Somebody’s Knocking Introduction
Somebody’s knockin’
Should I let him in?
Lord, it’s the devil
Would you look at him?
I’ve heard about him
But I never dreamed
He’d have blue eyes and blue jeans.
(Song lyrics by Jerry Gillespie Jr. and Edward Joseph Penney)
Knocking on doors where you’re not welcome produces an adrenaline rush.
And later, the experience can result in some entertaining messages left on your voicemail.
Because of my high-profile position on Arkansas television as a consumer reporter, I was asked to be a guest on a weekly radio segment. The Show with No Name (now Morning Mayhem) on 103.7 “The Buzz” in Little Rock was and remains a top-rated morning radio program. I combined the opening lyrics to Terri Gibbs’s 1981 hit song “Somebody’s Knockin” with actual voicemails left by viewers on the 7 On Your Side Helpline. It resulted in an amusing opening for my segment:
Throughout this book, you will have the opportunity to scan QR codes like the one above with your smartphone so you can hear and watch the events being described. QR codes became somewhat of a necessity during the pandemic when restaurants used them in place of menus. They are especially handy for someone writing a book about a career in television. You can also access the video/audio clips at www.jasonpedersonbook.com.
Back in the late ’90s, Ted Koppel wrote a memoir called Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television. At the time, I was an avid viewer of the ABC late night news program, and I relished reading Koppel’s behind-the-scenes accounts of his most famous interviews. What the book lacked, however, was a way to rewatch those moments as Koppel pelted his guests with questions they didn’t always want to answer. That idea stayed with me, and I am thankful KATV has given me permission to use selected news clips that I believe will help make the words on these pages spring to life.
“Somebody’s Knockin” was a natural fit for my radio intro, but not because I have blue eyes and blue jeans and not because I’m
the devil (although some of the scoundrels you’ll meet in Chapter Five might argue otherwise). It fits because during my twenty-year run as KATV’s consumer reporter for “7 On Your Side,” some of the most talked about and remembered segments involved me knocking on doors. Sometimes, someone answered; oftentimes, no one did. But just the act of going after the people who had done somebody wrong and trying to hold them accountable was appreciated and celebrated by viewers—whether or not I found the people I hoped to confront.
A police officer friend of mine watched one such segment and offered me advice: when knocking on a door where you might not be welcome, stand to the side rather than right in front of the door. That way, if a shot is fired through the door from inside the home, there will be a greater likelihood that it misses you. Some wise, albeit unsettling, counsel that I employed from that day forward. Thankfully, no one ever fired a shot or assaulted me, but there were a few scares with dogs.
Sometimes, I never made it to the door.
Shortly after the arrest of Robert Todd Burmingham in 1997, photojournalist Marcus McDonald and I drove to a rural area near Colt, Arkansas, searching for people who could tell us more about the “Blue Light Rapist.” Investigators suspected Burmingham of using a blue light to pull over female motorists and then attack them.
This was before GPS and cell phones. I’d received a tip and directions to a home where Burmingham reportedly lived. When we arrived, we saw a small, solitary white house about a quarter mile up a gravel driveway off the paved county road. It was a home that was impossible to sneak up on, with open fields on all four sides. We parked along the county road and walked up the driveway. When we were about halfway to the house, a man walked out onto the porch holding a long gun. I hollered, “Hello!” I’m not sure what I was thinking . . . other than we came a long way, and I might as well try and talk to him. He stood there unresponsive. “I’m Jason Pederson with Channel 7!” I yelled across the field. “We’re looking for the home where Robert Todd Burmingham lives!” Again, no response. He just stood there stock still, gun in hand, staring at us.
Well, staring at me. Because when I turned around to ask Marcus what he thought we should do, I discovered Marcus had run back to our news vehicle.
“OK! Thanks! We’re going to head out now!” I yelled, as I turned around and started back toward the paved road, looking back
every few steps. The man never moved.
“What! Are! You! Doing?! He has a GUN!” Marcus exclaimed as soon as I joined him in the vehicle.
Chalk it up to stupidity, the invincibility of youth, or Divine protection, but I am thankful that in all my years of confrontin’ and door knockin,’ much of which is recounted in the following chapters, I am still in good health with all my original parts.
I covered Burmingham’s trial in 1998 and a jury convicted him of rape, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping. It was one of the few
stories I covered where cameras were allowed in the courtroom. Burmingham died in prison in 2020 at the age of fifty-four after
contracting COVID-19.
Three years before his death, the Arkansas State Legislature passed Shannon’s Law, named after Shannon Woods, one of Bur-
mingham’s victims. It makes it illegal to possess, purchase, sell, or transfer a blue light or a blue lens cap as well as any other police equipment or insignia (like a badge).
While there were no happy endings in this case, there was justice. Many of the stories you’re about to read have neither, despite my efforts to hold people accountable. Some have both. Each features a 7 On Your Side reporter, a producer, and a team of volunteers behind him (or in the case of my successor, Marine Glisovic, behind her), born out of a vision developed decades ago, working to serve the citizens of Arkansas. Here is a KATV promotional spot from2012 that captures the essence of being a 7 On Your Side reporter:
I hope you enjoy the read as much as I’ve enjoyed the ride.