(Fox News photographer Chris Poturalski interviews a Sierra Club organizer)
I have two job-related reoccurring nightmares: my car is stolen with all of my camera gear in the trunk, and I show up late to an event and miss it.
Both of these nightmares are awful, but the being late nightmare is the one I hate most because I have to admit to editors that I screwed up.
Being late to an event can put a news photographer into an ethical dilemma. You would think it’s common sense to accept that if we as news photographers miss an event, we come up with something else to illustrate it. But it's not that easy. With today's job insecurities and fierce news competition, it's tempting to CYA (cover your butt) by doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
I bring this up because I recently witnessed two local TV stations staging an event they missed because they were late. It wasn't a life-altering ethical breach, but I was still a bit concerned over their decision to ask the participants of a BP handholding protest at Maumee Bay State Park to repeat what they had just finished.
Why is this a big deal? Credibility.
The news business is suffering for many reasons, but loss of credibility shouldn’t be one of those reasons. Trust is what separates us from the social media bloggers and tweeters of the world. Our readers and watchers need to believe what we offer them.
What's confusing is that these types of events are actually made for the media. Yes, in a way we're being manipulated to get a message out. But that's our job - to get the news out, whether it's spot news or PR-conceived.
This is why it matters - those 10 people at Maumee Bay who had to get back in line and hold hands again will remember that fakery, and go home and tell their family and friends what happened. And that's the beginning of the erosion of our credibility.
Bottom line: Keep it in real time...
--30--
