A local news reporter is dealing with backlash after she was caught making remarks that have been seen as insensitive.
The New York Post reports that Sharifa Jackson, a reporter at WXTX in Columbus, Ga., made the blunder. The station has been covering the search for a 4-year-old boy who fell into the Chattahoochee River on March 28, and Jackson’s microphone picked her up saying: “I am so over this. I don’t know. I don’t think they are going to find him.”
While Jackson apparently did not know her mic was live, her comments were mistakenly aired before the 7 p.m. news broadcast on Tuesday, prompting outrage on social media.
“Authorities said witnesses saw Beau Rabon and his 27-year-old father, James R. Rabon, fishing when the boy fell into the water,” The Post reports. “The dad, known as Ryan to friends and family, went in after his son. Search and rescue crews recovered James Rabon’s body on Sunday, news station WBRL reported.”
The young boy’s mom, Allison Rabon, was among those commenting online, posting on a Facebook page: “They will find my baby! Some Reporters are so vultures I’m realizing.”
WXTX, a Fox affiliate, issued a statement saying: “We apologize that those comments were broadcast live. They do not reflect the views of that reporter or our news team when it comes to our approach covering this tragic story.”
That’s why you watch what you say when you’re miced!! Duh..
Apparently they do reflect the views of the reporter. She said it. She meant it. Dumbass.
This.
I was always told, if there is a mic, assume it is on. I can understand how a reported can get jaded and careless around equipment. If you learn to self-regulate your talk early, you won’t make mistakes later.