.
News photo agencies began a frantic search for pictures of Jessica
,
Nicholas and Angus Sloane. There was no shortage of Crawford Sloane
photos
.
The main switchboard of CBA was flooded with calls for Crawford Sloane
.
When the callers were told politely that Mr. Sloane was not available
,
most left sympathetic messages
.
The press and other media reporters, knowing better than to call a
switchboard, used direct lines into CBA News. As a
result, some telephones were constantly blocked, making outside communication difficult. Journalists who got through, wanting to interview Sloane, were advised that he was too distressed to talk with anyone and that, in any case, there was no more information than had already been broadcast
.
One caller who did reach Sloane was the President of the United States
.”
Crawf, I've just been told this awful news
,”
the President said
.”
I know
you have too much on your mind to talk right now, but I wanted you to
know that Barbara and I are thinking about you and your family, and
hoping for good news very soon. Like you, we want this ordeal to be
over
.”