Giddy-fan Mentality

Image courtesy of www.www2.stetson.edu

Assuming reporter (AR) might have pushed her luck too far when she covered the arrival of a foreign celebrity (FC). A common and acceptable practice in the country is that an authorized PR firm handles the coverage of any foreign artist, who usually comes to the country due to business matters. In the case of FC, he came over for an endorsement. Hence, the official firm should be respected in terms of arrival announcements and other commitments of the foreign artists it brings over, and the firm has the sole right to authorize press people for interviews, which include photos and other press releases.

While the fans of FC tweeted how much they appreciated AR for her story, AR allegedly broke protocol by tweeting the arrival of FC without permission from the official firm. Then, upon the arrival of FC, AR met him and behaved unbecoming of a professional reporter. AR tweeted “he put his arms around my shoulder,” and uploaded personal photos with him at the airport. This behavior of AR did not escape the attention of the US representative of FC. In fact, the US rep frowned at what AR did, and called the attention of the official firm. Because of AR, the PR firm was placed in hot water.

This incident is not the first time AR behaved unprofessionally. Sometime ago, AR also gatecrashed a private dinner hosted for a young Asian actor (AA). Onlookers were shocked to see AR literally pushing her front towards AA, not minding that the manager of AA and the company CEO were  just beside them.

To prevent further embarrassment, the said firm is seeking to ban AR from covering certain exclusives. Of course, had AR been more responsible in her use of social media then none of this hullabaloo would have happened. Perhaps, AR should be reminded she should behave like a professional news reporter, and not act like a giddy fan every time she comes in contact with a foreign artist.