Are students more professional than the pros?
Mike Ziegler
-Photo Editor-
There is a laundry list of skills required for today’s journalists, but only a handful are really needed to get the job done. Storytelling skills, of course, are a must. Interviewing and accurately portraying your subject’s responses while telling the story fairly is another. It should go without saying that having a professional demeanor while on assignment lies near the top of the list, but you would not know it if you attended the last STLCC Board of Trustees meeting.
A reporter, known for his hit-and-run style reporting, was also covering the meeting and that presence was felt from the moment you walked in the room. Recognized for his coverage on the spending of taxpayer money and being on the receiving end of a slamming door, the reporter also in attendance was Elliott Davis of Fox 2 News.
Typically, at least during every previous meeting attended by this reporter and other Montage reporters, attendees get their choice of seating. This meeting, however, press were assigned seating in the very back of the room. Could this be because of Davis’s attendance?
Upon entering the room, Davis was seated, reading the newspaper in the first of the two rows allotted for press — his cameraman seated next to him. After shooting b-roll of trustees entering the room, the meeting started. Davis continued reading the newspaper, oblivious to items being discussed, while occasionally blocking the view of a presentation in the front of the room and distracting others around him.
Breaking the unwritten rule of meetings, Davis’s phone went off not once, but three times with a ringtone similar to something played during evacuation scenes in films. After he quietly commented about falling asleep due to the dryness of the meeting, I was asked on at least four occasions throughout the meeting where we were in the agenda.
All this occurred while student journalists, including myself, tweeted interesting bits of the meeting and responded to replies on Twitter, took notes and followed the agenda. Based on an “Achieving the Dream” initiative article from the Chronicle of Education on the floor next to Davis, one could assume that is what attracted his attendance. However, footage from the meeting has yet to make an on-air appearance.
After the meeting concluded, the ambush was on, something undoubtedly anticipated by everyone in the room. Notable administration avoided any direct contact with Davis, some unable to escape the camera spotlight. Chairwoman Melissa Hattman dashed into a back room after the final gavel, limiting access not just to Davis, but any other reporters or public in attendance.
The cause behind Davis’s visit I am sure is one worthy of coverage, but the means of collecting material for the three-minute segment were the most unprofessional I have seen from any reporter.
Investigative reporting of taxpayer money is something we need as a community and is the duty of a journalist, but let us stick to reporting and not show-tactics that make for good TV while putting any others also digging for the truth at a disadvantage as a result.
Stereotypically, this behavior may be expected from college journalists in attendance, but it was easy to pinpoint who the actual professionals were.
