★★★★★ 0/5

Tearful ABC journo in live Christchurch report

Bringing home the stress of disasters for reporters, The 7:30 Report's John Taylor fought back tears during a heartfelt live cross.

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Viewers got a glimpse of the trauma that reporters face on the front line last night when 7:30 Report‘s John Taylor fought back tears during a live cross from Christchurch.

Taylor was being interviewed by Heather Ewart from the Sydney studio when he became visibly shaken.

“There’s a hope from the community that they will find people, but alas they’re not. About 75…  excuse me… percent of the city has now been covered by searchers and uh….” he said, unable to continue.

In the harsh reality of live television, with several minutes before the end of the programme, Ewart was forced to press on with questions.

“It’s clearly a terrible time for everyone there, including reporters, who have to cover this,” she said.

Tears welled up in Taylor’s eyes as he struggled to answer the questions -each seemingly underlining the grim reality of the tragedy.

But Taylor was remarkable for his composure through an uncompromising News moment.

The moment brought home the stress that reporters and crews often face in reporting disasters, many of whom are often on the scene as tragedies are still unfolding.

You can see the scene on the iView replay at 23:30 mins

28 Responses

  1. I’m sure the journos have seen some things that cannot and will not be shown on TV. This certainly hints at that, and gives a clue to the horror that has occurred there. One of the accounts I read today of the quake said that when [the writer] was out in the streets afterwards, some people were taking photos, seemingly oblivious to – or perhaps despite – the bodies covered with blankets in the street around them.

  4. Thanks steveany and WEL for the reinforcement. And as buvelot and JohnW have reiterated, the tragedy and the impact on the beings reporting on it is the subject at hand. John displayed great dignity in his live cross. Just checking, yes dignity is a good word. John exudes professionalism and committment in his Stateline stories, and in the big stories of recent weeks. Steph is right – John has endured back to back tragedies. And Nora, I sincerely hope you are not entirely correct on debriefing opportunities. OHS is the issue of the day here. Please listen up media outlets. Provide some counselling.

  5. You stand vindicated, @dave. I thought your message was heartfelt and beautifully put, and without wishing to completely bash DanDans over the head, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we concentrated on what really mattered? In this case it was a reporter showing his humanity and thank goodness for that. I think with the saturation of disaster TV that we’re exposed to these days it’s very easy to become inured to others’ pain and suffering so in spite of how difficult that must have been for John Taylor, I’m glad viewers were able to see it.

  6. @ tellie

    I just want to say not all Australian media is like the commercial channel morning shows nor other commercial so called current affairs shows. I’m talking the ones from Nine and Seven. I watched a little of what they did (the morning shows) and just turned off. Actually the next day I was watching the NZ morning shows on our channels ABC News 24 (One News NZ) and Seven (Three NZ). The NZ channels were excellent. That’s part of the reason I couldn’t stomach the over the top disaster coverage from 7 & 9. I avoided them especially the next day as soon as they came on (if they had of let the NZ shows run I would of watched longer). I’ll admit I was even disappointed ABC News 24 morning show came on because I thought the NZ coverage was excellent. But I will say the ABC and SBS haven’t been over exploitative and this includes John Taylor. As I said I wish him all the best and hope they look after him. I remember Peter Lloyd and hope that he doesn’t follow that example. And I’m glad Peter did come back from that. And wish him the best too. I hope he might be able to help if he can.

  7. I agree with Tellie, the number of Australian journalists in Chch is embarassing. Even Nine Brisbane’s newsreader is there. Why for crying out loud?

    As for this story, I’d like to make an observation:

    John Taylor’s distress is completely understable. He’s there alongside emergency service personnel dealing with pretty horrendous situations.

    Unless things have changed since I was a journalist (yeah, I’ve covered my share of RTAs), Taylor and other members of the media will not receive any debrief or counselling through their employers.

    There is a reason why emergency services and the military have chaplins. I believe as a OH&S, matter media owners should address this issue.

  8. DansDans; if you have so much time on your hands and are such an absolute expert (I use that word facetiously ); why not get down from your ivory tower and contribute to the victims of tragedy; it’s very easy to sit & critique…..much harder to clear the mud, rubble & deal with the after affects.

    Well done John Taylor; well reported Dave – keep it up!

  9. @DansDans: do you have any comment on the human tragedy unfolding here or are you hung up on semantics? Wonder what you’d focus on with the Gettysburgh Address or Churchill’s wartime speeches?

  10. @DansDans
    I don’t want to get involved in the squabble between Dave and such a mighty wordsmith as your good self, but leave the man alone.
    We all know what he was saying – his was a very good comment that didn’t need petty amplification from a pedant.

  11. The whole event has been harrowing to watch on TV. I’ve been to lovely Christchurch a few times, which somehow makes this disaster even more difficult. Last night’s live cross on the 7:30 Report was hard to watch and I really felt for John Taylor. I hope his employer will see his emotion as a sign of his humanity and decency rather than some sort of sign that he’s too weak for the job.

    @DansDans: I really don’t care how a prescriptive dictionary defines the word ‘stoic’. It’s pedantic and insensitive to concentrate on something like that when we’re dealing with raw emotion, injury, death, and destruction of people’s homes and livelihoods.

  13. @Dave – then use the word restrained. Stoic, by all definition, is about lack of emotion – not restrain. If he was refraining from crying etc, then use the word restrain – if he was standing there was a blank look on his face delivering his lines with no emotion use the word stoic.

  14. I really felt for him – I thought he did a good job considering how tough it must have been. It goes to shows how vulnerable we can all be in times of stress and grief.

  15. Why is so much aussie media in New Zealand? New Zealand has it’s own media that could be shown here instead, okay yeah some aussie media could be there, like field reporters, but why has all the big names gone over there, morning shows, current affair shows? Because it is all about what is good for aussie media, nothing to do with the Earthquake.

  16. Thank you Dans for your condescending appraisal of another’s comments. Stoic also means ‘restrained’ , and John was absolutely restrained – swallowing profusely and keeping his tears well back. But thanks for your contribution.

  17. From what I could make out this reporter was the first on the scene in Grantham ( near Toowoomba) and I was impressed by the thoughtful and caring manner in which he reported the scene and witnessing the recovery of flood victims. Since then he seems to have been reporting on death and destruction caused by mother nature almost non stop. The poor fellow must be wondering what’s next. I endorse the positive comments made by others, and would like to say I think he has done a really good job in all the circumstances. Best wishes to him.

  19. @Dave – “stoic” means unaffected by pleasure or pain, indifferent to emotions. I would think that John Taylor would be considered the opposite of stoic.

    Big words from the dictionary are impressive to use, but only when in context.

  22. It was a great moment in tv news reporting. Too often journalists appear unaffected by the dreadful circumstances, even excited. I am sure that often this is not the case. John Taylor’s report brought us all closer to the harrowing situation that everyone in Christchurch faces, journos included.

  23. That was a truly stoic and poignant piece of reporting. It speaks volumes about the accumulating impact of the trauma for reporters on the ground. John Taylor, would have also covered the floods and cyclone in Qld – he is clearly overwhelmed by that saturation of devastation. It is in one way heartening to witness someone not yet desensitised to what he sees and experiences, but a sign to managament to deploy some debriefing counsellors or some process to help staff that are knee deep in these sorts of stories. While, i don’t think anybody enjoys being there, there is a gung ho to the presence of some other Aussie presenters and journos that either belies their sensitivity and humanness, or is evidence of no longer feeling the pain of what they are experiencing. I hope all networks engage grief counsellors and trauma assistance. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of readers, David.

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