A majority of those voting in a New York Daily News poll think it's great that CNN's Anderson Cooper and other TV stars are helping Haitians - but don't broadcast it.
The Washington Post's Paul Farhi dubs it "The Gupta Effect" after CNN reporter doc Sanjay Gupta.
I find the pimping of reporter good deeds unseemly and exploitative.
Descretion is the better part of valor, except if you're looking for ratings.
ReplyDeleteVinney
Vinney is right on! Anytime you both cover a story and act on it, you're in a conflict of interest. In this case, the interest is credibility, and over time that will be eroded, even if folks get all warm and fuzzy about it now.
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ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, I was working as a photog for a TV station in the Midwest, and I rolled up on a bad accident that had happened about 2 minutes before I got there. No EMTs, cops, etc., were there at that point.
ReplyDeletePeople were trapped in two of the cars, so I had a quick decision to make: fire up my camera, or help out.
I actually chose C - help out, then as soon as EMTs/cops got there, I'd start shooting it.
Glad I did, too - I helped rescue one kid from a thoroughly messed-up car. I also pointed out to the cops another car that had injured people in it (they somehow missed it; idiots).
When I got back to the station, management wanted to know if they could promote what I did while the anchor was reading the accident story on-air. It took me all of one second to give my answer:
No.
Management respected my wishes, and it ended there.
My situation was in no way like what's happening in Haiti right now. But I didn't think how I handled it was conflict of interest.
Now the douches in Haiti who are pimping their deeds out over the air ... I've got problems with that.
Wouldn't it be funny if Gupta gets hit with a malpractice suit out of his Haiti efforts?
ReplyDeleteVinney
While I agree with the premise that reporters becoming part of the story is an unacceptable conflict of interests, I'd give the physician-reporters a little more slack. Everyone knows they're docs, that they almost have to help, and would be shocked if they didn't.
ReplyDeleteThey should acknowledge their conflict of interest and then move on to something else to report on.
Character is what you do when no one is watching and likely to find out. If CNN or other news groups would throw some palates of water on their SUVs when traveling about the city, great. It is what ought to happen without the promo effect.
ReplyDelete