Television reporters must be ready to go live in the midst of inclement weather, the looming threat of the coronavirus in the atmosphere, and, at times, a random herd of animals charging toward them.
The latter might be rare, but that harrowing experience happened to Deion Broxton, a reporter in Missoula, Montana. The clip of the television journalist’s response to bison moving around at Yellowstone National Park as he attempted to report the news has gone viral. The candid reaction has served as a nice comedic break from the heavy coronavirus news rotation on Twitter.
In the less than 20-second clip, Broxton is seen in his KTVM gear, microphone in hand and face full of fear as he looks to the bison, who were not on camera.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my god. Oh, no. I ain’t messing with you. Oh, no,” Broxton said as the cameras were rolling.
The video footage then shows Broxton packing up his gear to leave, presumably to find a spot without bison to shoot his newscast. The video, which was posted Wednesday afternoon, has been viewed more than 7 million times and liked more than 320,000 times.
He later added a video to his Twitter thread of his video to show that the bison were, in fact, roaming nearby.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Broxton is a 27-year-old native of East Baltimore. He was slated to interview Yellowstone National Park's superintendent after the protected area had been ordered closed Tuesday to ebb the spread of the coronavirus. Broxton told the news publication he was eventually able to record the newscast teaser elsewhere.
“I’m used to rats, not bison,” Broxton said. “They always say, ‘Stay at least 25 yards away from mammals,’ ” Broxton said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun. “But that damn bison broke the 25-yard barrier, and I was like, ‘Uhhh, I’m not dealing with this!’ ”
About the Author
