It was epic. A confused reporter live on Facebook with few facts and much conjecture.
We're told the "reporter" was Arielle Cadet. Ms. Cadet's first Facebook Live on-the-scene report was cut short during the first minute as her iPhone battery died. A few minutes later, her report resumed, disorganized and confusing. Continually referred to the Heritage Park Nursing home as Heritage Park Apartment on Hobson road, even as posters to the live thread tried to correct her. Another poster to the WPTA ABC21 Facebook page likened the presentation to a Valley Girl telling a friend about her latest shopping spree. The most cringe-worthy comment from Ms. Cadet was her statement that she was near "victims family members" who concluded "must be feeling really, really, sad right now". It is unclear how she knew these were family members. At no time did she have official information from the police, and engaged in speculation, assumptions, and jumped to conclusions not based on official information, but only from her opinion.
To add insult to injury, a viewer on WPTA ABC21's Facebook page took the reporter to task for a "horrible" report. WPTA ABC21's female lead anchor came to Ms Cadet's defense and chastised the viewer for her comments.
So, from Krista Miller's response we can gather two things.
One: Critical comments from viewers are "hurtful", even if they are accurate. The Maven calls this the "Snowflake" response. Off to your "safe space", kids!
Two: WPTA ABC21 uses different journalistic standards for Facebook Live reports. Wild speculation, conclusions not based on fact, and assumptions made based on no official confirmation are totally acceptable. This also includes a lack of common human decency of those "family members feeling really, really sad".
Ms. Miller is really in no position to take the high ground, as her confused and wandering live report from the downtown riot this summer lowered the bar of credibility for the station to an all-time low. Her bout with tear gas seemed to be the highlight of her reporting.
This is not the first time that WPTA ABC21 has played fast and loose with their news reporting.
Let's go back to July 7, 2017, the day before the opening of the 3 Rivers Festival.
Here are 3 tweets that sum up WPTA ABC21's panic reporting, with the last Tweet, from another media outlet, settling the issue.
Days after WPTA ABC21's false report and the panic that ensued, WPTA ABC21's female anchor (at the time) Alexis Gray appeared on Pat Miller's WOWO afternoon show for damage control.
Mr. Miller asked about the use of rumor and conjecture. Ms. Gray's response was telling. She said "facts and accuracy don't matter in a breaking news situation". "We feel that our coverage saved lives".
Saved lives? From a shooter that did not exist?
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