TV PROTESTS:VIEWERS AND REPORTERS BECOME ONE

     For over a week now, cable news networks have been predominated by protests centering on George Floyd's death. No longer were viewers fixated on CNN's Anderson Cooper  or  MSNBC's  Rachel Maddow each night, but instead watched other journalists who took to the streets: following and talking with the demonstrators, ducking cops, cars , helicopters and even water bottles and rubber bullets. These individuals became the new airway "hosts," available, it seemed, for 24 hours at a clip.

     No longer were these correspondents disseminating information in "real" time as part of their job; they were also becoming part of the crowds and locations they were reporting on. They were evolving into participants themselves, taking the viewers' place in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Seattle. And perhaps most important, they became people we began to care about during the many days that the protests continued. True, we were depending on them to "bear witness," but we began wondering as well if they were safe, considering the fact that some police in some cities ( like New York ) were turning reckless and violent.

     This changing role of journalists was something to reckon with, perhaps because it recalled a similar situation during TV's coverage of the Persian Gulf War, nearly 30 years ago: namely  the creation of a bond between viewers and reporters. Such sense of identification came quickly as we followed newscasters on location in various strategic spots. First, it was CNN's Bernard Shaw who braved the perils of Baghdad under siege. Then it was ABC's Dean Reynolds who broadcasted from Jerusalem while putting on his gas mask. Next it was  ABC's Gary Shepard who traveled 24 hours by car to reach safety in Amman. And let's not forget NBC's Martin Fletcher, a Brit positioned in Saudi Arabia, who proved that the English could be counted on. We suddenly cared about these reporters' health and wondered if they were getting any sleep. We certainly got anxious when we didn't hear from them on a regular basis.

     Granted, there was more at stake during this identification between viewers and journalists in the Gulf War. Correspondents could actually get hurt or die, and some more than likely did. But the dynamics are the same between the present protests and the Gulf War: the viewer and the reporter form a relationship where the observer ( us ) becomes one with the observed. Oddly enough, we also miss not seeing broadcasters at certain intervals; we imagine that they might have been hurt by the police. We hope they have had enough sleep or food to eat.

     And so we say, "good luck," to MSNBC's team: Ali Velshi ( a permanent news host ) at  New York's Union Square; Garrett Haake at Washington's Lafayette Square; and Shaquille Brewster in Minneapolis.

     As for this particular critic who once called Washington, D.C. her home, Lafayette Square will never be the same.