#Petition: Open Letter to Local TV Industry: Prioritize Reporter Safety. Stop Solo Live Shots

Open Letter to Local TV Industry: Prioritize Reporter Safety. Stop Solo Live Shots

MMJ Safety First started this petition to Gray TV, Sinclair , RTDNA , nexstar , CBS, NBC, FOX Broadcasting Company, Cox Broadcasting, Hearst, Spectrum, E​.​W. Scripps, Allen Media Broadcasting, and it now has 2,745 signatures

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Local TV Executives, We, current and former TV industry professionals, are calling on you to protect journalists and end the dangerous practice of solo live-shots.  Juggling the duties of a photographer and reporter and producer at the same time is hard enough. Shooting live shots alone leaves MMJs susceptible to creepers, dangerous neighborhoods, unsafe road conditions, hazardous weather, and more.  No 90-second live report is worth risking someone’s health and safety. It shouldn’t take a reporter in West Virginia getting hit by a car on live TV to make that clear.  Everything about that situation was wrong: she never should have been reporting alone, and it never should have happened in the dark. The choice to send her out despite these risks, for an innocuous story that probably didn’t warrant a live shot anyways, speaks volumes about the priorities of the local news industry.  In the wake of this incident, headlines across the country praised the reporter for her resilience and applauded her for finishing the report despite the near-miss that could have cost her her life. Her grace, composure, and good attitude are extremely commendable and inspiring, and I only wish the news outlets considered how and how she came to be in that compromising situation.  As a fellow TV reporter pointed out on Facebook, "No one would be praising a Department of Transportation worker who got hit on the job and continued working." We want every TV station to invest in reporter-photographer duos and to stop sending MMJs out alone to do live shots, and reports, in dangerous conditions. This needs to be the standard to protect every journalist from the very real dangers they face every day. Consider the following actions: STOP sending MMJs and reporters into dangerous weather conditions.  Consider using weather cameras or other means to show the audience current conditions instead of risking lives by asking reporters and photojournalists to head into blizzards, tornado zones, wildfires, flood zones, and extreme heat  STOP asking journalists to head into areas where there is an active crime scene (suspect on the loose, active shooting, etc) STOP sending reporters into dangerous neighborhoods PROTECT JOURNALISTS Invest time and resources into training journalists on what to do in a dangerous situation or if they encounter a dangerous or threatening person Give every single journalist access to basic safety equipment, such as visibility jackets, visibility cones, winter weather emergency kits, and train them on what to do in an emergency Every day, consider the relative safety risk against the value of their assignment. Is there a way the story could be effectively covered without having to endanger one of your employees? We are creative storytellers. There is ALWAYS a workaround and way to tell a story differently.  We became journalists to tell stories. Every day, we give a voice to the voiceless and hold the powerful accountable.  Today, we’re standing up as one to speak OUR truth and demand better working conditions for every reporter.  Protect Us. No More Solo Live Shots. #MMJSafetyFirst

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