As a young man lost his life at a Midtown apartment this morning, I found myself on the other end of the microphone. I’ll explain that in a moment.
As far as we know, the man lost his life due to a fall from a second-story balcony. It was apparently a tragic accident, with the possibility of alcohol being part of the reason for the fall. Needless to say, the man’s friends were devastated.
Part of my job on mornings like this one is to try to talk to those who knew the deceased personally. As you might imagine, this can be particularly difficult for me, let alone them. It is not uncommon to be met with anger when I make these attempts.
In the view of those who have just lost a friend, I am nothing more than a glory-hungry member of the paparazzi, eager to exploit the death of their friend for my own personal gain.
I understand this view entirely. As I mentioned, I’ve been on both ends of the microphone.
When I was a senior in high school, I lost three friends in a terrible car crash on the highway. As I walked to lunch the next day, a news camera appeared and a microphone was jammed in my face. My response was less than polite.
This morning, I found myself on the other end of that situation. And while I’m not in the habit of “jamming” microphones in peoples’ faces, I now understand better the job of a journalist in these moments of tragedy.
As myself and others explained to the man we finally interviewed this morning, his going on tape or going on camera helps better tell the story of who his friend was in life. That person becomes much more than just a statistic you hear on the news.
If handled with journalistic integrity, these situations can turn into touching tributes to those who lost their lives unexpectedly. If handled the wrong way, however, journalists like myself will continue to be given a bad name by the few bad apples in the bunch.