-- BECOMING THE NEWS - The Sequel

[b-roll]

Contributed by John Woods

Well, it happened.

No, not a car wreck.**And no, I didn’t get a “dewie” after a long day of covering car wrecks.

I was assaulted.

And by a girl, none the less!* Well, I guess “technically” there is no*gender, because I was assaulted by*Mother Nature (insert collective groan)…



http://www.b-roll.net/tv/view_video.php?viewkey=fdadf96152ca6e640806

Here’s that day in a nut shell…

Reporter Marcus Moore and I*were out at the Kansas Speedway to*slap together*YET ANOTHER economy story.* The angle this time?* How racing events bring jobs to KC… compelling, I know.* However, the approach of inclement weather changed our fate,*and we were sent to capture the storm.

This chase*started just*like the hundreds before it:* drive toward the convection, find the updraft, try to stay parallel to it -*and by all means -*stay ahead of it.

We did all of this…*except for that last part.**Initially, when*we found the rotating part of the storm, we did stay well in front of it as it dropped the tornado.* It was only*moving 35mph and nearly parallel to I-70, so we had quite a bit of time to*move when it grew close.* We would drive, stop, shoot, let it creep to within a mile of us,*and repeat.

After about three or four cycles of repositioning, the tornado finally crossed the highway behind us to the north side of I-70.* I thought “Great!* We don’t have to move as fast because we’re in the clear.”* Bad idea.* As you can*probably tell from*the video, we were not*in the clear.**I had forgotten that just ahead of us, I-70 jogs back to the north.* On top of that, the tornado changed direction.* It turned back southeast… it came back across the highway… and it passed over my reporter and I.

And what’s worse is that I let it happen.* I could have*avoided the entire situation.* We didn’t need to be that close.* We could have stayed ahead of the storm.* But*we didn’t.* Why?* Because I became overconfident.

There’s something about being behind that lens.**I almost feel detached from reality. *You can be taping something a block away and feel like you’re miles away.* I mean how imposing can a little black-and-white screen be?* When I’m looking through that viewfinder, I feel pretty safe.**And*to feel that way is stupid, I know this.* But there’s a sense of comfort behind the camera.* It’s been my home away from home for years now.* I know it.* I’m familiar with it.* It’s been a pain in my neck, an ache in my back, and I swear it’s made my right eye nearsighted, but I love it.

Of course,*there are no excuses.

A camera is not a bullet proof vest,*or a bodyguard, or a “get out of danger free” card.* It’s a hunk of plastic and glass.* Let’s face it - I knew better.* I had*chased storms safely for 16 years.* I knew the danger, and I went in anyway.* I made a bad decision, and because of that decision, we became the news.

So is this why “becoming the news”*is one of our greatest fears as journalists?* Not all news is bad news.* Do*we associate being on camera with only the horrifying events that we cover instead of the wonderful ones?* Or are we camera-shy to a fault, where we actually take a job behind the camera to ensure that*we don’t end up in front of it?* Maybe it’s the simple fact that if you get in an accident*with a big name reporter, the headline will read “DIRK IRONCHIN* (and one other) INJURED IN CAR WRECK”.

* my apologies to any reporter with the same name as my fictional example.

Either way, I’m just lucky that neither of us were injured or (God forbid) killed.* Hopefully, 16 years from now, I can once again proclaim that I’ve been chasing storms SAFELY for 16 years.

Oh, and I’m suing the hell out of Mother Nature.* Hey, assault is assault!* If anyone knows her current address, I’d appreciate an email.



More...

[JimmyS.]

Holy cow. From about 8:00 minutes to the end... How freaking intense is that? I'm glad you let the raw on there without ruining the event with a reporter track. Wow.

Ironically... I became the news, too. 6:02pm, July 2nd, 2002. Struck by lightning. There were floods in our area and everyone had been covering them for a couple of days. It looked like the worst was over. Then, our weather people said there was another storm coming from the southwest so I headed out there. Got out of the news unit, set up the tripod and trusty betacam and started shooting. Next thing I know, the loudest sound ever. My vision went white and I realized I was yelling, but I was okay. Or, so I thought. I got on the Nextel and told the desk that I had to get out of there because of lightning. 60 seconds later more or less... My stomoch started cramping, jaws were tingling... I pulled over and then my entire body cramped up and I was paralized. I was in and out of conscienceness until the ambulance arrived. They put an ivy in me, ripped all my clothes. My hands were curled up for hours. Man, that was the worst experience I ever felt. For several months I had severe migraines... So bad that I had to sleep in a closet with all the lights out. Light hurt my eyes. I also had short term memory loss for awhile. I used to carry a small pad with me everywhere. If I went to the store, sometimes I would forget where I lived. At work, I would walk through the news room to the back and before I got there I would totally forget where I was going and what I was doing. I tried to hide the problem best I could. but, several people knew what was going on. Eventually those symptoms went away, though.
How do I know the time? My watch stopped at the strike.
Oh... The betacam survived for awhile and I believe it saved my life. A few months later when it stopped working our engineer found that the ribbon cable was fused to the body. Thanks mother nature.

I'm glad you made it out of there okay. Jeez, what an experience. That video is some the most intense tornado video I've seen. I was impressed that you two kept on working but stayed 'human' at the same time.

[Corey]

Amazing stories... Thanks for sharing!

Jimmy, that'll make me think twice before setting up in a lighting storm. Glad to hear you're ok now!

There’s something about being behind that lens.**I almost feel detached from reality. *You can be taping something a block away and feel like you’re miles away.* I mean how imposing can a little black-and-white screen be?* When I’m looking through that viewfinder, I feel pretty safe.**And*to feel that way is stupid, I know this.* But there’s a sense of comfort behind the camera.* It’s been my home away from home for years now.* I know it.* I’m familiar with it.* It’s been a pain in my neck, an ache in my back, and I swear it’s made my right eye nearsighted, but I love it.

Love that paragraph, saw it on Lenslinger's blog and connected with it... there is a huge sense of comfort when you're behind the lens, alot of times you don't remember that it's real 'till you watch it back.

[woodsiecam]

Originally Posted by JimmyS.

Ironically... I became the news, too. 6:02pm, July 2nd, 2002. Struck by lightning. There were floods in our area and everyone had been covering them for a couple of days. It looked like the worst was over. Then, our weather people said there was another storm coming from the southwest so I headed out there. Got out of the news unit, set up the tripod and trusty betacam and started shooting. Next thing I know, the loudest sound ever. My vision went white and I realized I was yelling, but I was okay. Or, so I thought. I got on the Nextel and told the desk that I had to get out of there because of lightning. 60 seconds later more or less... My stomoch started cramping, jaws were tingling... I pulled over and then my entire body cramped up and I was paralized. I was in and out of conscienceness until the ambulance arrived. They put an ivy in me, ripped all my clothes. My hands were curled up for hours. Man, that was the worst experience I ever felt. For several months I had severe migraines... So bad that I had to sleep in a closet with all the lights out. Light hurt my eyes. I also had short term memory loss for awhile. I used to carry a small pad with me everywhere. If I went to the store, sometimes I would forget where I lived. At work, I would walk through the news room to the back and before I got there I would totally forget where I was going and what I was doing. I tried to hide the problem best I could. but, several people knew what was going on. Eventually those symptoms went away, though.
How do I know the time? My watch stopped at the strike.
Oh... The betacam survived for awhile and I believe it saved my life. A few months later when it stopped working our engineer found that the ribbon cable was fused to the body. Thanks mother nature.

Holy crap! I'd say that's a little more crazy than my ditch diving. You don't have any side effects from the strike? If you've made a full recovery, that is amazing. Lightning scares the crap out of me - more than anything else. Glad you came out of it relatively unscathed!