Report on an interview with Cynthia Burton by Geofree Capodanno

I had the pleasure of interviewing Cynthia Burton this past weekend for my report. Cynthia is a news reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and has been news reporting for the past 26 years.

When I asked her about some of the challenges she experienced in covering cases, she supplied me with her personal list. First, she told me that in the Philadelphia courts, reporters are not allowed to bring recording devices with them. She also mentioned that this where one has to learn how to take great hand notes for reporting. Another factor that she mentioned was that seating was hard to obtain in high profile cases, so one has to get there very early to guarantee seating. The last challenge that she mentioned was boredom. The monotony of the process dealing with questioning, re-questioning, et cetera is a task in itself. Going throw these motions, time and time again, while trying to illuminate a story with such standard information for each case can be difficult.

The next question I asked Cynthia dealt with any changes that she had seen in the legal system. She told me that judges now work full days and, in turn, trials move more quickly. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the press really put heat on the judges to work full days and how there were too many delays. Cynthia says that now things have gotten better in that aspect.

The final question that I had asked her pertained to any kind of different experiences she had in covering cases. She mentioned a 1985 case in which Mayor W. Wilson Goode had ordered that a C-4 bomb be dropped on a bunker atop the housing of MOVE, an anti-government organization. The bomb had killed several people and only criminal charges were filed against one survivor, Ramona Africa, who fled the chaos with her son. Mysteries were unraveled in the testimonies throughout the entire case pertaining to the motive of the bombing and how Ramona explained that the bombing was unwarranted. At one point, Ramona had Goode take the stand and asked if he was a liar because it seemed that he had trouble telling the truth in this matter.

Another case she mentioned was the Lex Street Massacre from 2000, in which assailants broke into a house, murdering seven and wounded others. The police arrested the suspects and brought them to trial. The problem was that they arrested the wrong people and they were released. She told me that eventually the real criminals were brought to justice.

She also recalled the trial of mass murderer Gary Heidnik and his dirty Hawaiian shirt attire that he wore to the courtroom. It was not the standard attire for a man defending himself from a death sentence.

Cynthia Burton was very insightful and answered all of my questions very thoroughly. She even left me with a very interesting quote. As it pertains to how some media relation and public relation personnel try to hide accurate information to journalists, she said, “Never lie (to reporters). Always tell the truth because it will help things (for them) in the long run.” I guess she means that reporters hold the power of the pen. So, if you are perceived as telling untruths to reporters, you are fair game and they can write a not so nice article about you in the future.