Actually, I think having a familiar face on the scene can help to humanise the story for some people, to bring the topic close to home even when it’s happening to strangers thousand of miles away. And it’s easer to believe first-hand reports from trustworthy sources.
That said, huge junkets with dozens of reporters are ridiculous, and the reporters should always do something, like interview locals on camera, rather than just stand in front of what might as well be a green screen.
It’s not just the networks. One of our (SF Bay Area) stations sent a reporter - hell, probably all of the stations did. It’s always the reporter with the Japanese last name, too. If there are no Japanese surnames, anyone vaguely Asian-looking will do.
Right after our local guy started reporting from Tokyo he informed us that the news team was enduring the same shortages of food, water and fuel that the locals were, and that they’d have to carry their own supplies as they traveled to the most stricken areas. I shouted at the TV for him to get his schadenfreude ass right back here to California and stop burdening those folks. Sheesh. The only traffic up to the stricken areas should be people actually HELPING the situation and bringing in food, water, medicine, etc.
I was gratified the next day to hear him report that they were unable to carry through with their plans to get up to the “area of greatest devastation” due to the network’s recalling their people following the nuclear problems.
Now he’s back in California, which is just fine. There actually are cameras in Japan, and images from those cameras are getting out just fine.