Roone arledge biography of christopher

Instead, a tragedy unfolded that would shape his own career and mark a momentous day in live television. Confronted by the shocking events unfolding, Mason made the crucial decision to show them in full detail. Mason was expecting a slow day for the Summer Games as he left the Sheraton hotel for his early-morning shift around a.

Instead, he found a lot of people and police cars had gathered near the ABC broadcast center only yards from the Olympic village.

Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, – December 5, ) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports.

The horrifying details of the situation soon emerged. Medal competitions, no longer the priority, were suspended later in the day. According to The Guardian , Mason and his team wheeled a large camera outside to overlook Building 31, where the hostages were held. However, the gravity of situation began to sink in. Arledge remembered how, almost a decade prior, NBC had managed to be the only network with a camera inside Dallas police headquarters to capture the fatal shooting of John F.

While Mason helped control how the scene unfolded on TV screens, reporter Peter Jennings placed himself in danger to offer important commentary about the crisis. According to Time , Jennings used fake credentials and an Olympic uniform to disguise himself as one of the athletes, allowing him to take position on the 11 th floor of the building housing the Italian delegation.

Once there, he communicated via walkie-talkie and a landline telephone as he kept an eye on the building with the Israeli team. Because of his background, Jennings also surmised that Black September was likely behind the attack before concrete details emerged. He stayed with the Italian team until around 10 p. There, German police hoped to carry out a last-chance rescue mission.