Reexamining Kurt Cobain

This week I was interested in the news coverage regarding Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Kurt Cobain died from a fatal heroin overdose and self-inflicted gunshot wound in April of 1994. This year, being the 20th anniversary of his death, Seattle police department anticipated an intense public curiosity. The high profile case was reexamined by Detective Mike Ciesynski, who reinterviewed family and friends as well as reviewed evidence from the crime scene. Among the evidence he found four undeveloped rolls of film from the original investigation. Ciesynski and the Seattle police department said that the photos, two of which were made public, ultimately confirmed Kurt Cobain’s death was a suicide. 

(March 21, 9:41am)

One of the broadcasts I chose to watch about this story was on CBS New. This report was a very short and general coverage of the story. Marlie Hall reported the narration for the news package, which featured mostly archival footage and photos. A very brief clip of Detective Mike Ciesynski discussing the investigation was shown, though the segment chosen actually didn’t really seem to fit in with the rest of the report. I think incorporating this was more about making the report seem more credible and reputable. The actual content was not as important as the person presenting it. The use of b-roll, archival footage and photographs made the story interesting because they connected the current story to the original investigation. 

(March 21, 12:30pm)

HLN News “Now: On the Case” was another program that reported on the new developments in the investigation of Kurt Cobain’s death. I found this program to be annoying in many ways. The anchors sound like they should be reporting sports and only sports. Essentially screaming the entire story, Mike Galanos draws on the photos as if giving a football play by play. Though they did report the story efficiently, they way they did it did not seem appropriate. 

(March 20, 6:45pm)

KIRO7 is a Seattle based station which originally aired the story. They included archival footage as well as more in depth clips of the interview with Detective Mike Ciesynski. I think there was a sense of community in a way, since this happened in the city it is being reported in.