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  • "I Don't Like Being Touched"

    Background: Local tv news, Washington DC.

    So joy of all joys, I actually get called in to cover for a sick coworker at the station on Sunday. Knowing said coworker; an honest, hardworking guy with a young family, I'm sure it was legit. Thus even though I wasn't feeling well myself I drove on in for the late shift.

    Initially it was pretty quiet; I edited a story for the late show and was chilling out when the call came in about a barricade situation a half hour north of town. Usually we're not all that worked up about them (little known fact - many major cities get several standoffs a week - most end without serious problems), but with all the bad things happening with police around the US (and some bad intel on the initial incident alert) there was heightened desires by the assignment desk for us to go out there. So off we went, myself and my reporter.

    A half hour later we were on scene, or as close as we could get. I recorded a few clips and settled into the idea that it would be a cold evening (about 28' f, light breeze) and went into 'standby mode'.

    About 20 minutes into the wait my reporter asks me to join him to interview the PIO (press information officer) who doesn't have much to say but we have to ask anyway. I walk over, hand my reporter the mic and after another news crew finishes their interview we step up and begin.

    We get about a minute in when out of the corner of my left eye (the one not glued to the viewfinder) I see a young women approach the interview. Moments later I see her fumbling with an audio recorder, then an iPhone, which indicates she's a radio reporter. Not a problem, until she shoves the iPhone right into the guy's face to get her sound, right up in my shot.

    In situations like this I initially try to zoom in but it's pointless, she's holding it too high, so I try the universal media scrum silent request: I tap her arm gently with my free left hand to let her know she's messing up my shot. Her reaction: she raised the iPhone higher...

    I try to re-crop but it's not working. Tap-tap. Higher still. A few more seconds, tap-tap, higher still. At this point the PIO is stuttering because this has become a distraction, and my shot is totally unusable, so I stop the interview and verbally ask her to hold her phone just a bit lower. She refuses, and tells me 'this isn't a private interview.' We try to shoot a few more seconds but it's pointless so I stop.

    Then it gets interesting; she began berating me saying I had been 'forcing her arm down' (I had not; had I actually forced her arm down it sure wouldn't have been in the shot) and that I was rude. Furthermore she belonged to an affiliated newsroom (similar network affiliation) and that we should have considered her needs.

    On this note I freely admit I began to engage her - she claimed she had been in town for years (first I had seen her), that she feared she would 'miss the press conference' (a one camera press conference?), that her recorder had failed and she needed to hold the iPhone up high (her failure to be prepared wasn't my problem), then finally this gem: "I don't like being touched."

    Oh that's the problem, you're nuts! Got it.

    At that point I walked away to get back to work while my reporter continued to try to talk to her. I won't discuss his efforts other than frankly I wish he had not bothered; you can't argue with nuts, and at times he seemed to offer apology on my behalf which I resented - I had nothing to apologize for.

    One final note for us photogs - all incidents with anyone which may have repercussions are recorded. The file video is on our servers at work and tonight, before I vented here, I wrote an email to my managers describing the incident, where they can watch the recording, and suggesting they warn her news director about her behavior. I fervently hope they do.

    It's 2:20am and I'm still wide awake, pissed off. I'm due back in at 11am. I've been doing this 25 years, and that my friends was a new one.
    "Announcing your intentions is a good way to hear God laugh." Al Swearingen (Deadwood)

  • #2
    Yeesh. I cover the occasional scene (crime or otherwise) for a print newspaper -- We, the other paper, and the TV station's guys just stay out of each others' way and wait our turn to conduct our own damn interviews as much as possible. It's just professional courtesy...and she had none. Even worse if she's really from an affiliate, as that means that something can realistically be done about it. ...but that's her problem. Take your documentation/video and have someone in power talk to her. Consider asking your reporter to support you on this -- after all, a solo complaint can be miscon-screwed, and dismissed as personal issues; the same report coming from two people eliminates most arguments about any perceived bias.
    she claimed she had been in town for years (first I had seen her)
    "I've been shopping here for years! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?!!?"
    Last edited by EricKei; 12-23-2014, 03:56 AM. Reason: left something out
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

    Comment


    • #3
      Nope, nope, nope, she was RUDE. That's apart from the touch issue, which isn't really that nuts - there are people who legitimately have a thing about being touched by people they don't know - but that's no excuse because she PUT HERSELF in that position by horning in on YOUR interview.

      She needs an attitude adjustment and retraining.
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

      Comment


      • #4
        I ask this, because I honestly don't know, but is there an issue with her recording your reporter asking questions? I was curious if there were any copyright (or whatever) issues? After all, this is you and your reporter's business.
        A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul. (Quote per infinitemonkies)

        Comment


        • #5
          There is no issue with recording anyone in a public place for there is 'no reasonable expectation of privacy' (a true legal term which allows people to record video, audio and/or take photos without permission from the subject - for private or newsgathering purposes. Commercial purposes are a different matter).

          One only gets in trouble in some jurisdictions (in the US) when they record audio in a place where a person might reasonably expect privacy - inside their own home, a rest room, on their phone, etc. Personally I am totally fine with the radio reporter joining in with us on the interview, just please don't disrupt our efforts to do our jobs.

          Twenty four hours later I am pretty much over it. I worked with a good friend of mine today on a story and I showed her some of the video. Her take was that I shouldn't worry about it - the radio reporter was so off center that anyone who works with her likely already knows she has issues. For me to get involved any further would likely just waste my time. We tend to talk each other off the ledge when necessary, so that's nice.

          Generally such things are self correcting. In such a tiny industry, filled with professional busybodies, it can be said like this:

          Your reputation, once earned, cannot be changed and shall always precede you.

          With rare exceptions this has been the truth as I have witnessed it in my 25+ years of employment.

          --------------------------------------------------------------

          UPDATE! Okay seriously, this is really damn weird...

          Just after I posted this note I surfed over to the local media blog to see if anything interesting was happening in my industry in town... Lo and Behold! Crazy lady just announced she's moving to another station in town - from the affiliated all news operation to an am station.

          So all that crap about 'respecting her as a news partner' was just that - crap. She knew as she was saying it that she was gone.

          Why did she leave an all news operation to go to an am station? Did her reputation already precede her?

          Who knows. At least I don't have to worry about alerting our affiliate of the problem.

          Problem be gone.
          Last edited by 2gigch1; 12-23-2014, 05:44 AM. Reason: UPDATE!
          "Announcing your intentions is a good way to hear God laugh." Al Swearingen (Deadwood)

          Comment


          • #6
            An AM station?? o_O Truly, a fate worse than death.
            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth 2gigch1 View Post
              She knew as she was saying it that she was gone.
              Wanna bet?

              I think she found out very shortly before you did . . .

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth EricKei View Post
                An AM station?? o_O Truly, a fate worse than death.
                Don't count on that. Our local news/talk AM station gets better ratings than any other station in the area. Hearsay also tells me ours isn't the only area like that, and many AM talk stations are expanding into dual-broadcasting on the FM band.

                Fear the rise of the fogeys and political armchair quarterbacks!
                The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
                "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
                Hoc spatio locantur.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth 2gigch1 View Post
                  At this point the PIO is stuttering because this has become a distraction, and my shot is totally unusable, so I stop the interview and verbally ask her to hold her phone just a bit lower. She refuses, and tells me 'this isn't a private interview.' We try to shoot a few more seconds but it's pointless so I stop.
                  It's not a private interview? By destroying your ability to generate usable footage, she had turned it into HER private interview.
                  Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    *Ahem*.


                    VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO 'STAR'!



                    *runhidegiggleinsanely*
                    Seshat's self-help guide:
                    1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                    2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                    3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                    4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                    "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Seshat View Post
                      *Ahem*.

                      VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO 'STAR'!

                      *runhidegiggleinsanely*
                      I need a like button!
                      My NaNo page

                      My author blog

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