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Media on Fire Scenes


Chicago2008

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Good evening,

I have always wondered what the relationship is in the Chicago area between the media and PD/FD personal on fire scenes? The reason I ask is because I know a Chicago firefighter that has had some not good experiences with the media on scenes. Some examples include a camera man jumping into the back of a Ambulance, him getting annoyed at having to tell them to talk with the chief, and finally reporters/photographers getting in the way. I would like you thoughts on this? Thanks.

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Good evening,

I have always wondered what the relationship is in the Chicago area between PD/FD personal on fire scenes? The reason I ask is because I know a Chicago firefighter that has had some not good experiences with the media on scenes. Some examples include a camera man jumping into the back of a Ambulance, him getting annoyed at having to tell them to talk with the chief, and finally reporters/photographers getting in the way. I would like you thoughts on this? Thanks.

It's a balancing act and crews take whatever the authorities allow... it all depends on The Who/what/where factor in the situation as to what they will allow or even notice. Getting directly in the way is a good way to get detained, especially jumping in an ambulance.

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Could you explain how it is a balancing act? Do you mean trying to get the best shots and report the situation without interfering with the operation? Finally have crews ever started an argument with PD/FD personal after being asked or more likely told to move? I could imagine that is also a good way to get detained or arrested.

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Could you explain how it is a balancing act? Do you mean trying to get the best shots and report the situation without interfering with the operation? Finally have crews ever started an argument with PD/FD personal after being asked or more likely told to move? I could imagine that is also a good way to get detained or arrested.

Generally I wouldn't think they would argue and yes that's exactly what I mean... you try to stay out of the way...

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It really depends on agency to agency. From the media's perspective, some agencies are great to work with, others across town may be horrible. I'd like to think that most news professionals are usually pretty good at fostering trust and respecting boundaries in crime/crash scenes, but at the same time, sometimes fire and police tell so little that it makes our jobs that much harder to do. I've never heard of anybody jumping into an ambulance, though — doing that is asking for trouble, if that actually happened. I find that anecdote a little hard to believe.

 

It really is a balancing act. As public institutions, they do have some responsibility to deal with us, but where, when, and how that happens isn't necessarily defined by law. And that goes both ways too — they rely on us to help get information out, though I know it's frustrating for them when we only focus on all the wrongdoing and not so much on all the good work that they do everyday.

 

All things considered, the police and fire hold all the cards, and media can only tell their side of the story in a lot of cases, and that's not always the full story.

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