# Why risk reporters lives for pictures of hurricane damage? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 10, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882 "2005-07-10T20:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Section\_408](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Section\_408](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_408)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/21 "2005-07-11T02:35:42Z")
And now they have us do the dirty work for them. They’re starting to ask us to take pictures and video of the storm and send it in to them so they can show it. At least Fox was… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/22 "2005-07-11T02:42:04Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > .As for _dramatic_ live storm coverage, it probably goes way back to Dan Blather ‘earning’ his TV chops by filming a live screen in a NOAA center. Yeah, I think it’s seen as a Career Opportunity Moment for reporters to be involved with big natural disasters (Rather got his callup to national CBS reporting as a result of his work during Hurricane Carla). And it’s obvious that there’s a thrill-seeking element to being out in these things. Yesterday one of the Weather Channel “correspondents” in Florida was bubbling over with barely suppressed excitement and glee. “Oh, it’s going to be a really really big one! Look at that (really pissant at the time) surf!! This is going to be GREAT!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/23 "2005-07-11T05:13:50Z")
**Jackmannii** and **TVeblen** are right, and yes, some reporters are in it for the thrills. Personally, I view this dumbass hurricane reporting from the Darwinist perspective. Any anchor or reporter stupid enough to get himself killed doing this unnecessary stunt coverage is no great loss to journalism or the gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/24 "2005-07-11T05:50:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Personally, I view this dumbass hurricane reporting from the Darwinist perspective. Any anchor or reporter stupid enough to get himself killed doing this unnecessary stunt coverage is no great loss to journalism or the gene pool. Hey! Losing Anderson Cooper would be a _tremendous_ loss to the gene pool! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/25 "2005-07-11T06:57:27Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > As for _dramatic_ live storm coverage, it probably goes way back to Dan Blather ‘earning’ his TV chops by filming a live screen in a NOAA center. He did a little better than that – he got one of his technical monkeys to lumakey the rather remote image from NOAA (of the storm itself) over an actual map of the area, which gave a sense of scale that TV viewers had never seen before. Great idea, and something that we take for granted now with doppler weather images. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/26 "2005-07-11T07:30:30Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Which was actually a home video of TV coverage of the last hurricane which they were too drunk and stoned to switch. Yep. They were watching a movie on the VCR, and forgot that it: 1. WAS a tape, and 2. was from public television, with commercials, et al, included. And what I loved about _Tricky Business_ was the way that it _kept_ happening. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/27 "2005-07-11T07:43:17Z")
Am I the only one who would laugh really, _really_ hard if one of those reporters were to get crushed by a falling tree or something? Preferably mid sentence? Preferably mid sentence while they were telling people how dangerous it was to be outside in a fucking storm? ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/28 "2005-07-11T07:49:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > And it’s obvious that there’s a thrill-seeking element to being out in these things. Yesterday one of the Weather Channel “correspondents” in Florida was bubbling over with barely suppressed excitement and glee. “Oh, it’s going to be a really really big one! Look at that (really pissant at the time) surf!! This is going to be GREAT!!!” Jim Cantore? Even among the Weather Channel meteorologists he’s known as a severe weather buff, and he’s actually disappointed when he’s not at the heart of it. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/29 "2005-07-11T07:50:54Z")
Not at all, **Finn**. While I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, it WOULD make for interesting television ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/30 "2005-07-11T10:39:21Z")
Don’t interfere with Darwin. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/31 "2005-07-11T12:22:46Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Am I the only one who would laugh really, _really_ hard if one of those reporters were to get crushed by a falling tree or something? Preferably mid sentence? Preferably mid sentence while they were telling people how dangerous it was to be outside in a fucking storm? Of course not. Some time ago, the Hartford CT CBS affilliate had a weatherman named Hilton Kaderli, who went to the top of Mount Washinton in New Hampshire to do a report on winds. Mt. Washington is known for the severe weather at its summit. While in the midst of his report, done outside in the parking lot of the National Weather Service observatory there, a strong gust of wind knocked him over, carried him to the edge of the parking lot, and tried to chuck him off the side of the mountain. Mr. Kaderli was saved by a guardrail, to which he clung until the gust spent itself. Good times, good times. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/32 "2005-07-11T12:23:43Z")
I have three networks to choose from. I’m watching the one that sticks a guy in the middle of hurricane force winds with sand and rian stinging his face. It’s as easy as that. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/33 "2005-07-11T13:48:17Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Sure _you_ don’t need to see that stuff **Sampiro** , but there are gobs of people out there who looove it, all that action! You’ve got to have the reporter out there for value, pictures of the storm they can get anywhere, what they can’t get is somebody they trust telling them what’s going on and how they should feel about it. It’s also got to be your reporter out there because it’d look bad to not cover a local storm and get footage from another station or something. Stations that can’t be bothered to cover a storm themselves, well, what else aren’t they reporting? Aren’t the viewers worth covering the storm live and in person? I disagree. We don’t need a $50 haircut on top of a $5 brain out in a storm yakking us to death. Just pull the images off the traffic cameras. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/34 "2005-07-11T14:00:10Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Hey! Losing Anderson Cooper would be a _tremendous_ loss to the gene pool! Are he and his boyfriend expecting? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/35 "2005-07-11T14:08:46Z")
TV executives are like generals-- they keep preparing for what already happened. In this case, it’s thinking someone’s career will be launched by going out into a hurricane. It worked for Dan Rather because it was new. It ain’t anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/36 "2005-07-11T14:37:31Z")
News footage and images will always try to get the most extensive damage shots. When you watch these reports you are not getting “here is what some of the average damage that occured looks like” your getting “here is the most extreme footage of damage that we could find.” So when you get images of signs, trees, and garabage cans knocked over you can tell that not much happened. It’s when you get aerial views of entire neighborhoods flattened that you know maybe it was a bad storm. And even in that case, it may have just been one neighborhood that took the brunt of the damage. About a month ago we had some “severe” weather here with winds up to 70mph overnight. The next day all you could see was that maybe there were some extra leaves and small branches in yards and streets. No big deal. However, the local news found some guy whose huge (probably already dead) tree blew down and crushed his garage. The news made it look like Armageddon had swept through the night before and this was just a typical example of the damage :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/37 "2005-07-11T14:38:32Z")
Was Anderson wearing pants in the reporting? If he wasn’t, he was getting his rocks off by letting mother nature give him a blow job. Isn’t that the reason they wear Gortex? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/38 "2005-07-11T14:57:35Z")
> [@sunfish](#): > > Jim Cantore? Even among the Weather Channel meteorologists he’s known as a severe weather buff, and he’s actually disappointed when he’s not at the heart of it. That’d be the one. It’s not really hurricane season til’ Jim Cantore stands on a beach and tells us it is. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/39 "2005-07-11T15:00:53Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > And frankly I think the actual risk was pretty damn low. The risk is way lower than they’d have you believe. I grew up in New Orleans, lived there untill I was 29, and now live again in SE Louisiana. I have seen at least ten hurricanes pass over where I was living. Hurricanes just aren’t that big of a deal. There, I said it. Bad things happen, and worst case scenarios do come true, but by and large, a hurricane isn’t that bad. People outside of the SE U.S. often have the impression that hurricanes are on a par with, say, severe earthquakes. But they’re not … not hardly. It’s a lot of wind, and often (but not always) a lot of rain. That’s pretty much it – yeah, tornadoes can be spawned off … but that happens during regular ol’ thunderstorms, too. And it’s not like tornado-strength wind – during most hurricanes, you can definitely go walk outside your home without getting blown away or something. When we were kids, we’d take big sheets of cardboard, get on our roller skates, and let the wind carry us down the block. There was no sense of defying death, needless to say. Hurricane winds aren’t strong enough to actually huge amounts of heavy debris blowing around in it, like a tornado. That’s why it’s more or less safe (if not comfortable) to be out in the middle of it. And again, freak things happen … but someone getting injured by flying debris in a hurricane is extremely exceptional. The actual worst things about hurricanes are 1) potential for home flooding, and 2) losing utility service, esp. electricity. I’m not talking about having 10 feet of water in the house (maybe … just maybe this has happened with beachfront property somewhere at sometime). I’m talking about at very worst kneet-deep water in the home … and more usually it would be ankle deep or a little higher. After a bad hurricane, you’ll see piles and piles of ruined carpet and pads in front of everyone’s homes waiting for garbage collection. As for the electricity going out … sometimes after hurricanes, it can take upwards of a week, or even two, to get power restored. But often it’s just a day or two or three. Sucks, but not deadly. … So there. In short, I am not convinced these weather reporters on the beach are taking their lives in their hands when they go to the beach to cover hurricanes. It looks a lot more daring than it really is. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882/40 "2005-07-11T15:25:07Z")
I’ll agree with **bordelond**. The hurricanes I’ve been in when I was in Florida never lived up to the hype. When and if you see the completely flattened homes they were probably shotty construction to begin with. Unlike homes in other areas of the country Florida homes (some) are built to withstand rain and keep the airconditioning in and that’s about it. No insulation, no foundations deeper than a couple feet or even built right on a slab. Effects are mainly water damage and loss of utilities. Even in the worst hurricane scenario I would feel perfectly safe in any high rise condo with storm shutters on beach front property. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-risk-reporters-lives-for-pictures-of-hurricane-damage/311882.md?page=3)