Thursday, July 16, 2009

Interfering With A Free Press

Thursday July 2nd, as the MTV production "Real World" arrived officially in Washington DC, accredited members of the news media, on public property, documented their arrival, including an interview done by a crew from the local CBS affiliate.

Here is the footage from the CBS crew, which illustrates just how inappropriate the actions of the MTV crew were:



Now, the MTV cameraman has responded. What did he say?

(Continued after the Jump)

In short - "mea culpa".

MetroMix first reported the apology of videographer Ryan Romkema. Here is his public apology:

Dear Lindsey Mastis,

I would like to extend an apology for my conduct on July 2. My actions on that day were ill advised and an overreaction to the pressures of the moment. Many people were and are excited for "The Real World DC" and the opportunities that lay ahead. A camera instruction was given to document the situation and it was too much. The nation's capital has given a warm welcome to "The Real World DC" and it is our desire to present this great city in the best light possible. I regret my actions that day and hope you will accept this apology. ~Ryan Romkema


Take very careful note in the video of how professional Lindsey was throughout. Here, on a public sidewalk, the Real World photographer thought he could harass and bully another reporter into stopping/leaving. Not cool.


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15 comments:

Jamie Rose said...

I'm not totally clear on the whole story but this behavior seems over the top for what seems to be a scheduled and appropriate interview. While some paparazzi might jump out of bushes, this is a news crew trying to complete a story by a professional reporter. I sincerely hope the MTV executives understand that journalists have a job to do and need to be able to conduct it without being hassled by the production crew. This coverage also will serve the purpose of promoting the Real World show to a broader audience so you'd think they would be excited about it. The reporter seemed to keep her cool and that speaks very well to her training and professionalism. Brava!

Jamie Rose
Director of Workshops | Momenta Group LLC
http://www.momentaworkshops.com | jamie@momentaworkshops.com

Will Seberger said...

Maybe the 'solution' is to not even bother covering this schlock.

The media are having a hard time competing with iSuck Press because so much of what is getting coverage are these "big check" events that anyone, absolutely anyone, could cover and barf out 3 pictures and 400 words about onto a Web site.

That being said, the reporters rarely get to call the shots on the assignments, and it really sucks how poorly the MTV guys behaved.

Anonymous said...

Had he done that to one of DC's seasoned cameramen, there would have been blood spilt.

His apology was written by a PR person and can't be taken seriously.

Contact him via his website and let him know what you think of his behavior:

http://www.ryanromkema.com

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry... why is this even news? Why does anyone even give a rat's ass about what these guys are doing?

Since when did "reality" shows become anything more than just staged, artificial drama? Or who decided that MTV should even remotely be considered a serious news-gathering organization?

Why on earth would CBS even consider a blogger doing an interview about an artificial reality show to be news in any way, shape or form?

And John, why would you think this has anything to do with professional photography business concerns?

Must have been a pretty slow day there in Washington for you all...

Anonymous said...

Yawn.............

Now that's 3 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Anonymous said...

If you go to his website, he goes by Ryan "Machine" Romkema???

What a tool.

Roddy Hamish said...

John Harrington,

as a professional photogrpaher and president of the WHNPA, your silence on the Corbis/Usher/ Sotomayor case is borderline criminal.
Maybe its professional jealousy, maybe its pure blindness, either way, it is irresponsible of you.

Anonymous said...

Here is some information about Ryan Romkema aka "The Idouch" cameraboy from MTV's DC Real World crew who nastily tried to interfere with a channel 9 reporter's interview...
(Ryan's Website)- http://www.ryanromkema.com/
(Ryan's Workplace Website)- With his picture! - http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/staff.php?gymID=0030
(Ryan's Church's website) - that lists him as a "Deacon" for 2012! - http://www.secondpresby.org/new%20site/pages/deacons.htm
(Ryan's Cell Number) - (267) 972-5649
(Web Page displaying Ryan's Phone Number & Location) - http://www.productionhub.com/directory/view.aspx?item=178750
(Ryan's Blog) - http://ryanromkema.wordpress.com/
(Ryan's Address) - 410 Kane Street Baltimore MD
(Picture of Ryan's house on Google Street) - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=410+Kane+Street+Baltimore&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GPEA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=1ORfSquoIMa_tgepoKjpDA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Here is some information about Ryan Romkema aka "The Idouch" cameraboy from MTV's DC Real World crew who nastily tried to interfere with a channel 9 reporter's interview...
(Ryan's Website)- http://www.ryanromkema.com/
(Ryan's Workplace Website)- With his picture! - http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/staff.php?gymID=0030
(Ryan's Church's website) - that lists him as a "Deacon" for 2012! - http://www.secondpresby.org/new%20site/pages/deacons.htm
(Ryan's Cell Number) - (267) 972-5649
(Web Page displaying Ryan's Phone Number & Location) - http://www.productionhub.com/directory/view.aspx?item=178750
(Ryan's Blog) - http://ryanromkema.wordpress.com/
(Ryan's Address) - 410 Kane Street Baltimore MD
(Picture of Ryan's house on Google Street) - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=410+Kane+Street+Baltimore&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GPEA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=1ORfSquoIMa_tgepoKjpDA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

Who cares? Unless of course you're going to have sex with him. In that case please don't use a condom and hopefully you'll both catch a horrible disease.

Cameron said...

Considering that John, Chris Usher and I are all friends and eat lunch together regularly, how is it criminal for John to not speak up about the Corbis case? Maybe Chris asked him not to.

And what does that have to do with an MTV crew with a jerk of a cameraman?

David said...

Not clear to me either.

Why did he get in her face in the first place? Did he have orders to try to maintain MTV's TV exclusivity?

Anonymous said...

I see him as just another top tier photographer. ditto on the yawn...

virginia corporate photographer said...

The point isn't "the Yawn" of MTV flogging this dead horse nor CBS's interesting in the farce but rather this part-time cameraman/jock(rash)/desk clerk acting in this inappropriate/amateur fashion. I'm sure it was his last day once the management saw this - CODB with a pro like Lindsey.

Huge praise goes to Lindsey - that's one cool girl!! I learnt a lot from her as I would have decked the turd . However, that wouldn't have looked so good on YouTube as "hot flash" losing what credibility he may once have had.

Good luck running that desk at Gold's.

Anonymous said...

What's all the hubris about this chick maintaining her cool and that asshole shoving his camera in her camera?

What about the 10 reincarnation of this totally asinine MTV show makes it newsworthy anyways?

It's called Real World? What's "real' about it?

Where in this "Real World" do a gaggle of aimless 20-somethings get a job handed to them, and a great house to live in for no rent?

It should instead be called "Who Really Fucking Cares" because you got someone covering a nothing "news" story, a self absorbed asshole wedding videographer staking out "his" territory, and a group 20-something lemmings making it a nightmare to live in that neighborhood.

Give us something that matters; stop with this stupidity.

Anonymous said...

Since Mr. Videographer is listed as a future Deacon at his church in Baltimore, maybe his minister should know about his actions. Not to reflect on his religion (we both attend Presbyterian churches) but his behavior sure did not reflect well on himself and shows a distinct lack of character and leadership, the very qualities one looks for in a Deacon.

It had been me filming and he got into my face the way he did with this young woman, I can assure you, my behavior would be far less charitable than she was to him. I am surprised the CBS crew did not knock him flat on his ass.

Way to go Ryan, you've immortalized yourself as a world-class asshole and this little stunt of yours is not going to be forgotten. Could luck in signing up with any pro crews in DC or Balto.

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