On Sunday as Hurricane Irma lashed out against Miami Beach and Tampa Bay in Florida, television news reporters urged residents to flee the area or stay indoors — all while standing for hours outside and broadcasting in the very midst of the storm. Why???
Current Events
In a “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say do” moment, I watched CNN anchor Chris Cuomo report from the middle of a live shot in Key Largo, Florida, barely able to stand up straight while dodging gusts of wind and dangerously unpredictable flying debris soaring through the air. As I changed the channel to MSNBC, there was correspondent Mariana Atencio standing in the middle of a Miami street with trees being uprooted all around her, which prompted anchor Ali Velshi to state “I want to take a quick break. I want to reset. I want to find out that our reporters are safe.” Next, I tuned to The Weather Channel and saw the same scene, which made me wonder: have all of these reporters gone stark-raving mad??
How do you tell residents to run from a storm that you purposely place yourself directly in the middle of??
Welcome to 21st Century news reporting. Television networks no longer want to just tell you about a hurricane — they need to show it to you in real-time, too. They’re not content with simply reporting on a raging brush fire — they have to film themselves inches from the flames as thick, black smoke billows behind them. It’s TV sensationalism at its best.
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CNN’s @BillWeirCNN gets slammed in Key Largo by #HurricaneIrma’s wind gusts as the storm’s eyewall reaches the Florida Keys pic.twitter.com/OHYwQ7TdT7
— CNN (@CNN) September 10, 2017
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As TV reporters exposed themselves to the elements of Hurricane Irma, social media buzzed with curiosity.
“Why do these news networks feel the need to put these reporters out there?” read one tweet. “This is not safe. Lead by example ” read another. Even Chris Cuomo was forced to respond to his dangerous storm antics:
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>> @ChrisCuomo on CNN just now: “There is a strong argument to be made that standing in a storm is not a smart thing to do.”
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 10, 2017
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Current Events
The tradition of television news crews standing in the middle of a dangerous storm goes back decades, to a time when, in 1961, then-CBS news correspondent Dan Rather stood brazenly amid the throes of Hurricane Carla to show the devastation first hand. Back then, television was still new and his actions were seen as heroic in an effort to educate the general public on the dangers of Mother Nature. However, today, such antics are considered routine and expected.
Now, critics are beginning to question if filming in the midst of a deadly storm that everyone has been told to run from is necessary reporting or unnecessary sensationalism.
“Everyone says, ‘Well, look, if you’re standing out in the storm, Sam, then how come I can’t stand out in the storm?’ ” ABC’s Sam Champion said. “And what I’m going to tell you is we do this so you can see what it’s like outside.” However, do TV reporters actually think no one would believe a hurricane is occurring unless they proved it by standing in the middle of it?
“I think it’s a fair question: Why would you have reporters standing potentially in harm’s way who are telling people to do exactly the opposite?” said Mark Strassman of CBS News who has covered hurricanes for 25 years. “Part of that is that television is all about visual proof,” he said. “You want to persuade people that what they’re seeing is real and matters to them. And if they can see me standing out there getting knocked around, it’ll convince them that they should not do the same thing.”
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do we really need to watch reporters get pummeled by wind and rain ?
— ROSIE (@Rosie) September 10, 2017
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Yes, network field reporters actually believe that capturing the visuals from such a historic storm is crucial in prompting people to take hurricane threats seriously and to leave the area when instructed. They believe their work is a public service and that they take every possible precaution to stay safe and out of life-threatening situations.
Hmmm… I’m not so sure!
Now, critics are beginning to question if filming in the midst of a deadly storm that everyone has been told to run from is necessary reporting or unnecessary sensationalism. […]
BINGO! That’s all it is now. Just pure Sensationalism. FOR ratings, of course, which translates into $$$.
Thanks DJ for covering this topic because I’m so sick and tired of this foolishness which could eventually cost some dumb-azz reporter his/her life. The truth is, generally speaking, American news media long ago threw away any ethical standards they may have had at some point in time. The creation of 24/7 cable news killed off any obligation to present the news in a responsible AND intellectually HONEST manner. As DJ points out, even The Weather Channel has succumbed to such shameful operational tactics.
It’s sad to think about the many ways in which this country, My country, is failing.