Schmuck Alert!

Schmuck Alert: Bachmann's Mob

2011-08-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

I have an aching distaste for politicians. They remind me of small market news anchors with coke problems: paranoid, grandiose, willing to gab all night with total strangers - as long as another blast of adulation was coming back their way. Perhaps I'm projecting. On second thought, no. I've stood through enough city council meetings, governor's huddles and Presidential pit stops to know the only thing more maniacal than your average incumbent is the person currently working so furiously to unseat them.Which brings me to Michelle Bachmann, aka the poor man's Sarah Palin. Lately she's been making all the right noises as she crisscrosses the country in an effort to make Barack Obama a community organizer again. That's cool! Depending on your views, she's either the GOP's latest great white hope or a headstrong wretch whose husband wants to pray Barney Frank back to lumberjack status. None of which concerns me.

What does concern me, however, is the way Michele Bachmann handles her business. In the eight weeks that she's been a Presidential candidate, her sycophants have manhandled members of the press; shoving, pushing and threatening reporters as they attempted to make her a viable choice for leader of the free world by hanging on her every heavily scripted soundbite. It's happened five times. Five times! It's flippin' systemic! Much of the roughhousing has happened in the scrum, when membes of the Fourth Estate close in on a candidate and pepper them with questions. It's an American tradition that dates back to the American Revolution - though I can't ever remember George Washington getting his knickers in a twist whenever some scribe wanted to fixate on his wooden teeth. Even Sarah Palin herself manages to plow though a far angrier press mob without drawing blood (and looking like a million bucks, might I add).

Don't get me wrong. Certain reporter types CAN be assholes (Don't make me draw up a list). But if you're aching to lead the planet's last superpower into the Twenty-teens, you're simply going to have to deal with it. And telling your goons to let loose with the elbows and retorts is only going to make you look bad - especially in an age where a candidate's every wet fart is tweeted, Facebooked and blogged before those late night comedians even come into the office. That's why we've taken unprecedented steps here at the Lenslinger Institute. We're issuing our first ever STANDING Schmuck Alert on Michelle Bachmann, not because we think she has a prayer of gaining office, but because of the fatwa she has apparently declared on the working media. That Mickey Mouse shit won't get you to the White House, lady, but it WILL get you top billing every night on TMZ. Here's hoping you enjoy the view.

Schmuck!

Schmuck ALERT: Just Go Away!

2011-07-31T12:20:00.001-07:00

Calling All Cars! Calling All Cars! Proceed to Sycamore Avenue. Sergeant Pornstache has skipped his meds again and is now accosting a photog. Witnesses say he pushed the cameraman back a block, ranted about his thirty year career and threatened to go viral. The camera's red light glowing. Repeat, the red light is glowing! Apprehend immediately! The repeated use of tasers HAS been authorized...

Sadly, that dispatch came too late. Before reason could be restored to Suffolk County, a member of the local media got locked up and a veteran cop proved himself a complete tool. It started where it ended: Long Island. A photog named Phillip from Stringernews.com responded to a police chase turned car crash and quickly fell out of favor with the force. It's unclear if any officers were injured in the wreck, but judging from the pulse of one Sergeant, Robocop himself was pinned under a couple of Hummers and the TV truck had just backed over the jaws of life. "GO AWAY!" yells Sarge - the first of thirteen times. Phillip does so, slowly - all the while being told his just being there threatened a perfectly good investigation. It's hard not to notice kids ambling by the crash scene as the credentialed photog is forced back a block. Near the end of the inevitable Youtube clip, we see the angry officer swooping in by squad car, whereupon arrests Phiilip the photog for obstructing an investigation some distance away... Can't we all just get along? Apparently not. Ya know, it only makes so much sense to argue with a guy who's packin' heat, but I would like to ask Sergeant Neckvein there just what America looks like on his watch. From where I stand on a public street, it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm holding a fancycam or a dandelion. long as I stay out of the way. As a guy who finds himself at just such occasions, I dread the day I come across a deputy so bedeviled by my presence. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Bashing the Flash

2011-02-09T04:35:00.001-08:00

When last we saw Joey Flash, the former El Ocho photog was settling into new digs down in Georgia's capital. Since then, he's navigated the mean streets of Atlanta with his trademark aplomb, processing froth and atrocity into bite-size nuggets while maintaining his goofball status. Which is why it's so disturbing to see him and his camera slapped about by some addled school administrator. But that's what happened just yesterday as Joey and reporter Tony McNary asked parents their opinions about a local sexting case involving a principal. A principal! DeKalb County school administrator Dr. Grace Anderson must have been equally outraged, for she stomped off campus and promptly batted about Joey's lens. Now, THAT'S leadership! The clip in question, which can be floating around Facebook but NOT on the station website, clearly shows the assault. However, a police officer on-scene must have missed the whole thing, for he shooed away the apoplectic administrator without so much as a dirty look. Let's see... a principal with sex organs on his phone, an administrator who acts like a thug, a cop who does nothing and a TV station that doesn't share the footage with their viewers... No wonder Atlanta has such a shitty rep!

SCHMUCKS!

Schmuck Alert: Memphis Melee

2011-01-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

You know, nothing sucks the fun out of a Schmuck Alert like video of an injured colleague. Nonetheless, we here at The Lenslinger Institute have been gravely reviewing the stretcher-side soundbites of one Mike Moore, an award winning photographer/producer working out of Memphis, Tennessee. Seems he and FOX13 reporter Lauren Johnson were working on a story about boys and teen pregnancy Wednesday night when a passing group of youth embraced barbarity. That's a fancy way of saying a bunch of young thugs attacked Moore, pelting him from eventually every angle...

"One kid would draw my attention and before I knew it, it was like kids hitting me from every side and I don't know where the hits are coming from..."

Moore sought care at Methodist Central Hospital being released. Memphis Police charged two teens with Simple Assault and Vandalism over $500. The accused duo are students at Northwest Prep Academy, an alternative school for kids with behavioral issues, where apparently these reprobates are earning their keep. Hmmm, with Emmys and years of experience under his belt, Mike Moore sounds like the kind of guy any troubled young student could learn a lot from. Instead, you attacked him for seemingly no reason. Schmucks!

Schmuck Alert: Pole Dancer

2011-01-12T05:05:00.001-08:00

Sigh. You know, just because took a solemn vow to to spotlight camerabuse everywhere doesn't mean I enjoy it. Not when such bad reactions are reaching epidemic levels. Okay, it's still a little early to use the "E-Word", but at this rate 2011 may very well go down as The Year of the Schmuck. Case in point: the latest crime against innocent recording equipment, this time on the streets of San Francisco. Stanley Roberts was the operator in question. Since 2006 the burly journalist has earned the admiration and ire of viewers by turning his lens on people behaving badly in a series he calls People Behaving Badly. With the entire Bay Area at his disposal, Stanley's rarely ever at a loss for victims, er viewers, er violators. Such was the case just the other day when a gentleman took exception with the KRON-TV lens pointing his way. Soooo, 25 year old Israel Marron Castro did what any lucid bystander would do to escape notice. He shoved two ski poles into the rolling camera and babbled something about being high - 'cause Hey, that's how you lay low in San Francisco! Or not. Soon, however, a cameo on the news was the least of Castro's problem as cops moved in and determined he had outstanding warrants - not to mention fresh new charges of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, battery, and resisting arrest. As for Stanley, he's fine - though like one Chris "Call the Law" Weaver, he's still scratching his head a bit.

"I really thought the guy would back off but he just kept coming ... had I gotten hold of one of those ski poles I would probably have been put in jail!"

Why bother, Stanley, when such esteemed organizations as the Lenslinger Institute are around to watch your back. Now if you'll excuse us we have an important message for Mr. Israel Marron Castro.... "SCHMUCK!"

Schmuck Alert: Call the Law!

2011-01-06T20:56:00.001-08:00

Since 2005, we here at The Lenslinger Institute have issued countless Schmuck Alerts: snide little jabs at ass-hats dumb enough to attacking a functioning fancycam. This one, however, is PERSONAL.

How could it NOT be, when founding member Chris Weaver is the victim of what can only be termed a felonious assault? Sadly, that's exactly what happened this afternoon when he and reporter Katie Nordeen found themselves on the side of the road in Davidson County. They were there following up on repeated claims of animal abuse; seems a local equine group noticed two horses they deemed malnourished. When a few phone calls didn't stir up much, Katie and Chris drove out to the address in question to have a look. Weaver was standing in the right of way of a public road, shooting video of the horses when a frothing crackpot straight out of a Stephen King novel rolled up and rolled up HARD.

"I knew when he jumped out of the car I may be in trouble....all I could think is...."Uh, Oh...this is gonna hurt."

Ya know, I though I'd met every type of unhappy customer there is. I don't remember ANY as unhinged as one Danny Kirkus, Jr. In his world, it's perfectly acceptable to attack a cameraman if you perceive him to be your land, to go after him with a stick, to rant, rave and threaten in a manner that makes those Mel Gibson phone rants sound like the sweetest of all booty calls. Really, Mr. Kirkus - what universe do you live in where acting like a cartoon character is permitted? Did you think such behavior would all the queries about your suspiciously skinny horses? Are you as inbred as you look? Or did the greasy mullet and demented spittle come with the hat? Either way, you've got a lot more problems on your unwashed plate than mere neglected equine. You Sir, are facing two (2) Felonies. That's big city talk for 'little gray room'. I certainly hope you get to explore every crack and crevice of one real soon, as not only are you an incoherent menace, but you appear to be a complete waste of flesh as well. Extinction: look into it.

"He swung a few times hitting me on the lower right leg calf muscle and then on my camera lens as he swung the stick higher."

Unlike the near-murderous Mr. Kirkus, Chris Weaver was the essence of restraint. When the room went stupid, he kept his cool and followed the most basic tenant of Cameramanthropology: "Always Be Rollin'". Not only did Weave keep the red light glowing, he kept his own temper in check. That's no easy feat when a camouflaged madman is attempting to go agricultural on yer ass. But then Weaver's a pro. He knew anything more than self-defense would only agitate the jackal. He knew "the law" was on his side (and hopefully, on the way). Most of all, he knew the camera was recording EVERYTHING and rather than have to explain any lopsided drop-kicks, he'd be better off forgoing the heroics. That said, it is a pure act of providence that Kirkus backed off when he did, for it is the nature of grown men and detached tripod handles to want to strike back. I wasn't there of course, but I can tell you with great confidence that the Chris Weaver I know wasn't going to take another lick of that stick.

"He left a mark on my leg...It's a nice bruise...but otherwise I'm fine."

That's a rather charitable, Chris. Others I know would have limped away, collapsed into a ditch and demanded at least few days off to grapple with the trauma of it all. Remind me to keep tabs on Kirkus' case as we make him the poster child for homicidal hillbillies the world over. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: OH N-O-O-O!!!

2011-01-01T07:07:00.001-08:00

Schmuck Alerts were once reserved for crimes against the video community, but as technology grows so too must the wisdom and vigilance of the Lenslinger Institute. Thus, I submit the first ever Schmuck Alert issued solely for still photographer abuse...

Woody Marshall was doing what you might expect a newspaper photographer to do at the scene of a press conference: taking pictures. That was until a lumbering oaf took issue with his technique and tried to wrestle the camera from his hands. Or maybe 28 year old Malik Brown had another reason for rolling through the lobby of Macon, Georgia's City Hall like some evil Mr. Kool-Aid bent on ripple and vengeance. OH Y-E-A-H? Oh No. The evidence is on the tape. It begins with Malik Brown pinning the smaller Mr. Marshall against a wall, then attempting some kind of do-si-do maneuver before exiting the building with all the grace of a buffalo in his death throes. Once outside, Mr. brown grapples with another snapper, pushing and pulling the man while imploring him to relax. "Better calm down, better calm down..." the concerned citizen is heard advising. Hey, I got an idea. Keep your beefy meat-hooks off me and my pulse will slow. Until then, I'm gonna do everything to distract you until some bailiff decides to man up and hit you with his Taser. Or tranquilizer dart. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Silent but Stupid

2010-11-22T04:38:00.001-08:00

Audio be damned, I'm calling this one on looks alone. I mean, really, get a load of this guy! The beady eyes, the glowering scowl, that overly bowed-up posture... who wants to bet he's got a shiny Corvette waiting for him in the parking lot? But that's not fair... I don't even know the dude. Until now. For when Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Carl Pelini honed in on TexAgs.com photog Brandon Jones, he clearly appeared on the Lenslinger Institute's internal radar and earned himself the right to be called a Schmuck on and off the field. Even if the evidence isn't entirely conclusive...

It happened Saturday, moments after Texas A&M handed Nebraska their cornhusked ass. The score was 9-6, but judging from judging from some folks' reaction, it was a crippling defeat. Not for Brandon Jones, though. He took to the field with a fancycam of sorts. As co-owner of TexAgs.com, he was out to capture all the post-game action for his website. Boy, did he! No sonner had he made it about mid-field, Jones captured footage of little man Carl Pelini seemingly berating a man. I say 'seemingly' because Mr. Jones neglected to attach the microphone before running onto the field. Thus, everything he recorded from then on out was devoid of noise. Silent. Nada audio. Hey, it happens.

What followed is a classic case of pantomimed testosterone. Little Carl notices the opponent's camera pointing his way. Turning on the proverbial dime, the Defensive Coordinator makes a bee-line for the lens, with straight up offense in his eyes. At this point, cameraman Jones makes another tactical error: He lowers the camera to his side. Thus, the alleged attack was not properly documented. All we see is a jostling as the frame goes out of focus. According to Jones, though, what happened next was clearly uncool.

“There’s this awkward moment where we’re eye-to-eye with each other,” Jones told me. “And I say, ‘What are you doing?’

It was then Jones claimed the diminutive coach tried to wrestle the camera from his grip. Not able to best the absent-minded cameraman, Lil Carl then breaks the eyepiece in several pieces, throws them into the surrounding crowd and storms off (no doubt to berate the nearest waterboy for some imagined slight). The viedo - while strikingly quiet - is avail;able on the web in glorious slow-mo.

I've watched it several times now and have come away rather convinced it happened just the way Brandon Jones said it did. There's simply no other explanation. Neither is there any good reason for an almost fully-grown man in a polyester uniform to act like such a child. A pox on you, Carl Pelini. You took a simple loss on the gridiron and turned it into a showcase of your own shortcomings. Is that what you teach all those corn-fed youth? No wonder you lost.

Schmuck...

Schmuck Alert: Just Spray It!

2010-08-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Just when the Schmuck Alert was growing passé, some tool in Connecticut breaks out the bug spray. Meet Sean P. Quail, loving husband, t-shirt enthusiast, irrational dill-weed. How else do you describe a guy who grabs a can of insecticide out of his handy-dandy dashboard insecticide-holder and aims straight for the Fourth Estate? Oh, I know - SCHMUCK! NOt to mention Defendant, as this sensible gent now faces reckless endangerment, third-degree assault, and a few other charges. It all started when Quail and his beloved exited an Enfield Courthouse after she faced charges of receiving stolen beer. A waiting scrum gave chase; what happened next would be hard to believe, were it not captured on videotape.

(But that's the funny thing about camera crews: they tend to record stuff. Bear that in mind the next time you reach for the RAID, America.)

Reporter George Colli and photographer Alan Chaniewski caught the worst of the wasp and hornet spray. While they rushed next door for first aid, police pursued the would-be Exterminator, arresting him a short time later. It's unclear whether Quail will be rewarded with his own reality show, but we here at the Lenslinger Institute wouldn't be all that surprised. We're just glad members of the media escaped serious injury, for no matter how annoying that logo'd lens might be. no one deserves a face full of distilled bug-death, except maybe Sean P. Quail - who remains a danger to his community and a most repugnant schmuck.

Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Paper Goon!

2010-05-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

Proving you don't have to break a sweat to get charged with assault, a mustachioed brute went all 'periodical' on a Texas photog and came away with a court date. It happened in El Paso. KFOX photographer Rudy Reyes was hunched over his camera outside a federal courthouse when the father of an accused judge walked by with an unidentified family friend. Apparently, the swarthier of the two men took offense at being videotaped, for as he passed Reyes' lens, he swatted the photog on the head with a rolled up magazine! Apparently, this bruiser takes more than fashion tips from those old Sopranos reruns. If only he'd caught the show in its initial run, he'd know that even the most conflicted goon wouldn't strike a cameraman with a rolled up copy of Playgirl. Damn those basic cable edits!

To make matters worse, the heavy in question totally blew his HBO audition with a badly acted denial of the videotaped wallop. Chances are Reyes will recover, but it doesn't change the fact that the veteran photographer was within his every right to record the duo waddling up the courthouse steps. No doubt the still-unidentified man thought he saw a mosquito on Reyes' dome - or else he figured a harmless thwack from his dog-eared issue of Playgirl would be received as a show of respect or at the very most, an unrequited love tap. Not so, Asshole! Shortly after the son of the man he accompanied to court was convicted of corruption, police moved in and arrested the well-read troglodyte. It's impossible to know if the assault charge will stick, but I for one hope this thug pulls actual time - if only so he'll have to tell his new cellie how a magazine full of shirtless Chippendale dancers landed him in the poky. Say it with me...

Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Tripodicide!

2010-02-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

Hey, wasn't there a Stephen King movie where all the old people turned into homicidal whack-jobs? If not there should have been - for it's a highly cinematic scenario. Just ask Jim Morrison. No, not the allegedly dead Lizard King - the Univision photojournalist who was recently accosted by a deranged maintenance man outside an Albuquerque warehouse. Apparently, the elderly fellow didn't want his picture taken (lest the lens steal his soul). How can I be so sure? Morrison's video clearly shows the unidentified man expressing his rancor with a flagrantly displayed middle digit - before taking issue with the sticks. Look out! He's got a collapsible camera stand and he's not afraid to use it! Sorry, I just get a little jumpy whenever someone mistreats a three-legged beast. Which is just what this apoplectic elder proceeded to do: first slamming Morrison's tripod on the ground and then running it over with his pick-up truck. C'mon, Gramps! Someone slip a steroid in your Metamucil? Wheel of Fortune get pre-empted by another Obama presser? Still pissed about the whole horseless carriage thing? Whatever the reason for your rage, one would think a man of your vintage would maintain some level of decorum - or at the very least act like you got some damn sense. Instead, you display the kind of behavior that would send a fifth grader to Detention. That's no way to treat the media, Sir. Nor is it a proper example to set for the younger generation of custodial engineers who don't yet decide how they feel about passing camera crews.

Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Heene Circus Ruckus

2009-10-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

With the media circus camped out in front of Heene's house the roads are packed with News Cars, Live Trucks, Sat Trucks and bodies with Cameras moving to and fro gathering the footage that the housecats desire.

But that's no excuse for what happened today when a "neighbor" tried to get past the gaggle of media and jumped out bitchin' and moaning and groaning about the parked cars and pedestrians endangering HIM! Gimme a break!

With umpteen cameras rolling he decides to get out and challenge one of the news guys in front of the rest of the pack.

Another apparant news guy jumps the neighbor when the neigbor looks like he's getting ready to deck the first news guy. (It was quite the takedown - I give it a 10)

They went round and round, the 2nd news guy asked for others to help him out, but the neighbor got the upper hand, popping the news guy in the face a few times before they broke apart and got up.

One thing that bothers me about this scene is some of the audio in the video where some people are saying for people to stop filming the event. What?!

I can understand if they're just asking for people to help the guy out but it sounded like they wanted to not have footage of the news guy engaging the neigbor. Not a good idea.

Still, this neighbor acted like a jackass and is probably just doing it for the show!

Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Who's the Loser Now?

2009-10-15T07:05:00.001-07:00

No one likes shooting weather video. It's rather boring, often intemperate and always inconvenient. But rarely do you have to worry about jackholes crawling out of the woodwork. Until now. KATU photographer Bob Bullock appeared to be minding his own business while his camera rolled on a rainy day outside Laurelhurst School in Southeast Portland, when a man approached him and came undone. First, Peter Fournier pressed his back against Bullock's camera, blocking its view. Then he accelerated his ire: cursing the hapless photog, calling him a "loser reporter" and finally, taking a few swipes. Video aired by KATU shows the ensuing struggle, including footage of Fournier manhandling the camera as well as some unfortunate off-screen 'sounds of distress'.

Reportedly, Peter Fournier was upset that Bullock was shooting video of children. It's unclear if he was, though the KATU photog was within his legal right to do so from his public property perch. Harrassing kids seems to a special concern of Fournier, as he's previously been excluded from Laurelhurst Park for using a stun gun on a minor. For his latest vigilante efforts, Fournier was arrested for assault, malicious mischief and impersonating an officer (having waved a badge, assumedly coated in cereal dust, at the KATU photog.) As for Bullock, he suffered cuts and bruises in the melee but now has a great cocktail party story to tell about the day 'that whackjob accosted him in the park'. The lesson here kids? Always Be Rollin'. You never when some delusional superhero is gonna pop out of the bushes and declare war on your lens...

Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Ma and Pa Crazy

2009-08-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

Holy Hemorrhoid! I blow out of town for a few days and the nation's elderly goes bat-shit crazy! Isn't there a Stephen King book where old folks begins lopping off the heads of everyone under fifty? If not, there should be - for the maniacal glee displayed by a certain two seniors rivals anything dished out by a homicidal clown...

We begin in Florida, where two not so nervous news crews climbed the porch of a troubled teen's home with fancycams shouldered and rolling. But before either reporter in tow could ask the first vexing question, an aged woman in an even older housecoat appears, unleashing a brand of profanity that makes even an ex-sailor like myself tense up. If that weren't vulgar enough, the Granny then emerges with a freakin' hoe in hand. But she's not on her way to the garden! Rather, she's there to whup ass first and scrape dirt later. The ensuing moments have to be seen to be believed and while there's no excuse for violence, we at the Lenslinger Institute wince at the situation that sparked it. Simply put, on-camera door-knocks are dangerous, unneeded and generally suggested by those who never leave the newsroom. I've done it myself more times than I wish and while I've never had a grandmother try to cleave my head in two with a digging implement, I've imagined even worse as a door creaked open before me. End On-Camera Door-Knocks NOW!

Next we head North to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where an idling pack of TV cameramen waited outside the sentencing of a woman accused of staging a fake abduction. Sure, it's lousy duty - but it's nothing any of us haven't done a hundred times before. Which is why it was so surprising when the father of the accused - no spring chicken himself - bursts from the courtroom and bum-rushes the awaiting scrum. First he clubs the nearest lenser with arthritic fury before turning on another photog who had the audacity to intervene. By then Gramps was operating on pure adrenaline and administers a rest-home beatdown once only seen on certain rap videos. It may have gone on forever (or at least until the old guy was winded) had it not been for the actions of photog number 3 - who manages to grapple the patriarch with his one free meat-hook. By then, others peel the old man off the Fourth Estate and he's soon shuffled away by a rather girlish deputy. AT press time, charges had yet to be pressed.

So what drove these seniors to act like savages? Is there a bad batch of Geritol going around Are there violent subliminal messages in all those Lawrence Welk reruns? Is it just built-up angst now that Bob Barker's stopped feeling up his lovelies every day at eleven? Ya got me - but one thing's for damn sure. I'm keeping a close eye on Granny the next time I'm forced to film a family reunion. Schmucks!

Schmuck Alert: Spit and Rinse!

2009-07-10T17:59:00.001-07:00

Hey, what's worse than being stuck in a live truck with a gassy engineer? Getting SPIT ON down at the courthouse. That's what happened to WCBS photog Don Collins recently, when a man accused of practicing illegal dentistry dug deep and flung lung-butter on him. Now, I don't know how that plays in Jersey City, but down here in the South we consider that Justified Ass Whoopin' in the First Degree. Of course we're not advocating violence. We here at the Lenslinger Institute for Better Camera Management are far too droll (and cowardly) for that. We're just saying what a shame it would be if Dr. Spit and Rinse there woke up to find his New Jersey co-op flooded with the guts of the Port-A-Pottie fleet leftover from outside Neverland. Maybe then he'd learn to keep his felonious DNA to himself. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Charlotte's Finest

2009-06-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

NOTE: Apocalyptic weather notwithstanding, Team 'Slinger remains committed to exposing gross acts of grab-ass involving TV news cameras - if for no other reason to bring shame to that overpaid choad Kenny Rogers...

Dateline: Charlotte. A couple of TV News photogs from competing stations respond to the scene of a fatal accident, eventually finding a perch on a nearby embankment. Very soon two officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department began ordering WBTV photographer Travis Washington to stop shooting. Washington, a credentialed news-gatherer on public property dared to question "WHY?" - a brazen move that brought about the full fury of one particular female officer. Demanding he stop recording, Officer Midol tried to wrestle the camera from Washington's hand, thus causing the delicate tool to drop unceremoniously to the ground. "You're not showing proper respect to people in the accident", admonished the constable before cuffing and stuffing the paid station employee in the back of her police cruiser. There Washington sat for about an hour, before being released without charges. He then sought treatment for a minor back injury related to the confrontation. The camera itself sustained about $1,000 in damage and WBTV plans to ask police to pay for those repairs.

To which we here at the Lenslinger Institute ask "WHAT THE F*DGE?" Police officers ARE in charge of emergency scenes; it's quite common (if not particularly legal) for them to corral photographers behind imaginary lines only they can see. In the Queen City however, law enforcers are also cinematographers, civil rights attorneys, judges and juries. When they attained this lofty status is still unclear, but we assume it happened to them shortly before city officials deemed them Omnipotent Overlords of the Fourth Estate. That looks damn spiffy on a business card, but it ain't worth the taxpayer provided paper it's printed on. And why did Channel 3's cameraman get manhandled while Channel 9's lenser was left alone enough to videotape the whole damn thing? And what's with this trend of shoving a pesky photog in the back of a cop car, only to release him (or her) 120 minutes later with no charges. If I pulled shit like that, I rightly be called a kidnapper, yet some Testicle with a basic law enforcement course under his (or her) gunbelt is free to rewrite the constitution on the spot. WTF?

Washington is on vacation this week. His station, Channel 3, is weighing their lack of options while the Charlotte -Mecklenburg Police Department launches an internal investigation. Channel 9 - which apparently has video of the whole enchilada - is sitting on their tape for the time being. I respect that, I guess; they could make great ratings hay of running that puppy on a loop throughout their every newscast. Still, a little sunshine's powerful disinfectant and releasing said outrage sure would make it easier on armchair pundits like the ones at Schmuck Alert Central. Speaking of which, we're surprisingly law and order around here. I know LOTS of cops and even more news photogs. With a few glaring exceptions, their all folks I'd have over for a bar-b-cue. At breaking news scenes, the attending press is about as thrilled to be there as the cops - who would no doubt prefer parking in clusters just off the interstate. That's cool - I just wish the men and women in blue would educate their junior colleagues a abit better, for far too often it's the rookie cop that loses his effin' mind when lenses gather on the edge of calamity. Seems they should cover the basic rights of the press at the Academy. Hell, I'd be willing to go hold a seminar, provided they' wouldn't go all Abu Ghraib on my tired ass.

Schmucks.

El Paso Schmuck

2009-04-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

A News Crew at the ABC affiliate in El Paso was yelled at, ruffed up, handcuffed and detained while covering an accident in El Paso. Stand by for more information...but here's the raw video...

It's hard to know what set off this Texas lawman: his midday assignment, that glowing orb in the sky, the troublesome chafe of his polyester tunic. Whatever it was, it caused the veteran cop to lose his freakin' mind. Press PLAY on the video above and see a constable unglued... he jumps over a barrier, demands an ABC-7 news crew leave public property and eventually detains the two for boldly refusing to resist. I don't get it - and judging from the reaction of reporter Darren Hunt and photojournalist Ric Dupont - neither do they. That's probably because they're used to covering news in the U.S. of A., where members of the media can go where looky-loos do and flipped-over semi-trucks DON'T cause seemingly rational police sergeants to come out of their skin. Big ups to the the shinier badges at the El Paso Police Department; they released the unoffensive news crew minutes after Sergeant Neck-Vain hauled them into the Westside Regional Command Center. Thus, we exclude much of the law enforcement community down there in the Lone Star State when he level the following charge... Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Like a Rock

2009-03-30T04:05:00.001-07:00

A camera was grabbed, so this technically qualifies as a Schmuck Alert, but I can't feel but so good about the lens-centered fisticuffs captured recently. A news crew had just arrived outside a Chevrolet dealership in Wayland, Michigan when they caught sight of some freshly fired employees knocking each other to the ground. It may be an unfortunate sign of the times, but whenever anybody is body-slammed on camera, an assignment editor get their wings. Thus, the intrepid news crew dug in on the perimeter and no doubt wondered if they'd be the next citizens tasting the sidewalk. They weren't, but the bruiser in the pink hat did come out and berate them while his buddy stuck his hands in the lens. People, people! How many times have we discussed this? In America members of the media CAN set up on public property and point their cameras just about anywhere. It may be a bit unsavory at times, but that whole 'freedom the press' thing really comes in handy when demonstrating democracy. No doubt there will be other businesses going under in this apocalyptic economy and sure as shootin' a news crew will scurry on over to get it all on tape. Wanna stay off the tee-vee when that happens? Don't shove your coworker into a trashcan in front of God or a photog! We tend to record those things and share them with the tri-county region. Now how's THAT going to look on your resumé? Schmucks...

Schmuck Alert: Run for the Border!

2009-03-13T20:56:00.001-07:00

As proven by that friend of yours who can never hold his liquor, there's a Schmuck in every bunch. That includes law enforcement, where the efforts and rep of a whole department can be sullied by one cop with too much caffeine on board. Just ask Victor Castillo, an Action 4 News reporter who got cuffed and stuffed while covering a police pursuit in the Rio Grande Valley. Seems a drug investigation ended in a case of bent-sheet metal, creating the kind of scene you might watch on the evening news. That's when our man Victor rolled up with gear in tow and caught sight of cops unloading bundles of marijuana from the freshly-wrecked vehicle. Momentarily confused as to which side of the border he was on, Victor set up his camera on public property and did what a free member of the American media has every right to do: he quietly recorded the unfolding events from a reasonable distance. On its face it all seems pretty innocent, but Victor must have passed gas or made one too many doughnut jokes: for one officer took suddenly decided the Constitution wasn't a good enough reason to let some pesky news photog document the confiscation in question.

After exchanging less than pleasantries, the camera-toting Castillo backed off more than he really had to, but Office Bogart still didn't dig it - so he arrested the young interloper for committing television right there in front of God and everybody. Why the nerve! Anyway, knowing outrage when he saw it, the very angry cop placed the brazen photojournalist under arrest and charged him with interfering with public duties. Considering he was a good deal away from the action and surrounded by members of the public when he was arrested, Victor Castillo shouldn't have too much to worry about. For now though, he's still facing a Class B misdemeanor punishable up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine - all for doing his job. What a country! Maybe someday all badge-wearing individuals will read the memo, brush up on the Fourth Estate or just get a freakin' clue! That way maybe we can avoid these predictable fits of testosterone. Until then, careful where you break out your camera; it just might win you a trip to the pokey. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Here Comes the Boss!

2009-02-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

Not since a certain nipple-slip has one celebrity body part so dominated the Superbowl Halftime Show. I'm talking about The Boss's ill-advised power slide, an impromptu knee-ride that ended with a violent manhump right there in front of God and everybody. Those who missed it can watch it here, just understand if I avert my gaze out of professional courtesy -- LOOK OUT! That canned bombast may fly down at the Stone Pony, muscles, but this here's the big time! Try and act like you been there before! That includes keeping your top on and your junk off the glass, ya know. Otherwise you'll have to slip all future residuals from 'The River' to the cameraman in question, lest his neck seize up from that face full of millionare mid-section. And while you're at it, drop by my rec room and pick-up all this popcorn I spilled; you nearly bowled me out of the beanbag...SCHMUCK!

Schmuck Alert: Unnecessary Cuffness

2009-01-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

"Where the public can go, the cameras can too." You'd think they'd print that on a card or something, stick it in the breast pocket of every deputy, rent-a-cop and baliff in the contiguous U.S. Not so, it seems - for why else would an Atlanta City Hall authority go all Walking Tall on a hapless news crew and slap cuffs on 'em? It all started when CBS 46 News photographer Jeff Thorn and reporter Renee Starzyk were working on a water rates story at Atlanta's City Hall. If that wasn't punishment enough, Officer E.R. Murray - who'd just let the news crew in - decided they couldn't use the shiny fancycam they'd brought along with them. When Thorn and Starzyk refused to leave, Murray got all 'hall monitor' on the workaday duo. Grabbing at their camera, he placed the two men in handcuffs, before thoroughly confusing his superiors with this inexplicable decision. When the higher-ups realized they shackled news crew was guilty of nothing (but missing lunch), they popped the lock and apologized. "Here, have a blank check and a key to the city!", they did not add. Soon after, Thorn and Starzyk managed to escape, baffled, behind schedule, but beyond certain that the cat working the courthouse lobby on Fridays is an easily flustered Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Oakland Death Grip

2009-01-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just when we thought the world was safe for photogs everywhere, some dolt in Oakland up and loses his mind. ABC 7 photographer Dean Smith (not the legendary college basketball coach...who's no schmuck himself) was covering - GASP! -a protest, when a person of some derangement snuck up from behind and tried to rip the fancycam off his shoulder. Egads! The plucky Smith took exception to stranger's plans, and submitted to a first class melon-thumping while holding the high-dollar videocamera in a West Coast death-grip. Video of the ensuing struggle has yet to surface, but here's an interview with the cut and bloodied photog, who'd liek to remind everyone they didn't get his rig... Attaboy, Deano - your bosses owe you big ... good luck with that. As for the would be auteur who failed to score any glass, get yer own...SCHMUCK!

Merry Schmuckin' Christmas!

2008-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

WE AIN'T DEAD! No matter that News Blues goon Mike James says! Rather, we're on holiday - breaking bread with our extended families as we rest up for the calendar flip. Yes, we expect 2009 to be Year of the Schmuck! Freshly shackled defendants, disgraced politicians, hell - even Paula Abdul could come out swingin'! You've seen American Idol ... that lady's KRA-ZEEEEE! So while we figure out how to re-gift last year's fruitcake, know that we're planning breathless coverage of every. single. case. of camera-related fisticuffs reported in the free world. Meanwhile, check the archives and get off our backs if we got a little slack - we're only photogs, for schmuck's sake!

Schmuck Alert: What's Your Trip?

2008-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Those of us studying camera semantics are well versed in SDL (Sudden Lens Response). After all, we're working TV News photogs. We'll referee an Easter Egg Hunt, stalk a politician through Capitol City and follow the PO-leece up a crackhouse porch - all within the course of a single shift. So when we say we've seen every kind of reaction to an unexpected fancycam, we ain't just blowin' smoke. (I myself have been spat at by shackled Grandmothers, nearly rundown by an enraged eighteen wheeler and held up as a God by the delusional crooners of countless American Idol auditions.) Still, even we're flummoxed by the tizzy on display in the following clip...Call it 'The Apoplectic Spaz'... Or don't - see if we care!

It's not often blowhards like us are rendered speechless, but that almost did it. Anyone know the whole story behind this camera-hating maroon? Hmm? Oh yeah ... Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Hallway Hooligan!

2008-12-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

Just when we thought all schmucks were taking a break for the holidays, this bonehead in a bad 'fro goes postal on a girl. That ain't cool...

It happened outside a Syracuse courtroom and though cameras didn't fully capture the felonious act, the schmuckery is unobstructed...

It was a raucous affair at the arraignment for Valdessa Johnson Thursday afternoon. While members of the media and onlookers were awaiting the finish of the proceedings, an apparent supporter of the victim, Yeisha Howard, attacked News 10 Now reporter Joleene Des Rosiers while she was operating a television camera and shooting video of the hearing.

Action News reporter Jim Kenyon and photojournalist Andy Wolf witnessed the attack. Kenyon reports that the assailant was taken into custody by court security and everyone else in court was escorted from the building. According to court security the alleged assailant is a minor and his name has not been released. The case has been turned over to the Syracuse Police Department.

Ms. Des Rosiers was injured in the attack and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. There is not yet any word on the extent of her injuries. The camera she was operating was damaged. Joleene is a former employee of Action News, having worked here previous to her stint at News 10 Now.

The attacker is underage, so perhaps we should't cancel his Christmas. Still, we're hoping Santa plants a boot up his ass come late December. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Strike a Pose!

2008-11-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

Much love to Editor-at-Large Mike James for hipping us to the latest case of young schmucks in love! We just wish the IT geeks at CBS 2 would provide a lttle embed code (Hey, we're trying to launch an empire here!). But enough about us, we now take you to the streets of New York...

The young man with the hot modeling career was striking a pose as he smoked a cigarette in a third-floor window when CBS 2 HD saw him on Tuesday night. Josh Walter, 19, is the younger guy in a relationship scandal that got a city school teacher fired.

Walter explained to CBS 2 HD in somewhat graphic terms that didn't want to talk about it.

His live-in girlfriend is 37-year-old Gina Salamino, a former second-grade teacher. They now have a child together and she wants her old job back. The strain clearly showed on the handsome young model as he got physical with CBS 2 HD cameramen.

"Leave me alone. Understand that? Leave me alone," he shouted as he crossed the street.

He then decided to get up close and personal with our hardware.

Walter was apparently upset at all the attention he's received over the last few days....

Upset? Dude, that's the kind of tabloid dreck that launches multi-million dollar careers these days! Smoldering good looks, a 37 year old paramour, TV crews in hot pursuit? You coulda wormed your way onto The Hills! Now however, you're nuthin' but a Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Oh, Canada!

2008-11-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

From somewhere North of the border, a case so outlandish, so farcical, so SCHMUCKTACULAR it has to be clicked on repeatedly to be believed!

Okay, so it's an 18 month old clip from Toronto - but when the research team foundthis clip we blew our java chip Frappucino all over the Lenslinger Institute's command module! That's like a six dollar drink! Anyhoo, after a little wipe-up we decided a belated Schmuck Alert be issued immediately for the outraged optician who decided to go snowball on CityNews' Peter Silverman and his intrepid crew. We're not sure what passes for entertainment up there, but down here in the States, that's some damn good cinema. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert - Playing Catch Up...

2008-11-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

So Many Old Schmucks, so little time.

Luckily no photogs have been harrassed in the past few days...that or you...dear reader...are letting us down.

Anyway...going back a few months...the latest update from WCBS, New York on a dentist with Road Rage. This guy's fit over a parking spot in November, 2007 made him an internet sensation (that almost sounds like a good thing) and he even garnered Dr. Phil's attention -and who wants that?

Here's the video in Raw Form from You Tube...however I do recommend the WCBS links to their stories to see this guy justify his actions.

Back in April a judge said, No Deal, scheduling the dentist for a trial slated for June.

But in August Dr. Road Rage was offered a plea deal designed to allow him to only serve probation. He rejected it....and his lawyer quit on him because of it.

WCBS reports that "Court documents show the dentist has a long record of being charged with harrassment or assault, pleading the charge down to a violation, and walking free. "

Schmuck!

Man Down, Handbags Up!

2008-11-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

One moment you're a cherished guest, the next you're a filthy leper. Call it the fallacy of the fancycam. Or don't - see if I care. Just know that when you go through life with a Sony on your shoulder, you're gonna spark a lot of different reactions - often within the course of a single shift. Just ask the cat who shot the video below. He (she?) was covering the annual dinner of the Federalist Society when the room went weird. It all started when US Attorney General Michael Mukasey took a dive midway through his speech, Gasps rang out, aides rushed to his side and the crowd turned on the cameraman. Schmuck Alert? Naaaah, those folks were most likely political underlings, hopped-up on hundred dollar chicken plates and no doubt rattled by their leader's sudden collapse...

So here's to you, Mrs. Pocketbook. While we here at The Lenslinger Institute find your attitude a bit pissy, we'll be good Southerners and cut you a little slack. No doubt by blocking that camera shot, you felt you were you doing your job. I'm guessing the photog you threatened with an assault charge felt much the same. But unless he (she??) was knocking over paramedics to get a tight shot of Mr. Mukasey, your reaction was - like the chicken breast you just polished off - a bit overdone. We all have our roles in life to play, lady. Try not to be so crabby about yours.

Tell your boss we hope he feels better...

VINTAGE Schmuck Alert - Is Wrestling Fake?

2008-11-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight we set the Wayback Machine to 1984, for what may very well be the Uber-Schmuck:

It's a clip many have seen before, but in terms of sheer audacity, blonde mullets and unfortunate wrestler tights, it deserves another look. But first, let me ask you, "Is Wrestling Fake?"

Via Wikipedia...

On December 28, 1984, David Schultz' encounter with Stossel happened while Stossel was backstage at Madison Square Garden doing a story about professional wrestling's secrets. During an interview Stossel told Schults that he thought pro wrestling was fake and Schults' response was to slap Stossel twice, knocking him to the floor each time. The attack, which attracted a large amount of media coverage, was later aired on national television (as well as currently appearing on websites such as YouTube and Break.com) including ABC News which reported that the network had received more than 1,000 calls from viewers inquiring about Mr. Stossel's health.

Marvin Kohn, a deputy commissioner at the New York State Athletic Commission, had been present at the arena during the incident and immediately suspended Schultz for his actions. Although called by Commissioner Jose Torres to come to a hearing before the Commission, Kohn later reported that Schultz had written letter to the commission admitting "that he had acted improperly and apologized both to the commission and to Mr. Stossel" and further stated "I intend the commission to know that I did not intend to hurt John Stossel. I apologize to the commission and to John Stossel."

Stossel later claimed he was unaware of Schultz apology and would pursue his action in court although commented he would be "less likely to sue" if the aftereffects of his injury disappeared. [7] However, Stossel eventually filed a lawsuit against the World Wrestling Federation, and settled out of court for $425,000.[8]

Although he has consistently maintained that World Wrestling Federation officials told him to hit Stossel, Schultz was fired. Many industry insiders believe, it was not because of his actions against Stossel, rather, Schultz was fired for challenging Mr. T to a fight backstage at a WWF show at Madison Square Garden.

Challenging Mr. T? I Pity the Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert - School Superintendent!?!

2008-11-18T22:47:00.000-08:00

First a School Cop goes off on a photographer in Oakland and now a School Superintendent.

The School Superintendent of Riverview Gardens near St.Louis pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud, reportedly shifting money from the school district coffers to his own.

And then on the way out of the courthouse he earned Schmuck Status.

TV Station KPLR reports, "Obviously angry at the barrage of questions he was being asked, the (former?)superintendent knocked the microphone from a reporter's hand."

In the video you can hear the superintendent tell the reporter "You shouldn't have put it in my face." to which the reporter replies, "Sir, you are a public official."

Touche!

The sentencing date for this Schmuck is in January. He could certainly face new charges for his Schmuckishness this day.

Schmuck Alert: Potty Mouth Cop!

2008-11-18T19:05:00.001-08:00

Remind us to watch our elbows next time we're in Oakland! That seems to be all it takes to make the local School District Police Chief go postal! The cop in question is seen hurling invectives and otherwise being a total ass to Oakland Tribune photojournalist Jane Tyska. According to him, the female photog struck his patrol car with her elbow, setting off an on-camera tirade in which he curses her up (and down!), threatens to 'stuff her' in the back of his (fatally-crippled) cruiser and accuses her of trying to incite a riot. Hey occifer, how about a steaming hot cup of 'CHILL THE #&$@% OUT!'? I've seen calmer reactions at school bus collisions...

That clip's caused quite a ruckus in Oakland, with area bloggers, local watchdogs and newspaper editorialists weighing in on Officer Outrage's tour de force performance. We meanwhile are issuing a Class Five Schmuck Alert for the lunatic law-enforcer if for no other reason than he works around kids - and should know to act like he's got some damn sense. At least he proved he could 'work blue'. Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: OH. MY. GOD!!!

2008-11-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

We've all been there (okay, just those of us with tripod hickies on various parts of our bodies), covering a structure fire when a relative, friend or neighborhood weirdo demands we leave immediately. AWK-WERD! I always feel bad for these people - for if they're sweatin' MY presence, it's usually just a case of redirected frustration. That said, I got every right to loiter with a lens - as long as I'm on public property. Good luck explaining that to someone watching their neighbor's/tenant's/babymama's house turn to cinders. Case in point: the following clip in which a rather scary lady demands media members leave her property, only to be walked off by an outstanding firefighter. All seems calmer until about 57 seconds in, when the lady goes momentarily mental...

Now go check out newzjunky.com for all the greasy details...

Schmuck Alert! - Lunacy in Louisville

2008-11-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

Just hours after we launched schmuckalert.com, Rick Redding of The Ville Voice - THROWS THE SWITCH! We now take you to Louisville...

WDRB-TV will pursue charges against the East End auto dealer who attacked reporter Dick Irby and photographer Dave White while the newsmen were gathering footage of the dealer's property last week.

The confrontation makes for good video. The dealer attempts to throw the $50,000 camera to the ground, and at one point says he’ll pay for it after Irby tells him that if he touches it, he owns it. He comes off attempting to be a bully, but ultimately backs down.

Irby’s piece includes an interview with the city’s historic preservation expert, Richard Jett, which evokes some combativeness from Planning Director Charles Cash. It’s good TV.

Fox41 has posted the raw video of the attack. Great work by White in keeping the camera rolling while the attack occurred. Let’s hope a jury gets to see it someday and penalizes this nutjob.

Thanks for the heads-Up, Rick! A check ISN'T on the way...

LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE...

2008-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

Ever since orb-hurling hothead Kenny "Not the Gambler" Rogers openly assailed a photog for reasons known only to himself, concerned cameramen everywhere rose up from the primodial news and formed the SCHMUCK ALERT JUSTICE LEAGUE!

For years, photog bloggers and other surly citizens have taken it upon themselves to issue Schmuck Alerts, public notices that someone's being a complete douche-bag in full view of professional camera crew. This in itself is not always a crime, but too often that mall cop, fresh felon, town founder or d-list debutante goes positively mental and assaults the aforementioned member of the media. Like Nancy Kerrigan said just after being whacked in the knee by Gillooly and his goons, "WWWWHHHHHYYYYY?!?!?!"

A-hem. Anyway, until now key members of the Fourth Estate have been issuing their Schmuck Alerts on their individual websites. No more! Now, with the establishment of this very site by the good folks at the Lenslinger Institute, schmucks everywhere have a place to come and hang their heads in shame. Remember, sports fans, that cat with the Sony on his shoulder ain't doin' it for his health, Most likely he (or she) has spent the day chasing cops, politicians, criminals and - EGADS! - television news reporters. Trust me, you'd be pissy too. So think twice before taking a swing! Chances are we won't fight back too hard, but we'll damn sure KEEP RECORDING....

After all, it's what we do.

Schmuck Alert: Sicko and the Shiv

2008-11-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

Guest Contributor El Guapo on the madness out of Sacramento:

If you're a regular reader of b-roll message boards, you most certainly saw the latest news crew under attack. But this particular attack isn't your run of the mill Class 5 Schmuck Alert, which is why I'm not waiting for Lenslinger to lambaste the punk with some wicked prose.

This dude...

...is a violent maniac. He's a sex offender. And he doesn't deal with confrontation well.

And when he was approached by a couple of Sacramento news crews, he responded by brandishing a box cutter, and charging the media down. They retreated...he backed off...and soon after, cops cuffed and stuffed the fool for his violent threats.

Even though no one was physically injured, the level of threat posed in this confrontation seriously out weighs any previous attacks on the media. This wasn't some cop pushing a photog to the ground. This wasn't some security guard getting handsy-grabby with a photog. This wasn't some pansy civilian bitch slapping a reporter. These we not empty threats. The dude had a dangerous weapon, an unstable disposition, and a sharp gleam of psycho in his eye...

So...photog pals...be safe out there, and shoot with your left eye open. Because we all know that the desk mules and show stackers are going to keep sending crews onto the front porches of wackos, loonies, psychos, killers, dirty birds, and pederasts -- and the only person you can rely on to keep yourself safe in such a situation is...YOU!

The Video -

Schmuck Alert: Napa Valley Fracas

2008-11-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

I'm reluctantly holding back on issuing a Class 5 Schmuck Alert on the Napa County Sheriff’s Department for one reason: a veteran reporter acts like a total dillweed on the now obligatory videotape. More on that later. For now, the facts: Shortly after KGO-TV's Wayne Freedman and Craig Southern arrived at the scene of a fire this afternoon, law enforcement officials rescinded their invitation. Trouble is, the news crew had no invitation. See, breaking news doesn't come with an RSVP; when newsworthy events occur in a free society, journalists can go anywhere (a private citizen can) in order to record, document and disseminate the details. It's a little thing we call Freedom of the Press and a bunch of guys in powdered wigs and knee socks thought it was important enough to include it in a seminal document two hundred and thirty some years ago. You'd think by now, the Napa County Sheriff's Department would had received the memo. Apparently not.

Of course, I wasn't on that California cliffside this afternoon. (I was interviewing a Russell Terrier in a surfboard sweater, if you must know.) Thus, I can only guess at what preceded the recorded take-down, the sequenced still shots, the reporter's account and the internet chatter now swirling around this temporary detainment. Taken as a whole, it's a multi-media conundrum that puts some product launches to shame. It's also a techicolor testament to the politics of spot news. Increased adrenaline, pack mentality, competitive paranoia and power grabs: these highly reactive factors are all in play when calamity, cops and camera crews and collide. As a reformed Southerner, I myself am probably a bit too passive by the flashing lights, but then again I've always found amannerly disposition and good ole boy slouch got me alot farther than screeching fits and attempted levitation. Still, it is hard to debate Constitutional Law with a guy trying to twist your arm behind your back.

Which brings me to my lone caveat. I have every reason to believe the Napa County Sheriff's Department was wrong in their detainment of KGO's camera crew - an assertion reinforced by the fact that both reporter and photog were soon released with no charges filed and little explanation given. But to the average viral video viewer, the guilt surely lies in the Fouth Estate. Why? As the footage begins, reporter Wayne Freedman is on the verge of apoplexy: screaming, squirming, demanding legal counsel. That's all well within this allegedly legendary journalist's rights, but methinks he'd be better off if, instead of behaving like Rick Flair on a ringside tear, he'd follow my folks wise advice and 'act like he had some smarts'. Perhaps then, these increasingly common clips of 'Cops Gone Caveman' wouldn't be so damned wince-inducing to watch. Just sayin'...

Schmuck Alert: Redneck Women

2008-11-15T15:23:00.001-08:00

In what may be the most egregious attack on a news crew I've ever seen, three females from the lesser of the Carolinas have pushed Nick Curro out of the running for Schmuck(s) of the Year. It happened in Union, South Carolina when WSPA reporter Charmayne Brown and photojournalist Ti Barnes were among other news crews camped outside a fresh murder scene. Seems a Union man had (alledgedly) killed his grandfather over a dispute and when the media began showing up, Trina Vinson, Tousha Smith and Billie Taylor stopped watching Hee-Haw on DVD long enough to see what t'were the matter.

What they found were a couple of news crews set up on a public street, doling out the details of how 33-year-old Michael Shane Howell apparently killed the only sensible relative he had. This didn't sit well with them and when the news crews ignored their orders to level, the three white women went inbred on the nearest African-American reporter. Racial slurs followed as the trio pummelled reporter Charmayne Brown - despite the best effort of her photog to pull the rednecks off. When the melee was finally quieted, police arrived to arrest the three women, leaving the WSPA reporter bruised, battered and ready to press charges.

All joking aside, this is disturbing (as is the video). In the United States, news crews have the right to record and report the news from public property. It's that simple. Still, that doesn't stop peopel from threatening, cajoling and intimidating members of the media from doing their job; just ask anyone who's worked in the field for more than six months. Usually the words are hollow and offended family members do little more than curse under the breath at the interlopers out front. To see three grown women go medevial on a innocent reporter thoughboils my blood. Not only does it offend my journalistic sensibilities, but it really pisses me off when some rednecks show their ass and set race relations back 100 years.

Here's hoping Charmayne Brown heals quickly, scores some kind of settlement (from the NASCAR knick-knacks you know these hillbilly women got stashed somewhere) and realizes that all White Southerners are not the kind of bottom-feeding lowlifes these three women proved themselves to be. I say we the media cover EVERY INCH of their pending criminal proceedings until one of their beehive hair-do's explode. Schmucks!

Schmuck Alert: Whatever He Wants

2008-11-15T15:20:00.000-08:00

A recent demonstration in Newark, New Jersey was apparently too peaceful for one local cop, who upped the ante by attacking the closest photog. Jim Quodomine of WCBS-TV was covering a rather placid gun violence protest when the above constable suddenly demanded he unhand his camera. An odd request on a public street, but before Quodomine could even decide how to react, the officer got all grabby, ripping the camera from the photog's grip and putting him in the obligatory chokehold. I've watched the video several times now and still can't figure out what triggered the policeman's sudden wrath. Perhaps he thought he was auditioning for the next Stephen Segal movie. That would help to explain the cheesy one-liner he dropped when reporter Christine Sloan told him he couldn't manhandle her cameraman.

"I can do whatever I want."

Ooooo-kay. How about ruining your good standing with all reasonable peeps by brazenly assaulting an innocent citizen? Or having your buffoonery showcased for all the world to see by the very device you're ripping from that man's shoulder? Is that within your jurisdiction as well, Officer Throttle? I hope so, 'cause you gonna be on the Tee-Vee! Luckily for us, a few grown-ups were on scene. Once they captured your actions with their trusty cell-phone cams, they stuck around to admonish you via the evening news. Ain't citizen journalism grand? How else would we know it's perilous to power up in certain parts of the Garden State? And here I thought New Jersey was a tax-paying territory of the United States. Hmmph. Just goes to show what a Southerner knows...

Enjoy your unpaid suspension. Hell, do whatever you want!

UPDATE: (via the ever crafty Horonto) ... Seems Officer Throttle ain't an occifer at all, but an individual 'specially trained' by the city who works security at churches and businesses and such. Back to the food court, Schmuck!

Schmuck Alert: Plenty to Go Around

2008-11-15T15:19:00.001-08:00

Ya know, he had me ‘til the end. Jeffrey Weinsier had every right to stand on the sidewalk outside Miami Central Senior High School yesterday. There to cover a story on local school violence, he handled himself with reasonable aplomb when police arrived to kick him off a public sidewalk. That kind of thing doesn’t set well with the American press . See, we operate under the assumption the Constitution is still in full effect. When certain officers try to amend those rights by pushing us off public property while Sally Joe Housecoat roams freely, we feel obligated to object. That’s seemingly what happened when, after retreating across the street, Weinsier joked to his photog about getting arrested and walked back toward the school. The next thirty seconds or so are fairly predictable: officer insists reporter leaves, reporter refuses, oversized bracelets come into play. When word of the arrest came across my desk, I almost rubber stamped it with a regulation Schmuck Alert. Then I read about the .38.

A loaded .38, tucked into Weinsier’s waistband. Police found it when they searched the reporter - whereupon he rightly informed them he had a concealed weapon permit that allowed him to hide a gun on his person. Seems death threats from a restaurant investigation had convinced Weinsier to arm himself and he just happened to be packing heat when the law accosted him outside the school. Y-e-a-h-h…Look. I’ve no real beef with concealed weapons. It ain’t my tactic of choice, but members of my family embrace the practice. (Hopefully they’ll be visiting the day Bin Laden pops out of his spider hole.) Station attorneys are quick to point out ‘that a concealed weapons permit allows a firearm within a thousand feet of a school, but not inside a school and that Weinsier never went into the school.’ But why didn’t Weinsier stash his gat in his whip before loitering outside the school, or at least rethink his insistence on being arrested, knowing he was armed. Perhaps I’m just a parent with an aversion to weaponry - or maybe I’ve known too many reporters to trust any of them around my kids’ schools with a handgun…

Either way, I’m issuing a Schmuck Alert for the five county region. Blame the officers involved all-right, but don’t forget to include Jeffery Weisner - who probably just lost his invitation to come speak at graduation. Schmucks!

Coming Soon - Schmuck Alert! The Blog

2008-11-13T22:48:00.001-08:00

Coming Soon....Lenslinger introduces Schmuck Alert! - The Blog dedicated to showcasing idiocracy at it's best when it comes to attacks on the media.