Just about a year ago, on April 10, 2023, a former bank employee shot and killed five employees sitting in a conference room and wounded another eight, including two responding police officers. WAVE, Gray’s NBC affiliate in Louisville, Ky., produced an hour-long documentary, : 23 Seconds: A Louisville Mass Shooting , that aired commercial-free on March 29, 2024, at 7 p.m.

Natalia Martinez, WAVE’s investigative reporter who executive produced the documentary, says “the response has been overwhelming. Viewers sent us messages and emails and called the station.”

Martinez says the volume of responses is unlike anything the station has seen.

“Perhaps the most compelling news program I have ever watched. WAVE should be commended for their work,” wrote one viewer.

Connie wrote that “I have often thought that real journalism is about humans, about our flaws and our hearts, about our fears, and our triumphs. Your documentary tonight was real journalism. It turned a light on not only a horrible event but more importantly what that event did to all of us.”

Martinez,?and her staff interviewed 20 people for the documentary, including survivors, doctors, police and victims’ family members. The documentary also used 911 calls and police body camera footage.

The editor was Scott Isaacs. The photographers were Jonny Trego, Marc Wilson and Blake McGrew.

Wade Capps, WAVE’s marketing director, says while there were many ways to promote the documentary, “we opted for ‘less is more’ given how traumatic the shooting was for our community. Like the documentary, we did not use any announcer track to set up the story in our promos. We simply found the most illustrative sound and pieced it together to form the narrative.”

“I watched this documentary,” Rhona wrote. “It’s very well done and showed multiple perspectives from persons involved and its effects a year later. Thank you for investing the time, money and emotion into this story.”

“I wanted to thank you for this heart wrenching but beautiful piece of work,” Maryann wrote. ”I know this was a very difficult project, but you were able to focus on the gratitude, hope and determination of not only the survivors, but our police, 911 operators, first responders, hospital staff, and the victims’ families. You should be very proud of this very touching piece that out of tragedy, you were able to leave us with hope and pride in our community.”

Martinez says some of the interviews were done not long after the shooting and emotions were still raw.

One interview with the wife of one of the victims was “extremely difficult to do,” Martinez says.

“As a journalist, I struggled with should she be doing this interview? Is it right for me to ask her to do this? I said, Jessica, you don’t have to do this. If you want to, okay, but you don’t have to do it if it’s too much for you. I don’t want to further traumatize you.”

Martinez says Jessica told her she wanted to do it, for her husband Josh, to let people know what the world lost because of the shooting.

“This is an amazing documentary,” Kristin wrote.

“This documentary is a work of art,” wrote Zachary.

Martinez says she was particularly sensitive to what material she used and didn’t use.

The shooter was named only once, and his face was never shown.

“The picture we used was from the back with the gun down by his side,” she says.

A viewer named Amy noticed that. “Well done for focusing on those who really matter after this violent, senseless horror instead of giving attention to shooter by naming. Wishing healing for all victims, families and friends affected.”

Another viewer wrote, “This was wonderfully put together in compassion and class.”

“It definitely hits home in helping to understand the impact of the national disease we are inflicting upon ourselves called ‘a mass shooting’,” said one viewer.

“It has always made me so sad and angry how most highlight the shooter in a way that glorifies the shooter and inspires copycats,” wrote a viewer. “This one focused on bringing the victims out from behind the shadow of statistics and shows us a small glimpse of who they really were and those who lost so much when they were taken from them.”

Martinez says she was transparent with everyone associated with the mass shooting about what to expect.

So much so, the station held a private screening.

“I invited all the survivors, the victim’s families, others that were at the scene,” she says. “I invited the police department. I invited city stakeholders, the mayor’s office.”?150 people attended.

“It was amazing,” Matinez says. “You could hear people crying at times, and when it ended, there was a collective sigh, and then they clapped.”

A survivor who was wounded told Martinez it was healing for her to watch it, “like the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders. I couldn’t have asked for more. I mean, what else would I have wanted?”

New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck

CLICK HERE to see new jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center including an opening for an Account Executive Trainee of New Business Development and existing jobs include 13 openings in news, sales, digital and engineering.