Reporters in natural disaster areas

LifeNRA

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Why are reporters allowed in areas where everyone has been evacuated? I am talking about areas where the local authorities have forced the population to evacuate not where it is suggested that you leave.
Every year we see reporters in natural disaster areas where the local population has been forced to leave.
Why are they allowed in when everyone else is forced to leave "for their safety".
Are reporters that cheap to replace <-joke, or are they just more special than the common folk?
We see reporters telling us how dangerous it is to be there in the middle of a hurricane or other such disaster and how no one should be there. Yet there they are giving a report.
I have always wondered about this. Doesn't make much sense to me.
 

TedTheLed

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LifeNRA said:
Why are reporters allowed in areas where everyone has been evacuated? <snip>
Are reporters that cheap to replace ? <snip>

dingdingding

(and because it's business and it sells..good thing Roker retired before they put him in front of a tornado ...)
 

John N

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From my perspective, the bigger question is why the government should be able to order people out of an area for their own safety.

But seriously, I think part of the job of the press is to 1) bear witness for the public and 2) provide a certain amount of verification.

For example, if there was an emergency at, say, 3 Mile Island, who's to say it wasn't a huge government hoax, ala "Capricorn One", unless someone can be there, verify and report.

Of course, this results in all sorts of absurdity, but you have to protect one with the other.

-john
 
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LifeNRA

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John N said:
From my perspective, the bigger question is why the government should be able to order people out of an area for their own safety.


-john
Good question. I have asked the same question many times.
 

scott.cr

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In California, we have these automotive license plates with "PP" in a triangle on them. The PP stands for press photographer, which generally allows the vehicle to be parked in restricted areas while avoiding tickets and being towed.

A lot of media people aren't really outside of their right to be in the places they can get a story from, I bet. If there's no trespassing, who care if the cops tell you to get out and put the camera away? (I love it when cops tell my friends to put their video cameras away as the traffic citation is being "documented" hahaha.)
 

IlluminatingBikr

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Can you give an example of a time you've seen a reporter in an area where people have been forced to leave? I'm not sure I know exactly what you're talking about.
 

LifeNRA

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IlluminatingBikr said:
Can you give an example of a time you've seen a reporter in an area where people have been forced to leave? I'm not sure I know exactly what you're talking about.
Every year there are reporters at the beach standing in the middle of a hurricane when the local residents have been forced to evacuate.
 

chmsam

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Because it's news, it sells the products they advertise, and otherwise there would be even more idiots standing waist deep in the water as the tital surge comes in... hey, wait a minute... that one'd be OK.

My wife and I wouldn't have a fond memory (heck, we laugh ourselves sick every time we think about it) of Dan Rather in his heavy duty rainsuit standing in quite a light rain and telling the audience how rough it was. "You could hear the 'Woo, Woo, Woo' of the wind..." He looked so ridiculous that anytime it rains my wife turns to me and says, "Woo, Woo, Woo."

People are ordered out so we don't get to see too many interviews of people standing in waist deep water, mud, snow, etc., with that deer in the headlights look, saying, "I didn't believe them when they said..." as their house rolls by. And then a picture of them calling their lawyer.

But I am a believer in Darwin, and the old joke that goes...

A guy's on a leaky boat. "Aw, I'll just pray and God will save me."
Boat starts to sink and a life jacket floats by. "Aw, I'll just pray and God will save me."
Boat sinks below the ocean and an ice chest floats by. "Aw, I'll just pray and God will save me."
He's treading water and sees an ocean liner go by. "Aw, I'll just pray and God will save me."
Finally, he drowns and at the pearly gates, he asks, "Why wasn't I saved? Why didn't you answer my prayers?"
"Whaddya mean! We sent you a life jacket you could have worn, a ice chest that could have kept you afloat, and an ocean liner, for crying out loud! We thought you could figure the rest out for yourself!"
 
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