Camera operator sacked

[Ben Longden]

A Camera operator employed by Nine News has been sacked following an incident outside a court house.

After trailing the man and his son for some time, words were exchanged and at one stage the camera operator retaliated by calling the man a "fu%#ing terrorist".

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/

Ben

 

[cameragod]

Well I think he's got a case for unfair dismissal. The pair could have walked away at any time but they kept coming back to harass and push the cameraman who was doing nothing illegal... should he have called the father a terrorist??? probably not but he had just ben pushed and yelled at... maybe he felt a bit terrorized?
Spoken to yes but fired no.

 

[shootist]

A talk with the cameraman first for sure but absent any extraordinary circumstances (anything verifiable that may have occurred off-camera) I'd have say that was a fireable offense in my view. Seemingly over-the-top in so many ways.

 

[cameragod]

I don't know, at one point it looked like Mr Gad Amr pushed the camera into Simon's face, we all know how much that can hurt, not the smart thing to yell angry abuse as they walk away but sackable???

 

[Frank McBride]

You simply can't have someone from your station/network say something like that and not respond severely. Assuming we saw a reasonably valid representation of what happened, the photographer crossed the line in his use of language and calling the man a terrorist. He started out with the only proper response. "I'm just doing my job." He should have stuck with that.

FMc

 

[Lensmith]

I know if one of our news camera folk had done what the Nine News guy did...they would be out of a job.

There's no excuse for provoking and insulting someone like that. You keep your mouth shut and keep the tape rolling. If they say something, you've got it. If they don't say anything, you still have the images you need for your story.

Anyone seeing this will now assume, and rightly so, that there is a good possibility any confrontation they see in the future on camera, could very well have been a provoked response. It damages the professional work of others. No different than a bad cop's actions making every other cops job more difficult because people will now paint all members with a very wide brush.

 

[MtnShooter]

Ever see a photog outside a courthouse or shooting a perp walk yell: "You fu**ing murderer," or "You fu**king child molester?" We all might have thought it; but to step over the line and actually do it is unprofessional and inexcusable.

Time for that shooter to get out of news and do something else.

 

[adam]

As I thought about it, it's pretty interesting that the other crew had the foresight to shoot the whole event with the other crew in the frame. It's an unusual choice and I wonder if they sensed trouble.