Re-used tornado video from 6/12/04

[Robin Tanamachi]

My initial response to this story was, "How did Mr. Fabel think he would get away with this?" I guess Mr. Fabel mistakenly thought most of us would forget what the Rock tornado looked like after a few years. Not so! The Rock, KS tornado was probably videotaped by a few dozen people (including several on this board), and those images were probably subsequently scrutinized for hours by the videographers and replayed ad infinitum (e.g. at Rocky's parties!) I wonder if such a fraud would have been detected so quickly in other circles where attention to event details is not as critical.

I note one important thing: It seems that there may have been some confusion on the part of AP about the exact nature of the fraud claim. I suspect that the anonymous, whistleblowing tornado chaser provided his/her video as evidence that the tornado in Fabel's video was not the one claimed, but AP took it as a claim that Mr. Fabel's video was in fact his/hers (hence the "added power lines and subtracted trees" remark). At least they came to the correct conclusion (i.e. the video was a fraud), took it offline, and issued the retraction. It is good to see that AP takes such claims seriously.

 

[Jacque Tiegs]

Well, I have a feeling you guys were the reason the guy came clean. And as for freelancers..well your only as good as your last story or photos..so the guy is screwed.
For anyone thinking of posting anything with Ireport and the others, read the fine print. You get nothing and they can sell your footage to anyone they want. I felt bad for the guy who had footage of the VTech shooting, and he got squat. CNN made a boat load of money off of the video.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Someone (on Storm Track) said this "fake" video subject would be a big news story. I had my doubts. AP takes the subject seriously. Never thought it would be front page news though.

Would like to hear the other side of the story. If there is one.

I think we have pretty much heard the other side of the story. That being no response at all. If if was not that person and they were active on the forum everyday and as of this morning, I would think he would be posting real quickly saying no, it is not him or it was real video, or some other explanation.

Somewhat going off subject, but directly related:
This kind of thing was bound to happen and come to light. It is so obvious with the amount of people giving footage away on Youtube and selling out their fellow chasers at a super low price or a freebie for some recognition or quick dollar.
It is the same type thing that happens with stealing photographs and cropping, adding, or deleting information. It is fun and nice to see each other's work here on the forum, but unless you plaster a watermark across the center of it, the thieves are bound to take some of our work. (maybe not mine, but yours)
We are just a small fraction of the total number of people who are out nowadays getting footage of storms. Until the time comes that we "band" together and stop giving away or lowball selling footage, the low prices will continue and we will be partly responsible for this demise. If people want to Youtube footage for attention or to draw people to their sites to possibly sell something, they need to only put teaser footage out there. Put a few seconds of footage leading up to the main point and then maybe add a few seconds of post event if you want. Quit giving your stuff away that you spend big dollars on to get. You are only hurting yourself and everyone else here. We will never return to the days of the big dollars paid like Rich, Jim, and some others got paid in the late 80's and early to mid 90's for hurricane footage, or when we could get the $250 -$500 per minute, with a 4-5 minute mimimum paid for tornado video.
The media is trying to pay us less than it cost us to go out for a day. We all know the numbers. Gas, food, motel, wear and tear on the vehicle, etc, etc. They can not send their own crews out for a day for what they are trying to offer us.
Yet, we can use this whole mess here with the hijacked video to our advantage.
The media will be watching closely for a little while what they get. This has been a costly and reputation blasting event for AP and all of their customers. If we will just stop selling our video for a few dollars or even worse giving it away free as several people here on ST do, we can start demanding a little more money for our real and previously unseen video.
We may not get it right away, but the media outlets will have to decide if they are going to pay us a few dollars more or just go with the possible theives and scammers to save a few dollars.
Personally, I want to see Andy Fabel absolutely burn and pay dearly for this stupid stunt. (if found guilty- must be politically correct)
I want to go back to where I can get "close to" the $1000.oo - $1500.oo days for a good tornado and where when I come up on a major accident, fire, or other incident, I can get the $500 - $750 for a couple good photos.
It is not automatic and will not magically happen, but if we use this whole thing to our advantage, we can help change it for our own good.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Wow - some big developments in this story as of the current Yahoo! post on the subject (still ranked on the front page).

Apparently, Andrew is denying the allegations and citing professional jealousy as the cause. The article now names Dan. They did straighten out the confusion as to who took the video, looks like.

Unbelievable! I think I've just about seen it all at this point - - -

EDIT (for favorite quote):

He said fellow storm chasers are "jealous of you if you got a tornado that they wanted. They'll pack it up and try to crucify you."

I honestly have a hard time seeing Dan as being "professionally jealous" at this point of this joker.

 

[Shane Adams]

I've pretty much kept quiet as far as passing judgement, waiting for Andrew's side of the story. After reading that article, all I can say is....check my blog later tonight

FWIW, the way I understood this latest article, Dan seems to have decided to come forth with his identity. I'd wager he was the unnamed source mentioned in the original article. I could be wrong.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Taken from the article:
Fabel told the AP on Thursday that he legitimately filmed the Nebraska storm. He said fellow storm chasers are "jealous of you if you got a tornado that they wanted. They'll pack it up and try to crucify you."

You would think he would be offering some sort of proof here or to the AP. Gas receipts, motels, someone who saw him there, etc. Strange with so many hundreds of chasers that no one else has it on film from that day and what about the NWS records?

 

[Mike Peregrine]

It might be a good idea for someone to check the date stamp. Most of these vids are striped these days. Of course, it could be claimed that the clock was mis-set ... but if the stripe does have a four year old date, I would think that would tend to add to the suspicion.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I didn't intend to be so involved in this issue, but since I made the original finding, I've unwittingly been the AP's main contact on it. For the record, I'm not very comfortable with my role in this (partially why I requested anonymity originally, the other reason being the possible accusation of this being a publicity stunt).

I have no hard feelings toward Andy, in fact I have never met him or corresponded with him. When I made the original post here, I had no clue as to who fed the video. I assumed at first that someone had their video stolen from the web, altered, then uploaded to something like i-Report and subsequently distributed to the masses. As many times as that's happened before (Okechobee Florida waterspout and Mike H's photos) it seemed like the most plausible explanation.

The original AP article was incorrect in saying the source video was mine. My footage was only used as a comparison to prove the tornado's identity.

I'm working on a version of my own video from Rock, edited in the same way that the AP video was. Hopefully this will remove any doubt as to its identity.

I don't regret being the 'whistleblower' per se, I think as a news photographer that we have the duty to hold each other accountable. But I am definately not taking any pleasure in being a part of this.

 

[scott r currens]

It might be a good idea for someone to check the date stamp. Most of these vids are striped these days. Of course, it could be claimed that the clock was mis-set ... but if the stripe does have a four year old date, I would think that would tend to add to the suspicion.

That is undeniably the Rock, KS tornado from June 12, 2004. If the AP wants to pay more than $300 they could use my clip of the that tornado to prove that it is the same one.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

If the AP wants to pay more than $300 they could use my clip of the that tornado to prove that it is the same one.

LOL ... I would think that Dan, Shane, Justin and Scott's video value is escalating quickly as the afternoon goes on.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

I didn't intend to be so involved in this issue, but since I made the original finding, I've unwittingly been the AP's main contact on it. For the record, I'm not very comfortable with my role in this (partially why I requested anonymity originally, the other reason being the possible accusation of this being a publicity stunt).

I have no hard feelings toward Andy, in fact I have never met him or corresponded with him. The original AP article was incorrect in saying the source video was mine. My footage was only used as a comparison to prove the tornado's identity.

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Storm Guy Chase Log June 12 2004

Quote:
Myself, Kristal Kissinger, Al Williams (from the UK), and Grant Johnson met up with Steve Miller and Steve Bluford on hwy 412 at hwy 18 in Oklahoma, then caravanned to Wichita. Followed shortly by Dan Robinson, Pete and Tammy McConnell, and Andy Fabel. Two of Steve M's friends showed up, Mike Lewis and Sean O'Connor. We sat W of Wichita briefly eyeing the storm to our N near Hutchinson.

 

[Shane Adams]

LOL ... I would think that Dan, Shane, Justin and Scott's video value is escalating quickly as the afternoon goes on.

You can ad Graham Butler & David Drummond to this list as well, as I was right between them LOL.

 

[Dick McGowan]

You'd better have an alibi and multiple sources to verify it if you have the balls to say it's a BS accusation. There's forensics for more than just murder scenes now...that field is so advanced now, they might be able to prove in a court of law what you ate for breakfast that day.

Is it that hard to make up a lie or shut your phone off and lay low for awhile? lol. Explain to them you somehow got the tapes switched or something, don't deny the accusations of murder against you with a smoking gun in your hand and the body slung over your shoulder! Now the story could possibly blow up even more and gain more unwanted attention for him and he might become another victim of the media and hung out to dry.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

You can ad Graham Butler & David Drummond to this list as well, as I was right between them LOL.

Oh yeah, and Sam Barricklow.

This one is going to be too easy.

This is just such a typical response. Can't take responsibility, and so everyone else should be publically blamed for this predicament. Whatever.

 

[mikedeason]

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Storm Guy Chase Log June 12 2004

Quote:
Myself, Kristal Kissinger, Al Williams (from the UK), and Grant Johnson met up with Steve Miller and Steve Bluford on hwy 412 at hwy 18 in Oklahoma, then caravanned to Wichita. Followed shortly by Dan Robinson, Pete and Tammy McConnell, and Andy Fabel. Two of Steve M's friends showed up, Mike Lewis and Sean O'Connor. We sat W of Wichita briefly eyeing the storm to our N near Hutchinson.

If Dan says he never met Andy, I personally would tend to believe him. The post you quote never says they actually got out, walked over to one another and shook hands. I've encountered a lot of people during chaser convergences that I never had the pleasure of meeting just because of the circumstances at hand.

Please elaborate as to whether or not your intention is to smear Dan or call into question his integrity. I may be taking your post the wrong way, but this is the impression I seem to be getting here.