PRE-TRIAL/MPB, local cable channel
will telecast Killen trial
Posted
County residents wishing to watch the trial of accused triple murderer Edgar Ray Killen will have several options available to them to do so from the comforts of their own homes, officials said.
Mississippi Public Broadcasting will have two cameras in the courtroom and will provide video feeds to Court TV and Northland Cable for the purpose of broadcasting the trial live while MPB plans to replay trial footage on public broadcast channels.
Killen is accused of masterminding the brutal murders of three civil rights workers here in 1964.
MPB officials are working with officials at Northland Cable to broadcast the trial live on local access Channel7 without commercial interruption to cable subscribers in the Philadelphia and Neshoba County areas.
“We are currently working out the technical aspects of sending a signal to the cable company,” said MPB spokesman Paul Miller. “We want to allow locals who want to, the opportunity to stay at home and watch the trial.”
Northland Cable Regional Manager Rickey Mooneyham said his company is still exploring the feasibility of broadcasting the signal and tests will be conducted next week to see if a microwave signal can be received and broadcast.
MPB will have the only two video cameras allowed in the courtroom and will provide access of coverage to other news organizations via a satellite uplink or through a distribution terminal at the media center to be set up in a facility formerly occupied by the Magnolia Cafe at 103 Walnut St.
Miller said MPB plans to replay daily trial coverage nightly on state public broadcast channels though times for the broadcasts have not been established.
Court TV also plans to provide nationwide access from the feed provided by MPB with complete trial coverage from start to finish daily.
