Here's What's Wrong With TV News!

 

On the Today Show this morning the same irrational and insensitive question hundreds of reporters and anchors now ask grieving families:  Savannah Guthrie asked Juliann Ashcraft, widow of Andrew Ashcraft, who was one of the 19 firefighters who died while battling the Arizona wildfire on Sunday, "How are you doing?"

Why in the world do reporters think this is a question to ask of grieving family members? It is beyond insensitive. I'm waiting for the first family member of a victim to tell a reporter on live TV, "How the hell do think I am doing? That was a stupid question."

Here's what is wrong: Most reporters and anchors don't have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the person they are interviewing. They need to live, breathe, and understand their readers, listeners and viewers. They need to be sensitive. You don't stick a mic in the family member's face claiming "they wanted to talk about their loved one."

Think of it this way? If the person you loved just died, how would you feel if a mic was in your face in the hours following a tragedy?  

 

Maybe we can instead honor Andrew Ashcraft and the others instead of asking the widow with four young children, "How are you doing?" "How are you feeling?"

Certainly we can do better than this.

 

Joe Barnes, Journalist, Marketer, Educator