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| Elaine Green |
My
former employer Elaine Green passed away last week. Elaine was a fascinating
person. A pioneer female television reporter and broadcaster, Elaine had a rich
and varied career. I worked for her as a writer, producer and sales rep at her
company Video Features for several years. Here is a story of what happened to
her early in her career, many years before I knew her.
On
October 15, 1980, psycho James Hoskins took a reporter and news team hostage at
WCPO, Channel 9, in Cincinnati. Elaine was that reporter. Once on a long drive
to a sales meeting, Elaine opened up and told me about that incident.
Around
2:00am, Elaine and her news crew returned to Channel 9 after shooting a report
about cornea replacement surgery. They had to film at night because that is the
only time the doctor they wanted to interview was available. Tired and wanting
to go home, they didn’t notice the tall man in the hat who slipped into the
building behind them before the front door closed and locked. James Hoskins
pointed a rifle at them and said he wanted to “go on the air.” Elaine remained
calm and took the man to one of their studios. They turned on a camera. When
the red light came on the camera, they did record what happened next. It was
not put on the air live, even though Elaine told Hoskins it was. She actually
interviewed him for about 45 minutes. They not only taped it, but also showed
it in its entirety in a special report later that day. I watched that report at
my grandmother’s house (I was 16), never dreaming I would know and work
with that reporter one day.
I
don’t remember much about the interview, just that the guy had it out for the
government and thought “they” were trying to get him. He thought the media was
in on it, which is why he kidnapped the news crew and wanted to go on the air
to expose whatever conspiracy he thought was against him. I’ll never forget one
chilling moment. Hoskins looked at a man off camera that walked by the studio
door. Hoskins said something like, “Hey, pal, come on in here,” in a friendly
voice. The man must have declined, because the most cold, lifeless look came
into the psycho’s dead eyes. All pretense of friendliness was gone. He shifted
his rifle and said, “No. Come in here now.”
The guy must have obeyed, because the dead fish look faded instantly and he went
back to talking to Elaine as if they were discussing possible tee times.
Through
all this, Elaine maintained a heroic calm. She asked intelligent questions and
treated Hoskins like any other interview subject. When he railed against the
media, she told him about the cornea replacement story they did that night and
how the media can be a force for good. She really seemed to calm him and make
him see reason, at least for a few minutes.
Later,
cops surrounded the building. Hoskins let everyone go, barricaded himself in the
newsroom, then blew his brains out as the police burst through the doors. Soon
after, it was revealed that he had murdered his girlfriend earlier in the day.
Elaine
won a Peabody Award, one of the highest in broadcasting, for her work that day.
She told me she didn’t like the kudos and notoriety she received for those
events and her coolness under fire. She didn’t like being known as the “hostage
girl” and nothing else, despite her numerous accomplishments. She had a tape of
that interview around the office and I watched it one day. Generally, Elaine
wasn’t perfect—she could be manipulative, self-absorbed and took things much
too personally. But she was also smart, engaging and a total professional.
Watching that tape, I couldn’t help but think that she possibly saved the lives
of her crew, herself, and many Channel 9 employees that day. I don’t know that
anyone could have handled that psycho any better.
Rest
in Peace, Elaine. I’ll always appreciate—and use—the things you taught me.
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