Viewers Slam TV Networks for Sending Reporters Out Into 'Thick' of Hurricane Ian
The Category 4 hurricane hit Florida on Wednesday.
News outlets are sending reporters on the ground to cover the fallout from Hurricane Ian, prompting viewers to grow increasingly concerned over the hazardous conditions reporters are being thrust into.
Ian—which hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday, Sept. 28—has been considered a life-threatening storm, but reporters are still being sent out into the dangerous elements to document what's happening in different areas of Florida.
"We're officially in the thick of things," the official Twitter account for The Weather Channel tweeted on Wednesday, alongside a video of reporter Mike Seidel delivering a broadcast from Fort Myers, Florida while shielding himself from the intense winds and rain.
As conditions became even more dire, users online took to Twitter to express concern over the safety of reporters who are witnessing the storm first-hand.
"I can't believe in 2022 we're still sending reporters out in Hurricanes like this," one user tweeted, alongside a video of reporter Jim Cantore getting hit by a flying tree branch while nearly being tackled to the ground by the extreme winds during a broadcast.
"I can't stand up," Cantore is heard saying in the clip, while telling the camera he was going to stop the report while the storm continued to rage.
"Jim Cantore literally hit by a flying tree branch during a live report. Please get this man off the street," another user tweeted.
In another clip, Cantore is seen jumping to dodge a bolt of lighting that appears to strike just feet away from him.
"Really? Is it worth your life?" one Twitter user wrote, while someone else chimed in, "Time to wrap it up."
"The Weather Channel has to stop sending reporters to report on Hurricanes," another person added, and plenty of users seemed to agree.
"This is beyond ridiculous. I don't have to be outside to know the weather sucks!" one person wrote.
"I find it absurd that the media expose their professionals to this," another added.
The question whether it's safe and smart for reporters to head into the eye of the storm arises every time there's a natural disaster and weather event, but as Chad Myers of CNN said during Hurricane Sandy, “This is our Super Bowl"—and many weather reporters pride themselves on their commitment to delivering the story no matter the conditions.
The Guardian also pointed out in an article that stations do it because "destruction and mayhem is simply more interesting for viewers."
Hurricane Ian has since been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, after its winds weakened on Thursday morning, per ABC News, though the state is still in a state of emergency as a result of the catastrophic winds and flooding.
You can track Hurricane Ian or read the current forecast here.
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