I did think the reporter in that story could have asked better questions, but well.
What foolish, stupid, strange, things have you heard a TV reporter say or ask?
My best one is a reporter here in Topeka. Back when Desert Storm was going on, the local news went out to our airport to welcome back a number of returning soldiers.
So one young returning husband and his wife are in a tight clinch and the reporter sticks the microphone up to them and asks “So, do you have any plans for tonight?”
And the was the same woman reporter who once spoke of New Delhi, in India, pronouncing it New Del HYE.
Asking non-sense questions like “how do you feel?” to people who just had a tragedy or family death. I always want the person to bop the reporter in the face and ask “how tha fuck you think I feel?”.
By far the most cringe-worthy interview I ever saw was by Phyllis George on The CBS Morning News almost thirty years ago. She was interviewing a guy who had been in prison for 6 years for a rape he didn’t commit, and the woman who originally accused him then later recanted. She tried to get them to hug it out.
I fucking hate the types of questions that ask for feelings and mood. The morning after the 1996 Dunblane massacre the female CTV reporter, via satellite, asked (I believe) the police chief “What is the mood in the town this morning?” I could tell by his delay and absolute dumbfoundness that he was about 1/10 of a second away from answering “What in the fuck do you think the mood is you stupid bitch!” but he took the high road and mumbled out something more TV friendly.
What in the fuck kind of a question is that to ask after 16 school children are gunned down in a small town in a country where gun violence is pretty much non-existent? I was embarrassed for all of Canada for the entire awkward interview.
This is what I always associate with Bob Costas. I don’t remember the specific interview, but it was years ago before he became a big shot, and he was asking that same question to some poor schlub who just lost.
What is irritating WRT the Moore tornado is the images they keep showing of the kids being pulled from the wreckage, and interviews with people who are clearly in a state of shock. Why can’t they just leave those poor people alone? ANY question they ask them is going to be stupid.
Let me add my two cents.
Reporter walks up to a lady sitting with her two young children in front of t heir house that been leveled in the recent tornado in the states. The poor mother has a bucket with a few personal possessions that they were able to save from the wreckage of their home.
The reporter asks a few questions then throws in:
How does it make you feel?
This sends the poor woman and kids into tears and hysteria.
WHAT THE hell is up with the reporter and the regurgitated cum bubble of an editor to spread peoples misery and loss over our television screens?
Are we all Narcissistic fucking Psychopaths who can’t understand that when a tornado blows your house down, you are having a pretty shitty day?
Please do us all a favor, take a step back, and literally go fuck your own face if you can’t report the freeking news.
Which is why I read and don’t watch most of the time. When there is a breaking story there is less choice if you want up to the minute reports. If I’m going to watch the news its usually going to be the national news on CBS with Scott Pelley. I think they do the best at giving the story without the bullshit.
Well, I am interested in the event itself. How are you supposed to stay informed if you keep your eyes closed? It can be difficult to avoid some of the face shots on TV and on the internet, tho. What is one supposed to do, avoid anything that may show a photo of a tornado victim, or contains a stupid reporter question? You’d have to avoid the news altogether, I suppose.
I just recalled a story that reporter interviewing the Carpenters asked them when they first met. A similar question led to one of my favorite inquiries of some people “How long have you been twins?”
I liked the one when Geraldo Rivera was interviewing, uh, I can’t remember the name, but, the interviewer was some aged clothing designer…Oleg Cassini, maybe?
Geraldo: blah, blah, blah…
Subject: blah, blah, blah…beautiful, blah, blah, blah…
Geraldo: You like beauty, don’t you?
I was rather hoping that the designer would say, “No way! I hate beauty, who can stand beautiful things???” But, he didn’t.
One time in the '90s a bunch of teenagers were in the back of a cube van going home after a rave. The driver somehow lost control, the van rolled few times and the kids in the back were injured. A local reporter was talking to one of the kids at the scene.
Reporter: “So what did you guys do when the van started rolling?”
Kid: “…? What do you mean?”
Reporter: “Well did you all hold hands or something?”
Kid: “Uh, no, we were all like…” he and his buddy pretend to fall all over each other.
