Of Storms And Stunts

(AP/Norwalk Receptor)

When it comes to adverse weather reporting, we've wondered before about the necessity of live shots of reporters standing right in the middle of the raging storm, flood, hurricane, etc. Of course, the worse end of that apparent necessity is when it leads to what reeks of staging. Remember NBC News correspondent Michelle Kosinski's report while paddling in a canoe during a flood in New Jersey last year – while two men walked by revealing that the water was only ankle deep? In the wake of a recent spate of intense storms, and the reporting that has accompanied them, it looks like a similar tale is making the rounds.

Writes the Associated Press: "A television news cameraman paid a $145 fine after police said he enticed three teenagers to ride their bikes through waist-high floodwaters."The Cleveland Plain Dealer offers more from the police report:

A female reporter not identified in the police report waded into the water so the boys would be riding behind her in the video, the report said. An arriving officer witnessed the boys struggling to pedal through the water. Two adults confirmed the boys' stories, the report said. Abrahamsen denied the event, the report said.

Abrahamsen told the Plain Dealer that he pleaded no contest because the fine was cheaper than contesting the charge.

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