Thursday, November 3, 2011

Topless Journalist Reports on Naked Drunk Driver.

A REPORTER IN Ohio covered the court case of a woman arrested for drunk driving and speeding. The accused drunk driver was nearly naked when arrested.

This report brings about a number of questions:

• Is the drunk driver story actually newsworthy?
• Were the photographer and videographer attacked?
• Did we need to see the reporter topless in the car?
• Is it acceptable for journalists to air the surveillance video?
• Is this "story" handled responsibly?

5 comments:

Alexis Wilkinson said...

I don’t really think it is newsworthy. There are many drunk drivers that do not get reported on and I feel the only reason why this story was reported was because the driver was nearly naked. They used this to drawn in ratings and viewers. I do not think anyone was attached and I actually laughed when the reporter stated at the end that no one was harmed in the making of the video. I once again feel the reporter went “topless” as a way to get ratings/ viewers. I think as long as the police said it was fine to view the surveillance video there is nothing wrong with the reporters showing it, but once again I think it was only shown for ratings since the woman was almost nude. I think the story was handled like a joke.

Nick Filauro said...

This was hybrid news-at-9AM and something you'd see on the Daily Show. It's slightly newsworthy because of how unusual it is and proximity to the people in the area, and in the end it's probably being broadcast during a light news hour. The naked reporter, while funny, isn't exactly practicing steadfast journalism. This was more entertainment than news.

Anonymous said...

This made my skin crawl with embarrassment for everyone involved in the story. And for me, because I had to watch it.

Men are arrested every day for driving drunk. Sometimes they're shirtless, and often they're belligerent. Where's the news stories on those men? Oh, right. The only damn reason this was on tv is because it was a woman acting like a fool, and being naked.
Stalking her, her lawyer and harassing both of them isn't useful or interesting journalism. There's a few other more important things happening in the world that the station could be spending its resources on. It's a crass, sexist and offensive story.
- beth

Alexis Byrd said...

I believe that this was only reported for entertainment, and to get a few kicks and laughs from viewers. Drunk driving is a serious crime, and it can lead to death, or near death experiences. I do not think it is right for this to be over exposed just because the woman was naked.

Shauna Bannan said...

As far as newsworthiness goes, I suppose this story could fall under the "unusual" category. Yes, drunk drivers get pulled over all of the time, and I'm sure men appear shirtless all of the time as well. It's not everyday that a naked woman is pulled over. However, I think the story was handled very immaturely. There was absolutely no need for the reporter to mock the woman as he broadcasted shirtless. I'm sure he just did it to raise his and the network's rankings. Unethical? Yes. Although it is an unusual story that may be considered newsworthy, it would have been a better story for the police log in a local newspaper, where the nude and mockery can't be seen.