The news of Rev. Bernard Knoth’s resignation spread quickly across campus and New Orleans on Tuesday.
With that announcement came an onslaught of media attention. By 1:30 p.m., the horseshoe parking lot in front of Marquette Hall was lined with news vans from four area television stations.
By 2 p.m. the lobby inside Marquette had been cordoned off and closed to the public, allowing only reporters, cameramen, and a maze of tripods and lighting.
Along with the television reporters and camermen cramming the small lobby, there were also reporters and photographers from The Times-Picayune, the Associated Press, Biz New Orleans, the Clarion-Herald, and The Maroon.
Two news stations broadcast live from the news conference, but the news story of Knoth’s resignation came first from The Maroon’s Web site at about 1 p.m.
Within two hours of being posted, the Web site had received 800 hits, said Christina Chvala, The Maroon’s online editor. The site normally receives an average of 400 hits in an entire day, she said.
The Web sites of FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC New Orleans affiliates were quick to follow with their own updates.
On Wednesday morning, The Times-Picayune ran the Knoth story on its front page, prompting the newspaper to send a reporter to Indianapolis, where the sexual misconduct charges against Knoth allegedly originated.
Other newspapers such The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and The Indianapolis Star also ran stories Wednesday morning on Knoth’s resignation.
Meanwhile at Loyola, ABC 26 and FOX 8 were on campus Wednesday reporting from The Maroon’s newsroom as the student newspaper staff organized its reporters and editors to begin putting together the Friday paper.
What was clear to staffers at The Maroon is that they were handling a story of national proportions, and the area news stations wanted to see how the student staff at The Maroon would cover not only Knoth’s resignation, but also the allegations of sexual misconduct surrounding his stepping down.
Rob Lowe, a reporter for ABC 26, interviewed the student journalists and asked them how they planned to cover the Knoth story.
Chvala stressed that The Maroon would strive for insightful coverage that would remain, “fair, balanced and accurate.”
FOX 8 reporter Laura Shelton asked news editor Joe Rosemeyer how qualified he felt The Maroon is to cover the story. He conceded that, “This will probably be one of the biggest stories that we will ever cover, but I feel confident that we [The Maroon] are capable of covering even a story this big.”
Liz Scott, the paper’s adviser, was also interviewed by ABC.
“I only work in an advisory position,” said Scott. “The students are responsible for deciding how to cover, report, write and edit the paper.”
