Transcript ctv_comment: Welcome to our COURT TV chat tonight. We're going to be talking about "Confessions,” the new program that's just aired on COURT TV that's gotten quite a lot of attention in the media. ctv_comment: Critics have been saying that the program is a new low in so-called "reality" television. Richard Kroehling, producer of COURT TV's “Confessions” has joined us. ireneandnick asks: How do the producers choose which confessions are worthy of air time? Richard Kroehling: We look for compelling stories. They don’t all necessarily have to be murders. We're looking for the elements of a compelling story. Those elements to me are: conflict with the self or with the culture, the external or internal factors around that person’s day-to-day life that caused them to commit the crime. etmom6 asks: Are there any plans to expand this program to include more information, i.e., background, trials, etc. of the confessor? Richard Kroehling: No. We believe that this is a specific form of non-fiction program that gives value in revealing to the viewer the experience of the confession room -- putting the viewer "inside the box." That is the program's entire reason for being. We're not interested in developing a more contextualized documentary for TV. Court TV is developing a conventional contextualized documentary on confessions and all of the provocative issues around them. But, again, the purpose of this program is to put the viewer inside that room. itsallgreat asks: What prompted CTV to air such an intense show? Richard Kroehling: COURT TV's mandate is to examine not only the criminal justice system and all of its parts - and “Confessions” is certainly a part -- but also, crime, the criminal, and the criminal mind. pavi_n asks: documentaries have value. What's the value here? Richard Kroehling: There are many different types of no-fiction programming. What will we experience in this program? Nothing very pretty. We'll see the underclass -- lives of quiet desperation, uncomfortable realities, uncomfortable lives, until a blast of violence or a crime ends the anonymity. A face-to-face confrontation with those stories, told by those storytellers has no value? I think it has enormous value. warhorse46 asks: Are your confession tapes only from large cities or do you get them from small cities too? Richard Kroehling: We're getting them from all over the country We're finding them from everywhere, from defense attorneys, we're discussing doing a program on false confessions. And we're getting them from every economic and social stratum and geographic area – and all types of crimes. What struck me most about this program, and what's at the heart of the program is this mysterious form of speech. We're seen everything in these confessions, a wide range of responses from flat-out lying to taking credit for the crime, almost as if they were trying to please the interrogator. Sometimes we see true remorse. Sometimes we see someone trying to find absolution or deliverance from the horror. I think that that's what at the heart of the program. A confession is a highly charged event. It's a life-ending story for these people. They're inside the police interrogation room. It's a crucible, and that crucible heats up, and you see the suspect revealing some truth. moorfam asks: Everyone wants to have a crime solved in 30-minute segments. Is there a possibility that CTV would expand this concept to a format similar to the Court TV format and broadcast at least a few real confessions from beginning to end? Richard Kroehling: It will be a possible area of discussion, to examine whether airing longer confessions would be a good idea. Pradafiend2000 asks: What is the most interesting case you have been involved with? Richard Kroehling: I don’t know at this point. kelly_chaves asks: Is airing confessions legal? Richard Kroehling: The confessions are all part of the public record. Pradafiend2000 asks: So who thought of The show's premise? Richard Kroehling: I did. And Eric Nadler. The genesis of the show was very instinctual. And a very quick picture of the program came to both of us simultaneously. The program has been called exploitative and disgusting. On the other hand, television critics have watched it and called it "astonishing" and "evolutionary." In a television landscape where mainstream TV regularly airs shows about teenage hit men, trailer park vampires, and series that focus on animals that attack, I think that this program is anything but exploitative. We made a conscious decision for it not to be a laundry list of graphic crime details and imagery. Instead, we collaborated with some of the best cinematographers and designers working in independent film to create a stylized textural journey into the criminal mind. rgsmom asks: Why is there such concern over the criminals’ rights in so far as their confessions are concerned??? They confessed. They were videotaped and they knew they were being videotaped. Richard Kroehling: I know why the show hit a nerve. The show holds up a kind of mirror. Because the show does not provide the traditional safety net of academics and voice-over narration, it can be read in many ways. For some reason, that rubs some people the wrong way. club_fed_jim asks: Are these confessions aired before or after trial? Richard Kroehling: After. After conviction. ladyofthemeadows asks: Have you ever caught surprise confessions on tape? Richard Kroehling: I'm not quite sure what you mean. I do have a confession from Texas where a wealthy computer executive puts himself in the first person -- he moves from the third person to the first person -- and puts himself at the scene of the crime. I would call that a fairly good screw up. ireneandnick asks: Does the show warn the families about the airing of such confessions? Richard Kroehling: COURT TV is sensitive, as certainly I am to the enormous pain of having someone in your family be the victim of a crime. On the other hand, any kind of reportage, journalism, non-fiction, or fiction is possibly going to bring up feelings of pain to that family. I don’t think that means we should stop all of those efforts, fiction or non-fiction, to examine part of the human experience. I am sure most, if not all, of the family members would choose not to watch. ladyofthemeadows asks: When you were creating the show, did you ever consider using a voice-over narration? Richard Kroehling: Absolutely not. heresoneformother asks: How do you feel, personally about the show? Richard Kroehling: It's as difficult a show for me as it is probably to the people reading this. Some part of me wishes we would live in a world where this sort of material would not be part of the public mind or concern. It raises the larger cultural question: what do we do with difficult, hateful things? Do we hide them or do we bring them into the light and examine them? This show is only one of the forms that an examination might take. Richard Kroehling: Part of the show's reason for existing and the way it looks is generated by a respect and a trust in the visual literacy of the audience and this trust, this instinct, that the audience can read and understand this program, comes from my own experience as a television producer and a filmmaker. I've never been disappointed by presenting material to people. I think the criticism of the show, the criticism that says that because it’s not being contextualized, no real learning or understanding can be gained -- a narrow-minded one -- because I think there are many types of learning, and television is an enormously powerful medium. I think the show is successful in letting the medium speak in its own terms in the way it speaks best. It's not radio on steroids; it's not print journalism. It's TV, which is a visual medium. And an intimate one, not like going to the local cineplex to see a movie with an audience. And yet it uses many of the elements of traditional cinema. Picture, sound, faces, raw emotion, storytelling. heresoneformother asks: What do you think can be learned from this? Richard Kroehling: We can learn more than a little bit about the cat and mouse game that goes on in that room, "inside the box." We can get a feel for the suspects’ lives, and the step-by-step path down the slippery slope to the moment of the crime. And what the confession is for them. You can quickly see what the confession is for them...the truth, an attempt to get a lesser sentence, some relief. ctv_comment: Do you have any closing thoughts for us, Richard? Richard Kroehling: Thanks for watching, thanks for chatting, I hope that this is the beginning of an important dialogue. Continue to send me your thoughts.