Disaster and Humility

This morning I read a rather surprising story about a surviving passenger aboard the plane that crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. This individual, an executive at Samsung, began tweeting out information to the world almost immediately after the crash. Naturally, the cable news networks wanted to talk to him, but he said no, on the grounds that he didn’t want to divert attention from the crash and was just tweeting to let the world know that most of the passengers were OK.

He said NO? Is he a candidate for sainthood or just shy?

When I was a journalist, I was a little different. Some years ago, my town was rattled by a rather strong earthquake, which lasted what seemed like an eternity. Before the shaking stopped, I was on the phone to a national radio network. My wife observed that I hit that phone first before even asking how she was. She doesn’t hold it against me, saying I was just acting like a good reporter.

Cut to last year, where I was in the lead car of a metro train in the city where I live now. The train struck someone who was on the tracks. He had lain there deliberately, apparently. The train stopped, and I heard the engineer calling plaintively under the train, “Sir, are you OK?” Did I worry about how other passengers were reacting? I had no recorder with me, and probably would have used it to gather their reactions for news use. Instead, I was on the phone to the local news radio station immediately.

Should I be ashamed of this cold-fish behavior? I can’t say that I am, even though the Samsung guy at least started me thinking about it. Isn’t one of the chief motivations of the average professional journalist – or media outlet – to be there first with the information? Doesn’t part of the thrill come from knowing you are first, and if even for a few seconds, in complete control of the story?

Those of you who think this is a questionable motivation are no doubt thrilled to know that in this interconnected world, the media don’t control stories anymore. The people do. Humility is being forced on media folks, whether we like it or not. Professional reporters aren’t usually the first at the scene of breaking news. Information has been democratized. Media outlets depend on “civilians,” who carry all the necessary newsgathering equipment in their pockets. And the civilians are in control. If you don’t want to talk to CNN, as that Samsung guy didn’t, you don’t have to.

It’s clear to me, though, that I will not be joining him as he ascends into heaven. I am packing a Hawaiian shirt for the other place.

 

Subway Morality Play: What Would YOU Have Done?

For the past week or so, the New York Post photographer who took the picture of the guy on the subway tracks about to be hit by the train has been peppered with questions which are all basically the same: So why didn’t you put down your camera and act like a human being, meaning, try to rescue the victim?

The photog, who gamely submitted to the interviews to defend his reputation, said he was too far away, wasn’t strong enough to pull the guy out and that he was using his camera flash to try to alert the driver of the oncoming train. You can believe him or not, but is all this beside the point?

Newspeople, by inclination or by training or both, tend to perform in certain ways during crises. I had a similar train thing happen to me earlier this year. I was in the lead car of a commuter train that struck a man on the tracks as the train was pulling into a station platform, an apparent suicide. Was I trying to comfort my shaken-up fellow passengers? No, I was on the phone to the city’s top news radio station, where I had worked part-time once.

My wife reminds of the time an early-morning 7-point earthquake struck, awakening us. Did I roll over to see if she was OK? No, she, said, I was on the phone to a national radio network even before the shaking stopped.

So do I have ice water running through my veins? If necessary, I’ll get a blood sample for you, but the bottom line is, I had always behaved this way as a news professional. Someone asked me about this once, and my answer was that when disaster struck, I was more fortunate than most, because I had a job to do.

As has been frequently pointed out by reporters like Anderson Cooper of CNN, most people have no clue about how they might react in a crisis until that crisis arrives. The average milktoast wimp might perform like a superhero, while sometimes those who are expected to lead shrivel up in terror at the prospect of making a life-or-death decision under extreme pressure.

You can go back to the Bible for a perfect example. Jesus expected Simon Peter to deny him three times, and even told him so, saying a rooster would crow after the third time. Peter assured Christ that he would always have his back. But as predicted, when the bad guys asked Peter if he knew Jesus, he said in effect, never heard of him, and the cock crowed. And yet, Jesus shortly thereafter founded his church, naming Peter (Greek for “rock”) its leader. Was that the behavior of a “rock”? Go figure.

To return to that New York subway scene, many others besides the Post photographer maybe could have helped the victim, but didn’t, instead taking their own smart-phone pictures. And then, of course, we might consider the New York Post editors, who, under much less pressure, decided to publish their photographer’s shocking photo on the front page.

We are all very complex creatures, and “acting like a human being” can, fortunately or unfortunately, have many meanings. But judging too quickly can be a dangerous business too.

Miles to Go Before We Sleep

“It ain’t over till it’s over,” quoth Yogi (did he really say that?). According to the “copybox numbers” most of the pundits are scoring the debate in Mitt Romney’s favor. President Obama had rhetorical weapons that he didn’t use, some said. The President is a great orator, but debating is actually a different skill from speechmaking. Romney did a better job of marshaling facts and figures, but Obama actually scored some solid counterpunches. Personally, I was pleased that the two men stuck to the issues and that the discussion was relatively zinger-free. My immediate conclusion is that that these are two very smart people, and in spite of what you may hear, the country is not going to collapse if either one is elected.

The debate really didn’t decide anything, but it sure leaves me wanting to hear the other ones on different topics, such as foreign policy. I feel a little bit sorry for those engaging in early voting. Undoubtedly, some had cast their vote before hearing the debate, which presumably would provide vital information about whom to vote for. I am in favor of early voting, but more like a week, not this early, as in Ohio.

As I said in a previous post, those voting this early may be depriving themselves of those final pieces of the puzzle that would give them a clear picture of these candidates. When it comes to jobs, I am of the firm belief that this is an issue that neither candidate has any real control over, and to pretend that they do is just babble.

Candidates say things in these forums that may or may not reflect their real beliefs. It’s up to us as observers to determine whether they’re being genuine, and whether they give us the feeling that they could lead. One CNN observer said we voters are looking for a Moses who could lead us all out of the mess we’re in. That may be aiming a little high, but the two Presidents whose last name was Roosevelt provided some pretty good models. Yes, I have a preference among the current two, but that preference could still change in the weeks ahead.

One individual who seemed to get universally bad reviews was Jim Lehrer, the PBS news anchor who was the moderator. I think I could solve the moderator’s problem by going down to the trophy shop and spending about $20 on a little thing called a GAVEL. I used to moderate local election debates in the town I lived in, and I found that there is nothing more effective at silencing candidates who are over-babbling. Even if they continue to talk while the gavel is being struck, they look and sound “out of order.” It would make a huge difference, trust me.

Back in the USSR

Today, one of my Facebook friends, who has not pulled the plug on me – yet – reminded me that I should count my blessings and not the number of FB friends. Another, hearing the news about the sentencing of three members of the Russian female band Pussy Riot for “hooliganism,” reminded me that with all the fussing that’s going on in this country righr now, at least it isn’t Russia. There’s one for the blessings list!

This band staged an anti-Putin protest in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. Inappropriate, perhaps – but getting locked up for two years? By those standards, we’d have to build a huge new prison here for the folks at Fox News and another for those at MSNBC. Poor CNN, their problem is these days that they can’t get arrested – but that’s another story.

This Pussy Riot thing will be one to watch. The Putin regime has a repressive track record, most recently supporting the regime in Syria and blocking action there by the rest of the world -- but this time, in a social media age, entertainment celebs – young women – are being messed with, band members who have the support of Paul McCartney and Madonna. Keep an eye on this one, folks – this story will definitely have legs. Those who have lived for decades under repression of various types tend to be a little passive, but will this incident wake up the Russian people?

The only saving grace here is that Mr. Putin tends to care what people think of him. He has expressed support recently for leniency toward these young women. What do you want to bet that he steps in and commutes their sentence (I assume he can do that), so the rest of the world will think he’s a nice guy after all?