As a former television news reporter, I’m always bashing those gutless, blow-dryed wannbees in the modern version of television news who stand for and report nothing. But it’s very rare to see it played out on video in such blatant form. So it's with glee that I present this amazing story.
In this YouTube video, one reporter, who should be celebrated, stands up to not only the University of Tennessee’s athletic PR hack, but to those in his own profession who bow down and roll over to anything the University wants.
The hero here is Bill Shory, news director at WBIR-TV in Knoxville. It’s at a press conference when Lane Kiffin, the coach of the University’s Volunteers, is about to resign. The school proposes a “pre-presser” that will be done off camera, and then the news photographers can turn their cameras on.
Shory said no. This is a public university in a public building and there are to be no secrets, he declared. One would think his media colleagues would agree with Shory, but they don’t. They support the side of university against their own interests and nearly shout Shory down.
This video is typical of the milquetoast media operating today. Afraid of their own shadow — even fighting with their own to limit what few rights they have. It’s sad indeed and why few in television news should continue to be believed.
(Thanks to Lost Remote for reporting this story.)
