why so rare? - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya. On Sunday night a man drove his minivan into the street side studios of WLS-TV during the 10 pm broadcast. No one was hurt but the anchor practically wet his pants when the minivan crashed his show. Police suspect the driver did it intentionally. My surprise isn't that the incident occurred, it's that it hasn't occurred more often. Since the Today show pioneered street side studios decades ago, stations all over the country have tried them. They're fun and allow fans a peak at how the news is put together. However, there are a lot of crazies out there and most of them have access to guns and cars. Considering how close they can get to live television broadcasts and the fame associated with disrupting them, why don't more disturbed people try? I worked for WLS for five years at a time before they installed the ground level studio. Even then we were all very concerned about security. Working the streets of Chicago is a dangerous thing. You drive around in giant vehicles with circle 7's painted on the side. Everyone knows who you are but you don't know who the psychos are. You learn quickly to keep your eyes open for trouble. Security guards at WLS take their jobs seriously and are always ready to deal with troublemakers. As a result incidents are rare, but they can't do much about a car hurling toward the building without warning. So again, I am surprised things like this don't happen more often. Maybe it's time to add cement barriers outside studios similar to the ones around government buildings. Just a suggestion. Kent Ninomiya