This woman was attempting to make Olympian Bode Miller cry like it was her job. Well, actually she probably thought it was.
I understand that Miller was the first to mention his brother but the way she just kept drilling down into it just seemed unfair. It just seems so crass.
One of the dangers a reporter must be aware of is that you cease to acknowledge the humanity of the subjects of your story. It’s all about the story. Things are seen as good or bad only in relation to whether it makes the story better. Good and bad cease to be benchmarks. “Boring” and “Good television” are how everything is judged.
This woman saw the possibility of tears and a breakdown and it was like blood in the water to sharks. She was all over it.
This reporter’s behavior was discussed heavily in Twitter. Lotsa’ folks calling her out. Bode Miller, being a classy guy, attempted to defend her a bit in Twitter saying it wasn’t all her fault.
The problem isn’t, to me, her bad behavior. The major problem is that most of the reporters wouldn’t have done it any differently.
February 18, 2014 at 12:11 am
This was heartbreaking.
February 18, 2014 at 1:30 pm
"This woman saw the possibility of tears and a breakdown and it was like blood in the water to sharks."
Great Writing
February 18, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Her behavior was horrible. She smelled blood, and went for it. Having worked for decades in television, I have no illusions about the quality of TV "journalism", but this really set a new low. I watched it in disbelief, not only for her callousness, but for the failure of the producer to cut away from it.
February 18, 2014 at 3:15 pm
Geez, turn the camera off. What the hell is wrong with these people?