News reporting in traumatic times is not easy.
A British reporter for the BBC broke down during a live cross into breakfast tv this morning when describing the memorial service he’d witnessed for the Paris terrorist attack victims. He had reportedly been working round the clock on the news from Paris for the past four days.
In times like these, many of us are separated from the trauma taking place through distance and a TV or smart phone screen. We are horrified by what we see, we feel for those there, however we do not really understand the true trauma of what is occurring on the ground. How could we?
For the reporters and camera crews who are sent to these scenes, these can be very difficult times. They are required to work round the clock, and are often in dangerous locations or speaking to people who have just undergone enormous trauma. This puts them under a huge amount of stress.
Watch the footage of BBC reporter Graham Satchell breaking down below (post continues after video).
We saw just how terrifying the environment in Paris was for Today Show’s Karl Stefanovic this week when a panicked stampede broke out behind him just as he was about to cross live to Australia. Thankfully it was a false alarm — but the pressure it puts on the reporters and tv crews is clear.
This is not the first time we have seen a television host break down when reporting the horror of news events. Recently, The Project’s Carrie Bickmore broke down live on air when discussing the image of the Syrian toddler washed up on a Turkish beach.
The incredibly distressing image of three-year-old Aylan Al-Kurdi brought Bickmore to tears as she struggled to report the news without thinking of her own children at home.
Watch Carrie Bickmore break down on The Project below (post continues after video).
Journalists or their crew do not necessarily receive any counselling after reporting on horrific events or being in places experiencing a huge time of crises.
Neither do politicians.
When former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd broke down on air while being interviewed on The Today Show during the Victorian bushfires it made international headlines. However, what he and the reporters on the ground were witnessing was incredibly distressing.
Watch Kevin Rudd’s emotional moment with a victim of the Victorian bushfires (Post continues after video).
In the rush to fill the ever-growing 24-hour digital news cycle and in our desire as consumers for more information, it is easy sometimes to forget that the people reporting these horrific events are humans too.
Thousands of reporters and crew put themselves at great risk to bring us the stories we watch and read.
This week I feel very grateful for what they do.
Have you experienced a traumatic event first hand?
Top Comments
Hmmm yes but then they go looking for distraught people, stick a microphone in their face and say something stupid like...how does this make you feel about terrorists, and why is it Australian new shows are broadcasting from Paris anyway, if its not about getting ratings from a tragedy then what is it about?
They made such a big deal about Australians not travelling to Paris after the attacks, but the first thing the tv stations did was send their Australia-based reporters over there when they already have reporters living over there available to report from the locations. Ridiculous!