Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Newsroom Culture ‘Needs to Evolve’ After Another Reporter is Hit by Car

Thursday, January 27, 2022, By Keith Kobland
Share
Newhouse School of Public Communications

Professor Shelvia Dancy poses for portraitThe job of a news broadcaster is to report the news, not make it. But that was exactly the case recently when a local TV reporter from WSAZ in Charleston, West Virginia, was struck by a vehicle while reporting live from the scene of a car accident. Tori Yorgey was reportedly not badly hurt—she did get back up and continue her report—but the incident is drawing the ire of broadcast professionals worldwide, who say industry economics should not preclude safely dispatching crews for live hits.

Yorgey was reporting on her own as a multi-media journalist (MMJ).  While this arrangement is far from unique due to cost savings, news professionals say best practices would dictate an actual camera operator, who could serve as an extra set of eyes to keep both members of the crew safe.  The incident involving Yorgey was the second in the past few months involving a reporter hit by a car while videotaping a standup report. It also happened to Newhouse grad Lilia Wood ’20 while reporting for her station in Buffalo. Newhouse Broadcast and Digital Journalism Professor Shelvia Dancy, once a television news reporter herself, says things need to change to help keep reporters safe.

  • 01
    You mention how the job is getting more dangerous for local TV news reporters. How so?

    Getting interviews, shooting video and facing a hostile public is difficult enough when working alone as a journalist; journalists have to worry about their physical safety too, as the WSAZ video underscores. Sending reporters to work alone to shoot video, interview people and set up live shots (without the help of a photographer) poses challenges that literally can put a reporter’s life in danger.

  • 02
    The traditional model of local news dictates a two-person crew (photojournalist and reporter). Why would this be safer?

    A two-person team brings a second set of eyes to any situation. When a reporter is broadcasting live from a scene, there’s the benefit of two people figuring out the safest place from which to report and the best way to report live safely. There’s also the benefit of a photographer keeping an eye on the scene while the reporter is looking at the camera—especially important when a reporter is covering a potentially volatile situation/event.

    A two-person team pays off in other ways; sending two people to knock on doors for interviews is a safer (often quicker!) option to sending the reporter alone. Especially in today’s climate, when so many people are quite comfortable being unkind, aggressive and hostile to journalists.

  • 03
    You metioned that this is as much about economics as it is the culture of a newsroom. How so?

    Newsroom culture needs to evolve to prioritize employee safety as much as good content for the next newscast. Shrinking newsroom budgets often eliminate the two-person reporting team, but stations need to prioritize the value of keeping those teams over any savings from elimination.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Keith Kobland

  • Recent
  • Student Veteran Anthony Ruscitto Honored as a Tillman Scholar
    Friday, July 18, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Bandier Students Explore Latin America’s Music Industry
    Thursday, July 17, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • Architecture Students’ Project Selected for Royal Academy Exhibition
    Thursday, July 17, 2025, By Julie Sharkey
  • NSF I-Corps Semiconductor and Microelectronics Free Virtual Course Being Offered
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Jianshun ‘Jensen’ Zhang Named Interim Department Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    Wednesday, July 16, 2025, By Emma Ertinger

More In Media, Law & Policy

Class of ’25 College of Law Graduate to Be Inducted Into the U.S. Olympic Hall Of Fame

A runner for most of her life, Marla Runyan L’25 crossed yet another finish line when she walked the stage in May to accept her diploma from the  College of Law. While this was quite an achievement, she is no…

Professor Nina Kohn Serves as Reporter for 2 Uniform Acts

College of Law Distinguished Professor Nina Kohn is helping to create “gold standard” legislation on some of the most important issues facing older adults and individuals with cognitive disabilities. Based on her legal expertise, including in the area of elder…

250 Years Later, Declaration of Independence Still Challenges, Inspires a Nation: A Conversation With Professor Carol Faulkner

In June 1776, from a rented room in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson penned the first draft of the document that would forge a nation. The stakes were high, amidst the ongoing war with the British, to find the right words to…

Philanthropy Driven by Passion, Potential and Purpose

Ken Pontarelli ’92 credits the University for changing his life, opening up opportunities to pursue his passions and achieve professional success that allows him to focus on the public good. In return, he and his wife, Tracey, are paying it…

First-Year Law Student to First-Year Dean: Lau Combines Law and Business to Continue College of Law’s Upward Trajectory

Three decades ago, Terence J. Lau L’98 walked the corridors as an eager student in the College of Law, then located in White Hall. He knew he had been given a rare chance—and a full scholarship—to be a part of…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.