To be fair and honest, there isn't much "journalism" going on in television news these days. Its just a bunch of over sensationalized BS. That's what I see from the networks all the way down to local TV here in the U.S. I know the priorities where I work are 1. Be LIVE no matter what and 2. keep the story to 1:15 or less. Nothing else seems to matter. We all know some stories can be very complex with a lot of information. Doesn't matter, needs to be 1:15 so a lot of important information gets left out and the story either doesn't make sense or we gloss over something really important and really don't tell the viewers anything. Or you get out on a story you've been assigned and find out its not a story but are forced to make it work anyway because we have a black hole to fill.
That being said, we really are the bad guys. I hear it all the time from viewers when I'm out on the street. I'm the one having to explain decisions I have no control over. It sucks. Sometimes reporters get frustrated when we can't get anyone to talk to us for a story and I always tell the reporter that I wouldn't talk to us either. How many times have you or your reporter called someone at 3:30 or 4p wanting answers about a complex story as that person is leaving work for the day and then get mad when that person can't or won't give you an on-camera interview right then and there for a story that night? We do it a lot and get mad when the person says they can talk tomorrow. Would you want to have to stay an hour or so to look up the information and wait on the TV crew to do an interview when you feel they've had all day to call you and do this but the station waits till the end of the day? I'd be pissed off too and would say no. Then we turn around and say something in the story like "so and so would not talk to us on camera today" making them look like the bad guy. Its ridiculous.
The absolute worse is when you interview someone and then get the script and you have sound bites butted up against each other that make the person seem like they said something they didn't. Or you pull a 6 second sound bite that takes the person completely out of context. Happens all the time. The kicker is getting back from your story then seeing a tease run, sometimes with a sound bite, that is completely and totally false and not what the story is about. Got to be sexy with those teases. To be clear, all of this happens at every TV station, not just where I work. I don't even watch TV news anymore because I know how much of a joke it is. Viewers notice too.
I've told my friends and family that if something happens and the tv cameras show up, do NOT say anything, not even to a reporter off camera because they might be recording audio and you not know it and next thing you know you're on the news when you didn't know they were rolling.
Honestly, its actually surprising to me that more TV crews haven't been the target of shootings here in the U.S. I feel its only a matter of time. I always have my head on a swivel expecting it to happen at any time.