Saturday, September 20, 2008

Public servants and the media

Wow, this is a shot across the bow coming out of Detroit. This same council member was part of a kerfuffle I use in lectures on the compelling nature of video.
When you are a public servant, do you have an obligation to deal with the media? Why or why not? Journalists are often derided as being biased or outright liars. Are they? Does the state of news media today concern you?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Any person who chooses to run for any form of public office, whether it be president of the country or of the city council, should be considered a public figure. As a public figure, it is not out of the question to be bombarded with questioning from reporters or otherwise. Not only should a public servant justify how they are earning their $80,000 a year and a car, but as a public servant, it is important to communicate with the public you are serving. The media is the absolute perfect outlet for that. I'm absolutely blown away that someone can act like a disgruntled runner up for prom queen in a city council meeting. It's disgraceful.

penzy21 said...

This lady is crazy! She is 100% a public figure and should be scrutinized for her CRAZINESS. There are ways she could issue statements and allow for briefings to avoid being hunted down by reporters. Apparently she doesn't understand her job, and the job of reporters-- to report. How does someone like this even get elected?

Kari said...

Anytime you're in the public eye, you should be considered fair game to the media--especially if your job includes serving the public. It isn't as if she's Angelina Jolie and she's being legitimately harassed. Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.

awilder said...

Wow.....that was interesting to say the least. Maybe she needs anger management. Despite that, if you are going to be any kind of representative or have some kind of government position, you should expect to be in the public eye, rather you want it or not. It's kind of like being an athlete on campus. Everything they do, right or wrong, is more likely to be picked up by news outlets than if I did the same things. Now, I wasn't there to see the extent of the reporters and their harsh questioning, but you need to behave much better than that. And as for the council meeting, that was uncalled for. I guess to make a case for her, she may be the way she is because of her past. I don't know what her past entitles, but her life experiences may have shaped her into this woman who feels the need to demand respect at all times.