Saving the unnamed news photographer
Who was the photog who Redlands fire personnel saved from a potentially shocking experience in the mountains?
Battalion Chief Cameron Teter and Capt. Scott McDonald are both set to be honored at Tuesday's council meeting for keeping a photographer away from an energized power line that tumbled to the ground on Oct. 27 near Arrowbear Lake. Redlands fire crews were "up the hill" that day to assist other firefighters who were mopping up the Slide Fire's remaining hot spots.
A Sun photographer and videographer both assured me that none of our co-workers was the unnnamed photographer who, according to the city's proclamation, "continued past a safe distance and ignoring warnings from both BC Teter and Capt. McDonald, began walking toward the area of the downed power line ... BC Teter and Capt. McDonald both moved quickly to the photographer's location, and stopped him just before he made contact with the power line."
My co-workers said they haven't heard any scuttlebutt about anyone from any other inland publications being the aforementioned photographer, but I've never met a photog who would boast about having to be rescued from possible electrocution. I'll be surprised if this guy shows up to the City Council meeting.
California law (Penal Code 409.5) allows news media to access disaster zones, but it's interesting to note that during a fire safety meeting held at our newsroom earlier this year with a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Bill Peters, myself and other Sun reporters were reminded that emergency responders are not necessarily required to rescue media personnel who wind up in trouble covering a fire, flood, earthquake etc... When I was in college I read a little guide on media law that called the PC 409.5 something along the lines of the "everybody has a right to get killed law."
Of course, Peters noted that firefighters, like Redlands' Teter and McDonald, are likely to help out a reporter or photographer in trouble anyway. I've never wound up in that kind of situation myself, but there was a time a few months back when there was a bomb scare in Rialto and a police lieutenant warned me that I was standing to close to the possible blast area.
It didn't turn out to be a real bomb, but I was willing to accept the Rialto officer's advice. I hear it's hard to meet your deadline from the emergency room.
Comments
You can't be a hero without declared heroic acts. 9/11 was a full employment event for heroes.
Thomas Friedman of the NY Times warns that if we don't move to 9/12 we're in danger of falling behind the rest of the world.
What do you think?
Posted by: Charlie Trie | November 20, 2007 8:08 AM
Let's see if I can answer this without crossing the line between the reporting/blogging world and the opinion writing world ...
I don't think anyone would argue that the Redlands firefighters did the right thing in protecting the photographer from possible electrocution. But I also think Mr. Trie brings up a valid point in raising the question of what makes someone actually a "hero," as opposed to someone performs admirably during a difficult situation.
Redlands Battalion Chief Cameron Teter, while accepting his recognition Tuesday, said before the City Council that he and Capt. Scott McDonald were simply doing their jobs when they pulled the photographer away from a live power line near Arrowbear Lake.
In August, Los Angeles Times columnist Rosa Brooks decried what she considers the overuse of the word "hero" in a column headlined "Heroism and the Language of Fascism." In her piece, Brooks argued that public service - even in the face of danger - does not always achieve the rarified heights of heroism and alluded to past totalitarianism by noting that Communist party loyalists in Stalin's Soviet Union were often awarded the title of hero for towing the dictator's line rather than exhibiting extreme courage.
However, a quick Internet search turns up this criticism of Brook's piece by Paul A. Ibbetson, who identifies himself as a former Kansas police chief on a Web site called The New Media Journal (www.therant.us). Ibbetson retorts that Brooks' view represents defeatism and would deny respect to military and emergency personnel who confront risks.
So let's hear from the public. What separates a difficult job done well from actual heroism?
Posted by: Andrew Edwards
|
November 20, 2007 5:47 PM