WebProNews

Tag: Reporters

  • News Crew Attack: Woman Charged With Assaulting Reporter

    Earlier this week, a reporter and cameraman for Providence, Rhode Island’s ABC 6 news station were attacked by a woman while attempting to question her. The woman’s daughter was shot during a recent graduation party, and the suspect in the shooting had just been caught. When asked how she felt about it, the woman threw a rock at the cameraman, brandished a bat at the crew, and sent two dogs to attack the newswoman.

    The newswoman, Abbey Niezgoda, received a tetanus shot for a dog bite and then filed a police report against her attacker, 35-year-old Melissa Lawrence. Now, Lawrence has been charged in connection with the attack.

    According to a Providence Journal report, Lawrence now faces two felony assault charges for the attack. She reportedly wore a shirt reading “My Attitude is Your Problem” to court on Wednesday, where not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf. She has been released on personal recognizance and forbidden to contact Niezgoda or the cameraman.

    The entire incident was caught on video, leaving little doubt that Niezgoda attacked the news crew:

    ABC6 – Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

  • News Crew Attacked by Upset Parent in Rhode Island

    A Rhode Island news reporter was attacked this week while reporting on a recent shooting.

    Abbey Niezgoda, a reporter for Providence’s ABC 6, reported this week that she was questioning the mother of a girl who was shot at a weekend graduation party when the attack occurred. When asked how she felt about he daughter’s shooter being caught, the woman, named Melissa Lawrence, became violent and threw a rock at the the ABC 6 cameraman. Lawrence then brandished a baseball bat at the news crew before sending two dogs to attack Niezgoda.

    Niezgoda’s report emphasizes that the news crew was never on Lawrence’s property, and that they were attacked while standing on a public street. Niezgoda received medical attention for a dog bite on her forearm before filing a police report against Lawrence. The ABC 6 report states that police are currently obtaining a warrant for Lawrence’s arrest.

    ABC6 – Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

  • Scarface Actor Dies; Mario Machado Was 78

    Scarface Actor Dies; Mario Machado Was 78

    Mario Machado, a Los Angeles TV reporter famous for portraying reporters in movies, has died at the age of 78.

    According to a Los Angeles Times report, Machado died at a convalescent facility in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. His daughter stated that he had died from complications of pneumonia, and that he had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

    Machado was born in Shanghai in 1935 and was educated in the U.S. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1956 and became a U.S. citizen in 1965. Machado made an name for himself as a TV reporter for local Los Angeles news stations such as KCBS and KNXT in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He was one of the first Chinese-American on-air news reporters in the U.S. Machado was also the host of Medix, a medical investigation show for which he recieved Emmy Award nominations.

    Machado also became famous for playing news reporters in movies. He played the role of Casey Wong in the RoboCop movies, the co-host of the fictional call-in news program Mediabreak. Machado also played the role of a reporter in the movies Brian’s Song, Rocky III, and Scarface. He continued his on-screen appearances into the 90s, when he appeared in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 as an awards host.

  • Julie Tristan Tries To Kill Local Reporting For Good

    The local news fluff piece has long been a staple of local news programming across the land. Whether its on-the-spot coverage of a new mascot for the local fire department, or the opening of the new Shoney’s by the WalMart Supercenter, most local news stories are as fulfilling as cotton candy.

    With that in mind, it would be hard to reduce the quality of local programming much further than it already is. That, however, didn’t stop Show Me St. Louis host Julie Tristan when she interviewed David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals. Tristan’s behavior was so unprofessional, she may have set back local reporting for good, especially in regards to local female personalities covering athletes. The video, which has blown up on a viral basis, was pointed out by Deadspin. Naturally, they offer scathing review of Tristan’s “watch me act like a schoolgirl and hit on Freese the entire day” interview skills:

    …quite possibly the most uncomfortably awkward fluff piece ever.

    The video in question. It truly is cringe-worthy, especially if you’re an aspiring female reporter who would like to be known for her ability to conduct an interview:


    I can’t imagine someone like Lisa Salters or Erin Andrews is incredibly happy with Tristan’s performance, one that played up to every negative stereotype involving the Twilight mom/soccer mom generation, a cross-section of America who makes such consumer endeavors like Forever 21 possible. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to find out Tristan was somewhere in this photograph:

    (image)

    On her Twitter account, Tristan justifiies her actions with the requisite amount of smiley faces:

    (image)@JulieTristan
    Julie Tristan    Random dudes are blasting me on twitter because of my silly @dfreese23 story! I must be super famous now! Awesome! 🙂 Thanks Randoms! 🙂(image) 20 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Clearly, being trendy, popular, and/or “super famous” is the only result folks like Tristan care about. As long as you attain something equivalent to that status, it doesn’t matter how you behaved to get to that point; at least, that’s what her Twitter response indicates. I mean, who cares if her fawning, embarrassing actions were damaging to women reporters everywhere? As long as Tristan gets to bask in the feedback her piece caused, that’s all that matters.