Wow. People get fired for all sorts of reasons but this has to be up there with the strangest of all time.
I don’t know what the station expected her to do, walk through the flood water with her expensive shoes? I doubt they would have agreed to replace them if they had gotten damaged!
Sarcasm aside, its an interesting decision from the television station, TV Azteca in Mexico. Reporter Lydia Cumming has been fired because she showed unprofessionalism in her conduct.
This conduct referred to when Cummings, a TV reporter, was sent to cover floods in Puebla in Central Mexico. At a point, Cummings was pictured, mike in hand, being carried by locals in over the flood waters.
The image went viral on social media, as Cummings was pilloried for being disrespectful to the locals. It seems the backlash grew too strong for the station who took action by firing her.
In a statement, Azteca said she was being penalised for “the lack of respect shown towards neighbours who were part of the reporter’s coverage”.
“For this reason Lydia Cumming is no longer part of this home. TV Azteca collaborators are obligated to respect all people and the code of conduct that is part of our company.”
“The photos posted lack professionalism and tact” Cummings said, speaking on the issue. “All we wanted was to help and now we’ve created negativity,” she added. She said the issue had been blown out of proportion as she has covered several floods in the past without ever being carried, and that the incident occurred for just a couple seconds.