Well...after seeing the video...I realized I know members of that crew.
Talked to them this afternoon to find out what the heck went on. Yes, this is only the side of the network crew. Not the local reporter or photog. But...I'll tell you what they told me.
The crew arrived at 3:30 in the morning. They got permission from the owner of the gas station to set up and do all the GMA hits from that specific location.
They set up for the live hits with full network lighting, including sat truck. A very rushed job. Champion was running on no sleep as well. There were audio issues. Up until the very last minute all on the crew were involved on getting lighting and shot set as well as trouble shooting the audio problems. A difficult set up in a difficult location.
The local crew shows up an hour or so later. The indication I got was the reporter wanted to be right where the GMA crew was. Insisting that she had every right to be right in that exact spot as they did...even though they were late and the lighting and background were set to go. Just audio problems still being addressed and calls from New York coming in constantly to find out how soon and "if" there was going to be a shot.
Full disclosure...though I won't pass along his name...I've known the photog since he was 18 years old. He's been a long time network freelancer. "Long time" in the sense that he's been freelance more than twenty years. This following a ten year plus staff career. He is probably one of the nicest, most patient people I've ever known. I've never seen him lose it, be rude, or even get pushy in a scrum. He'll hold his ground but never throw an elbow...unlike me.
Anyway...the point is this guy is a long time pro. He talked with the reporter who had a major attitude. Why? Even he couldn't understand it since there was plenty of storm damage to go around. For some reason, some people think they have to prove something when they are around network crews. Yes, there are jerk network crews. But there are also plenty of small market people who act out because it's "their town" and they feel they have to prove it in some form or another.
The photographer, producer, even the soundie all took turns trying to calmly explain to the reporter this was their location that they'd staked out and set up on, again, with direct permission from the owner of the property. They were not trying to keep the local FOX crew away from anything. Like many of us, they assumed they'd use the background they'd lit up and do their own shot without interfering with the job the network guys were in the process of accomplishing.
Sam Champion was busy getting his info together to go live when he looked up and saw the local FOX crew headed their way. He realized they were actually going to come "on set" and that's when he held up his clip board and said what he said.
I too thought he was pretty low key addressing this FOX crew. I don't think I would have been as "soft". The proof is in the video. The words are there to hear. What Champion was referring to was the location to the side that the crew could still do their shot from when talking about "over where you're supposed to be".
The network crew felt the photog was "just following orders". He did what he was told to do...by whomever. The net crew said he was chiming in to support the reporter during the earlier "discussion" about the crew coming on set during their live shot but...the reporter was, without a doubt, the pushy one trying to run the show. Though...I've never understood a photog who has no spine, doing something that is wrong just because someone tells him to do it...but that's just me.
The video was not only posted on the FOX station web site, but because it involved Sam Champion, also ended up on other sites like TMZ and even the KOKH facebook page.
I have no sympathy for the local crew. Yes, I've only heard one side of the story, but with that story and seeing the tape, I have a pretty good idea who was in the wrong here. If the network crew had really wanted to push it, they could have asked the owner of the property to kick the local FOX crew out but that was not something they were interested in doing...even though they could have since it was private property and the net crew was operating with permission of the owner and the FOX crew was not. The net crew was there to do their job...and they did. The local crew seems to me to have decided the story they were sent to cover was not as important as trying to push their way around to prove some personal agenda.
In my eyes, the FOX crew are fools and are a perfect example of the bad element of television news we all know exists at some small level in all places.
Feel free to throw stones my way but I figured I'd share what I learned right from the scene instead of playing guessing games about people and a video I didn't know. In this case...I happened to know several of the crew members very well and can't help but take their side in this issue after hearing them explain what happened to me first hand.
By the way...this was not the first time this crew has worked with Sam Champion and they said the same thing about Champion that Icarus did. A great guy to work with even under stress. I think the video even proves what a patient guy he is..even if many of us may not have been as "polite" with interlopers as he was.
< note: edited for stupid spelling mistakes >
