Opinion: Live shots should not be done alone

Next week Tori Yorgey will be employed at WTAE-TV (4) here in Pittsburgh as a general assignment reporter. But, as you’ve probably heard by now, that almost didn’t happen. Recently Yorgey was doing an early morning live report from a water main break for WSAZ-TV in Huntington, West Virginia earlier this week when she was struck by a car on live TV. Fortunately for her she was not hit very hard and somehow maintained composure while finishing up the report. The driver of the car was apologetic and it was an accident. Yorgey was checked out at the hospital and was fine.

Frankly, this is the result of corporations being too cheap to pay for a cameraman… a now all-too-frequent occurrence with smaller market stations, and I worry the larger markets will someday adapt to this practice too.

Technology has advanced in recent years that you see many on-air reporters in the field with their own cameras, or even smartphones and tablets standing on a tripod with no one to operate them. Isn’t it nice to think of the money the station is saving by not having to pay a camera man to go with her? Yeah… uh huh. News crews need to travel “like nuns” – in pairs. The camera man not only serves as an employee but also watches out for the reporter and vice versa.

Frankly if I was a big corporate attorney for the TV corporations, I’d be screaming at the station managers to rethink the one person does everything model… or immediately cancel all live shots. Of course it’s not a guarantee that something won’t happen, but it’s better to pay employees now than the cost of potential lawsuits and higher medical coverage later.

Just my two cents. Your mileage may vary…

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Tori!