CNN Reporter loses his humanity after Texas school shooting.

Duders, what's sup (yes, that was an ironic twist on the whole sup-thing).

As you might have heard by now, there was shots fired at a school in Texas today. Lone Star College in Houston was the latest victim for this cowardly action. Several people were injured. As any sane human being, this makes me angry.

Yet, I find that my attention is more drawn even more to a reporter over at CNN. The basterds name is Justin Lear, and he is a first class asshole. Why do I find this person to be the scum of the universe? You need look no further.

Thoughts?

need humanity

+1

(also I think you're being a little harsh, this was a way better situation than sandy hook and people were doing that there too; not to say he was right in doing it but meh)

Um... guy is just doing his job. Also If I hear a gunshot the first thing I do won't be to tweet about it...

Journalism is an ugly business

Bit of a dick but there are probably a lot of journalists who would do the same.

Snapping a photo is quicker than tweeting. Just sayin'.

@Animasta: While it might be true that it is not even near as bad, he is still a dick. Not scum of the universe but still a dick.

It's shitty.

Reminds me of them trying to interview kids after Sandy Hook. No class.

This isn't new, reporters have to do this to get the story. He's not an asshole, he has a job to do and this is what he has to do. Now if you want to talk about the current state of journalism and why these people have to do this to stay employed then that's something I can get behind.

@coakroach said:

Journalism is an ugly business

This. They salivate over tragedy. I don't watch the news because its all sensationalism and bullshit.

@gamefreak9 said:

Um... guy is just doing his job. Also If I hear a gunshot the first thing I do won't be to tweet about it...

Who knows how someone acts in a crisis? Maybe she was on Twitter when it happened, and her brain reacted that way. He had time to think about his actions. He asked a young girl if she had pictures of the school shooting she was in the middle of. There is no way around it, he's a dick.

@Animasta: beat me to it.

let's have a conversation about twitter and it's propriety in relation to on-going crimes.

So can somebody sum it up for somebody too lazy to click the link?

At the very least, the way he worded it did not conjure up images of an attractive person in my mind.

She didn't think to take any pictures, but she bothered to type up a short tweet message, punctuation and all.

Well that's just uncouth.

I think it would be hyperbole to say this man has lost his humanity, but yeah, it's pretty shitty to be this insensitive to someone who's just experienced going through potential mortal danger, and the fact that he did this for his job doesn't make it not shitty either.

@Video_Game_King said:

So can somebody sum it up for somebody too lazy to click the link?

come on dude, really, like I get that you have a schtick to uphold but christ

@Jay_Ray said:

This isn't new, reporters have to do this to get the story. He's not an asshole, he has a job to do and this is what he has to do. Now if you want to talk about the current state of journalism and why these people have to do this to stay employed then that's something I can get behind.

Remember when Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head? That was truly a dark day for journalism. Major outlets in the US, like Fox and CNN reported that she was dead, even though they had no confirmation. Despicable. All moral goes out the window in search of the best headlines.

@EuanDewar:

Why support this behavior by upping the link? Or whatever the logic behind that is.

You can't just say "I can't call out an individual" in a case like this and blame the larger body for it, being journalism here.

Individuals make up the larger body. People need to be called out or it will never change. How will we try to change this larger entity?

I always hate that argument.

@Video_Game_King: its just an image explaining what he did behind that link

Yes, it is his job. He is still a dick for it.

With all the buildup towards something unbelievably awful, seeing the actual thing he did was very underwhelming. A more appropriate statement might have been 'journalist is kind of a callous douchebag'.

Focusing on this guy and his forgettable dickishness in the wake of something actually really terrible happening seems dumb to me.

@RobertOrri said:

She didn't think to take any pictures, but she bothered to type up a short tweet message, punctuation and all.

Possibly because there is much less risk in sitting in a closed room, making no noise, typing a sentence on your phone than going out and seeing what all that gosh darned racket is and tryin' to snap a few pics. I'm not sure why she wasn't on the phone with the police either, but between Tweeting and playing secret agent with a camera, the former is the easy pick.

@Video_Game_King said:

So can somebody sum it up for somebody too lazy to click the link?

Nope.

I took two units of Journalism at University before I decided it was not for me. The thing they drum into you is that you're expected to do things that you're not always necessarily going to feel comfortable doing, buts its your job, and unfortunately this revolves entirely around getting the 'story', finding some sort of angle that makes it 'News'. How far you go with that is of course were the ethical debate lies.

It's sad that there are even attention-seeking, copycat criminals.

I'm finding more fault with the "Better tweet about this possible life ending event going on" more than someone getting the story about it.

@Soulreaverm said:

With all the buildup towards something unbelievably awful, seeing the actual thing he did was very underwhelming. A more appropriate statement might have been 'journalist is kind of a callous douchebag'. Focusing on this guy and his forgettable dickishness in the wake of something actually really terrible happening seems dumb to me.

I disagree. Journalism is moving into a place where it will not benefit anyone, and this is just one example. Whatever happened to taking pride in your work, or just showing the slightest piece of empathy. The two actions combined just shatter my faith in humanity.

@TooWalrus said:

Snapping a photo is quicker than tweeting. Just sayin'.

@TooWalrus@Colourful_Hippie@LikeaSsur

The girl was in a moment of crisis.

The thing is, not everyone handles a crisis well. Your body can shut down, your mind can shut down, you can do stuff that you aren't aware of. She wrote this message in the midst of gunfire. In her ordinary life, suddenly there were people shooting around her. And she later wrote on Twitter that she tweeted that message to prevent other people from going to the school. Pretty damn noble in my book.

This doesn't make him a monster, it makes him an idiot. All I'm saying.

He is a news Journalist, this is expected behaviour. Die hard even makes fun of such things....mainly with a punch to the face.

Also Mass Effect and many other films with the solution of a punch to their faces.

I'm finding more fault with the "Better tweet about this possible life ending event going on" more than someone getting the story about it.

@Legion_ said:

To everyone pointing out what the girl did, I say this:

SHE WAS IN A CRISIS

The thing is, not everyone handles a crisis well. Your body can shut down, your mind can shut down, you can do stuff that you aren't aware of. She wrote this message in the midst of gunfire. In her ordinary life, suddenly there were people shooting around her. And she later wrote on Twitter that she tweeted that message to prevent other people from going to the school. Pretty damn noble in my book.

I've actually been in a school shooting. It was post-columbine so there was a procedure in place, kill the lights, lock the door, and move out of sight from the door window. As long as the danger is behind a locked door, out of site, 'not immediate' etc, a school shooting is an adventure. Obviously the first thing everyone did was whip out their phones and start texting YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! (this was before Twitter, though).

@Legion_: I suppose I shouldn't act like I'm defending what the reporter did, he's a piece of shit, absolutely. I'm just saying that if she was really trying to warn people not to come to the school, she would have said something like "DON'T GO NEAR THE FUCKING SCHOOL". The tweet was a status update to her twitter friends- there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It seems pretty reasonable to me. The girl was obviously fine. Sending out a nice little "look at me" tweet from her phone. The guy took a chance and went for a story. In this fucked up world we have all created that's what he has to do.

Honestly, if I was a news journalist I would do the exact same thing.  But thats why I dont want to be a journalist.  

I'm sure he was aware of how he came off, but he had to do his job.

@Legion_: That was a really bad day for journalism, but you know, follow the money.

It's his job. It is what it is.

I am truly shocked by some of the responses here. Some of you actually have me believing in the whole "games desensitize duders"-thing.

Sorry bro that's the nature of journalism or any job really, you do what your paid to do, in his case get information for stories. This girl obviously felt ok enough to tweet about it, taking it to a public forum. So he should feel fine asking her for an interview on a public forum. If you ever watch the new they interview people all the time after a horrific thing, how do you think they go these people to talk on camera? The same way he did, by asking them.

Still not worse then the photographer that didnt help the guy who fell in front of the subway train. Claimed he knew he was to weak to help him, so the only thing he could think to do was use the flash on his camera to try and alert the driver of the train. Which of course took some nice photos at the same time. >.>

@Legion_ said:

I am truly shocked by some of the responses here. Some of you actually have me believing in the whole "games desensitize duders"-thing.

I bet even shit smells like bubblegum in your world of sunshine and rainbows. Dude has a job to do. That girl is a story. It's not like she was shot dead and he's desperately trolling her twitter asking for a quote from God.

@Jay_Ray said:

This isn't new, reporters have to do this to get the story. He's not an asshole, he has a job to do and this is what he has to do. Now if you want to talk about the current state of journalism and why these people have to do this to stay employed then that's something I can get behind.

Engh... no, I think he is definitely a jerk.

Especially insomuch as he is in a way encouraging her to TRY to get pictures, which is incredibly dangerous. I also don't think CNN was in any way interested in compensating her for those pictures.

The thing to say would be "get to safety"

Incidently, I used to go to that school...

I took a journalism course in uni once, and it's a pretty insensitive job. Your job is to find out information, and a lot of times that means discarding the feelings of those you're questioning.

@Animasta said:

need humanity

+1

I feel like this was the best possible response given the thread title.