I once had my morning drive newscaster, who was doing the sports headlines, announce the score for the ‘San Antonio Sperm’. I almost fell off my chair laughing. She was incredibly embarrassed, turning beet red. It was an honest mistake. We all make them. When it occurs during a broadcast they are magnified.
..despite the fact they had a tremendous amount of sex..
Chicago Blackhawks rink reporter Susannah Collins made a mistake. Watching the video of her ‘offense’ I flashed back to my sports headline experience. There are errors of omission and commission. Collin’s employer terminated her employment. Why?
When reviewing any incident you have to determine the intent behind the act. It is obvious there was no intent. She stumbled on her words, something easy to do when you are on live speaking, while at the same time thinking ahead about what you are going to say next. All the while trying to do it 60 to 90 seconds. She immediately recognized the error and corrected it.
Broadcasting is a pure people business. Companies in the business must recognize that people will be people. As long as they go about their job professionally, that is all an employer can ask. Collins handled it like a pro, Comcast and the Chicago Blackhawks did not.
At The Mic 