Velshi isn't entirely unaware of this either - he assumes that his presence will draw people who want to be on television into the street:

There are a lot of journalists I respect for putting themselves in harm's way -- journalists who chronicle wars, report on conditions in refugee camps, challenge the lies of repressive political regimes, or otherwise gather information that wouldn't be disseminated save for risking their lives.

That isn't what CNN and Velshi were doing. If standing in hurricanes for hours at a time were necessary to report on them, newspaper staffers would do it too. On TV, a camera mounted on a street corner might not be as entertaining. It might lack the drama of a human being in danger.

But it would adequately convey all the newsworthy information.

CNN is far from the only news outlet doing this:

David Verdi, senior vice president of newsgathering at NBC News, told the Washington Post's Erik Wemple on Monday that networks treat hurricanes like war zones. "The reason we're on beaches and boardwalks is twofold: One is to convey the seriousness and two, because it hits the beach first," he said. "That's the reason we go into war zones and go to special events and places to where we can gain access to places that regular people cannot."



But the information most reporters gather during a hurricane - "THE WIND IS VERY STRONG HERE ON THE SHORE FRONT, AND THE WATER IS RISING ALONG WITH THE TIDE" - is obvious, and could easily be obtained via safer methods. In contrast, information gathered by correspondents in war zones is far more unpredictable in its content and might not otherwise be known.

If reporters want to risk their safety for the sake of entertainment, like Hollywood stunt doubles or Evel Knievel, that's their prerogative. But let's not pretend immersing themselves in wind or water, rather than broadcasting images of the scene sans people, has value beyond entertainment:





Sometimes, reportorial zeal can even do more to obscure the truth of the situation than to render it:



