Casey Anthony: How did reporter get bankruptcy story? - Hal

Casey Anthony: How did reporter get bankruptcy story?
posted by halboedeker on January, 26 2013 10:31 PM

In breaking the news that Casey Anthony had filed for bankruptcy, Adam Longo highlighted that it was “the first time Anthony has spoken with a news reporter on the record since her daughter’s death in 2008.”
Longo also broke the news in September that Anthony had left Florida, although her time out of state was brief.

The Anthony camp obviously feels comfortable with Longo, who reported for WKMG-Channel 6 and later Central Florida News 13. He now works at KPHO, the CBS station in Phoenix. The Anthony team continues to reach out to him on the national story. (He will be featured on WKMG at 11 p.m. Saturday.)

“I have had multiple ‘off the record’ conversations with Casey, dating back to 2008 when I worked for Local 6,” Longo said in an email Saturday. “More on that will unfold as the week goes on,” he teased.

CNN’s Piers Morgan in June relayed comments from a phone conversation he had with Anthony.

“It’s my understanding from both Cheney Mason and Casey Anthony personally that the conversation with Piers Morgan was off the record, and she told me she was upset when she saw the program air where everything she said to him was paraphrased,” Longo said. “Based upon that, I felt comfortable saying this was the first time she authorized herself to be quoted for a news story.”

I asked Longo about getting the latest Anthony story.

Q. How long did you have with Anthony on the phone?

A. “I spoke to Anthony for less than five minutes. The majority of the conversation was off the record.”

Q. How many questions were you able to ask?

A. “It wasn’t an interrogation. I asked her a couple things about the bankruptcy and then made small talk. It had been made clear by her attorney she would not discuss anything to do with her active cases (including the criminal appeal). He, Chuck Greene, was adamant about that, and I respected that boundary.”

Q. How did she sound?

A. “She sounded eager to move on with her life. It’s clear that she has a fondness for her legal team, but at the same time she doesn’t want to be joined at the hip to them. She needs to be accessible to them constantly because of the multi-faceted legal problems she faces.”

Q. How quickly did this story come together?

A. “Attorney Charles Greene told me the process of getting this bankruptcy filing together took weeks. I wasn’t told about it until late Friday night.”

Q. Why do you think you were able to break the story?

A. “I think I’ve established a good rapport with all of the people involved in this story in some form or fashion, including with Casey Anthony herself. She and I have had multiple conversations over the years that helped to establish a trust and a mutual respect. I have been able to break multiple exclusive stories over the years because I stick to my word, and other sources trust me to quote them accurately and not break their confidentiality. There’s a lot of negativity directed toward the media in regards to this case, and that’s because certain ‘journalists’ have decided to make themselves the centerpiece of the story. Or they misrepresent someone’s intentions and actions. Or they break their word to sources who have trusted them. Attorneys and others, including Casey Anthony, know that I am completely objective, and I have no agenda other than presenting the facts in the most fair and straightforward manner.”

Q. Could you get the first televised interview with her?

A. “Who knows?”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2013/01/casey-anthony-how-did-reporter-get-bankruptcy-story.html