Friday's flooding in Austin, Texas, provided us with a wonderful example of the oddities of journalism. (Video via YouTube / Steffen Hymel)
It's called "burying the lede." It typically happens when you're about halfway through a story and you say something that makes your viewer say, "Wait, what?"
When Kerry Packer's car got swept away by floodwaters, he sent the video he shot on his cell phone to his wife who then sent it to KVUE. The station, of course, wanted an interview.
"The car was almost filled with water," Packer said. "I swept past a tree and I jumped out of the window and climbed up a tree, so I'm about 20 feet up a tree right now."
"Wait, you're still in the tree?" KVUE's anchor asked.
"I'm, I'm — yeah, I'm about 20 feet up a tree," Packer answered.
No big, I'm just 20 feet up a tree with my car swept away, completely surrounded by floodwaters and I can't see any people around me. I'm fine.
One of the station's reporters later Periscoped this video of a helicopter trying to locate Packer, who ended up getting rescued after more than five hours in the tree. For the record, he had called 911 before the interview.
Flooding in Austin and San Antonio is especially severe right now, and record flooding hit Texas multiple times this year. At least two people have died in the flooding. (Video via YouTube / Steffen Hymel)
