LIVE EVENTS, JUDGEMENTAL AUDIENCE AND DEMORALISING REPORTERS

Understand the key facts. Narrow down the angles of the presentation. Then when the cue comes, remain calm, look straight at the camera and talk the viewer through the salient points of the news story. Everything is supposed to come alive, when you go live.  But that is often not the case in the life of a broadcast journalist. In the middle of a live event, the audience should not demoralise reporters by being too judgemental.

The intention is to be professional but the outcome may sometimes not profess broadcast brilliance.

This is especially so, when caught up in a tension-packed event like a terror attack.

The basic tenets of questioning an interviewee can hibernate to the remotest corners of the psychic plane, and what comes out can dangerously border on blatant violations of ethical standards.

Even fort the most experienced, the path to a clean and professional presentation is littered with so many potentially debilitating elements.

It could be a very firm realisation that English is not your first language, and this added pressure could make it even harder for one's brain to seamlessly translate thoughts coming through in mother tongue, bearing in mind that the tape is rolling and the feed is also live on air.

The loss of composure could translate into a seemingly uncontrollable flow of sweat, with the eyes fixated at the camera lens, and the neck tie feeling like an ever-tightening noose, in full public glare.

Relaying live pictures of security operations seeking to rescue lives from imminent peril is frowned upon.

And so should live streaming of destructive social media criticism that ends up demoralising reporters trying their best to keep the public informed, and much more, despite the evident danger.