(Editor’s Note: This story has been revised from an earlier version to reflect Bob Courtney’s role as assistant news director and executive producer of the series. Richard Manship was general manager of the station at the time. Daily Report regrets the error.)
In the wake of the release of American Made, which stars Tom Cruise as the Baton Rouge-based drug runner and CIA undercover operative Barry Seal, WBRZ-TV is airing two one-hour specials on Seal that were done by John Camp, the station’s legendary investigative reporter, in the mid-1980s.
“Barry Seal: Uncle Sam Wants You” and “Barry Seal: Murder of a Witness” aired Sunday on WBRZ and on its low-powered sister station, WBTR. The specials, which the station is branding as being from the “news vault,” will also replay this week on WBRZ’s high def station, WBRZ 2.2.
Though the Baton Rouge market does not get overnight ratings to measure viewership, station management says anecdotal feedback and social media chatter suggests the specials were well received and that there is considerable interest around the infamous Seal, who was gunned down in 1986 by hit men from the Medellin drug cartel outside a local hotel.
“It has gotten a lot of reach,” says Noah Kozinko, marketing director for WBRZ. “People are really interested in this, especially since the movie came out.”
Though Camp’s investigative reports bear about as much resemblance to the plot of the fast-paced action adventure movie as the late Seal does to Tom Cruise, the reports are must-see TV for students of Baton Rouge politics, history and journalism—not in the least because of the vintage clips of well-known defense attorneys like Jim Boren and John DiGiulio as well as former U.S. Attorney Stan Bardwell and former District Attorney Ossie Brown.
The specials also bear watching because they tell a true story about the city’s history, back in an era when investigative reporting was far more in-depth and moved at a slower pace. Anyone who was around Baton Rouge in those years will remember Camp was the king of such reporting and the station—under then news director John Spain and assistant news director Bob Courtney, who produced the specials—dominated in the ratings and won many national awards.
“It’s really interesting how the process worked back then,” Kozinko says. “Camp would work on three or four stories a year and really blow them out and travel around the country to get interviews—like with DEA agents in Miami or with Barry Seal on his airplane. It’s much different than the way things work today.”
Kozinko says WBRZ plans to begin airing more original content on WBRZ 2.2—not only specials from the news vault but recent feature stories and investigative reports, perhaps even from the station’s current investigative reporting star, Chris Nakamoto.
The Barry Seal specials will replay on WBRZ 2.2 at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and at noon on Saturday and Sunday.
—Stephanie Riegel
