PS:
Journalist now-days are absolutely ridiculous. it makes me want to switch majors all together. I was watching a tribute to columbine last night. One of the victims, a teacher at the high school was shot and killed. His wife was at home waiting for a call, the phone rang and a journalist was on the line
Journalist: Hello, is this Jane Smith?(making up a name cause i don't remember her real name)
Jane: yes...
Journalist: Hi, I'm "looking for a promotion Jones" from the Lamest News station in America, your husband has been killed in the shooting, what do you have to say?
Jane: Threw the phone across the room and doesn't remember anything after that.
i was FURIOUS when i watched that. "WHY ARE JOURNALIST SUCH ASS HOLES!!!" I screamed. (yes, i did use colorful language, even though i've been taming my tongue, no other word could possibly describe that reporter, that name doesn't even do it justice)
then watching the news and the reporters interviewing survivors from the VT shooting...i became even more angry and had to turn it off. I had found this kids blog, his girlfriend was in one of the classrooms and was one of the few that survived, she had taken a stray bullet in the hand. I found his blog again today to see if he had written any updates. and he had 2oo comments on the one from monday, the day it happened. The most recent one i read was from a reporter from CBC news saying that she's sorry, but would love to get an interview with him i scrolled down and only found more from different news stations. one lady from ABC (i think) said "...i know the phones are not working, so maybe you could shoot me and e-mail..."
nice choice of words, idiot.
I've vowed that in my profession, i would never become like that.
GAH! it makes me SO MAD! why? why is everyone so concerned about getting that one interview, or shot that will put them on the top. or get them that promotion they've been waiting for, or that award....its all so stupid. and infuriating. i want to do something...but what? i remember feeling this way when Katrina hit. i wanted desperately to help, i gave blood. but what else?
i hate feeling helpless.
posted by Beth @ 3:46 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Hi Beth, I found your blog from Paul's blog, and let me just say that I share your frustration! It's pretty much all I've been talking about for the last couple of days and I think everyone around me is getting tired of hearing about it, but I was SO disgusted with the journalists on facebook and blogs... especially CBC. I actually wrote a complaint to the CBC via their website. I really hope they take it seriously because I could not believe that my country's national news network's employees were behaving like that.
I think the person who asked Paul to "shoot" him an e-mail was from the Boston Herald...I really hope someone submits a major complaint about that.
In my moment of anger I was actually looking for spam or porn that I could sign these journalists up for, who so distastefully left their contact info - as if Paul didn't have better things to do than get media attention! In the end, I couldn't find anything bad to sign them up for, so I actually signed all of them up for Amnesty International's updates. I hope that these heartless reporters enjoy the approximate 10 updates a week that they will be receiving.
See, this is what I don't get. The murderer is dead. The victims are getting help. Pretty much everyone *at* VTech had a chaotic few days ahead of them, with memorials and emotions and maybe going home for a while. And all these news organizations were so desparate for the real, unspun updates, which is what we were getting from sites like Paul's, and from VT people on Fark and the like.
The media hounding these poor students could do NOTHING positive. Either the person was not an eyewitness, or they were (or, like Paul, was very close with someone who was injured or who died). If they were NOT an eyewitnes, then they had nothing new to add to the discussion. If they WERE closer to the tragedy, then they had a lot more important stuff to do than talk about it to a journalist. Paul probably spent most of the day in the hospital.
I don't see why this aspect of the news can't wait. Let those who feel they want to report it, do so via blogs. But don't hound them for more. Sigh.... I spent five years working for the campus paper and we were often criticised for focusing on the negative. But I would like to think that none of us would shamefully pursue the friends and families of the victims in the way that so many news organizations have done this week.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I was just so happy to see that someone else is also outraged.
-KG
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