Arthur Tesler with Mark Winne, 2.26.09
This one was the real deal, a “get” that probably drove reporters and managers in competing newsrooms a little nuts. Since the day after 92-year old Kathryn Johnston was shot to death during a botched drug raid in her Neal Street home, every reporter in town wanted to talk with the cops who were behind the raid. WSB’s Mark Winne actually did it.
And he actually got a decent story from it. If Arthur Tesler had said anything, it would have been a “talks exclusively with channel two” scoop. But the interview was compelling, fulfilling WSB’s promotion that promised he’d spill the reasoning behind his guilty plea.
Sure, Tesler’s story was self-serving. Why else would a guy headed to federal prison stop to do a TV interview? Doesn’t matter. Winne asked the unanswered questions: Acquitted on state charges, why did you plead guilty to federal charges? Tesler’s answer sounded sincere: He didn’t want to see his wife in the audience at another jury trial. The other answer was less interesting: What was the raid like? “Surreal” came the lame reply. That’s not Winne’s fault.
Yeah, we busted Winne’s chops on the Terrell Bolton story. But nobody touched Winne on this one. By rights, this scoop should give Winne some breathing room, a week or three to rest on his laurels. Sadly for his competitors, he’s doubtless plotting his next ass-kicking. Grade: A
Posted by harry on March 4, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Great job Mark Winne!
Posted by josephine on March 5, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Nice story…but does anyone really care?
Posted by Jay on March 11, 2009 at 2:56 am
Is anyone really surprised that an APD officer would give an exclusive interview to Mark Winne? I’m sure Mark fancies himself as an unofficial cop, so Tessler knew how the interview would go. From what I saw of the interview it was nothing special. Just another example of the media always doing their best to round up sympathy for the violent criminal. What I’m surprised about is that Tessler didn’t recount tales of child abuse or his own struggles with drugs or some such baloney.
Posted by Winne Watch 1.23.12 « live apartment fire on January 23, 2012 at 8:30 am
[...] agree to talk solely to the WSB reporter was beyond my understanding. Sure, Winne’s a fine reporter for whom I have much love and mad respect. And sure, Atlanta’s TV viewership misguidedly [...]