The Camera Is Always Watching

Aug. 21, 2007 — -- They are the scenes many reporters would like to forget but will never live down: news bloopers in live shots, unexpected surprises on air and Freudian slips.

But the viral spread of information has at times turned these humorous or embarrassing on-air moments into a new form of accountability. These moments live on the Internet forever and remind and reinforce the idea that a few seconds on air can have everlasting consequences.

Michael Scott, a veteran television reporter of nearly three decades, knows firsthand the impact that a few seconds of live television can have. While interviewing a reptile wrangler, a gecko jumped on Scott causing him to go into hysterics for several seconds — arms flailing, falling to the ground and rebounding in an attempt to get the creature off the front of his body.

"When that happened, I had been in the business 25 years. I had covered earthquakes in L.A. and since I've covered tsunamis. I lived on the street as a homeless person in Denver... This cannot be all about the gecko. There's more to me than that," Scott told i-CAUGHT.

At the time, Scott was working for a Dallas television station, which posted the clip on its Web site. The video got so many hits from viewers around the world that the site crashed. Almost five years later, Scott, who is now the anchor at ABC affiliate WAAY in Huntsville, Ala., takes his Internet fame in stride.

"There's a lot of good video out there of reporters, anchors ... saying things they maybe shouldn't have said," said Scott. "You've got to remember, there's always a camera there."

But not all on-air slips are posted online just to elicit laughs and giggles. Sometimes they are posted to make a larger point.

Media watchdog groups like the conservative Newsbusters and the liberal Media Matters regularly post examples of what they see as bias in the media.

"Our goal at Media Matters is to hold the media accountable, and the best tools at our disposal are showing what's actually happening in the media," said Karl Frisch, director of media relations at Media Matters.