Why social media delights in ESPN reporter's tirade
ESPN was quick to suspend reporter Britt McHenry on Thursday after video surfaced of her insulting a towing company worker.
McHenry didn't waste time issuing a public apology on Twitter. But the Internet backlash against McHenry is far from over. Here's a sample of her comments to the Arlington, Va. impound lot clerk:
"I'm in the news sweetheart, I will **** sue this place."
"'Cause I have a brain and you don't... 'Cause I'm on television and you're in a trailer. "
"Lose some weight, baby girl."
After video of 28-year-old McHenry went viral, she was suspended by ESPN. Despite being forgiven by the woman she berated, social media won't let it go.
"You deserve to be fired!" one person tweeted. Another said, "You're just a superficial snob."
It raises the question of whether -- in this day of surveillance cameras and Internet access -- people are allowed to have a bad moment, without the possibility of losing their job. That's a tough one, according to crisis manager Mike Paul.
"In today's environment? No. That's the Catch-22," Paul says. "We want to be the judge and jury of every single thing that's happening. Which is, what we're saying is, 'We're perfect, and you need to be perfect, too.'"
Technology has made it easier to catch people behaving badly.
Earlier this month, video surfaced of an NYPD detective yelling at an Uber driver.
"How long have you been in this country?" detective Patrick Cherry demanded of the man.
The New York police commissioner quickly stripped detective Cherry of his badge and gun. He was transferred out of the FBI's elite Joint Terrorism Task Force.
In 2013, public relations executive Justine Sacco was fired from her job after she wrote a tweet that read, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!"
In response to her own tirade, McHenry tweeted an apology:
"In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me...."
In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and (cont) http://t.co/Wx37XF2QtM
— Britt McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) April 16, 2015
Media consultant Bill McGowan explains the strong public reaction.
"I think it triggers something in us. I think we've all been in the shoes of that cashier. Where maybe somebody has iced us out socially, whether it's been in school, or work, and has said mean things to us," McGowan says.
"So, I think that association is really strong," he continues. "And I think that is part of why we react and want to judge and want to see her punished, and see it as... It almost tears the scab off an old wound for us."
The video of McHenry was edited and we don't know what else may have been said by the employee. That's part of the reason why some of her supporters are now using the hashtag #teambritt.