While I do like Mike Parker and appreciate his long-time standing as a Chicago journalist, last night was not one of his better nights on camera. The WBBM-TV/CBS 2 reporter was live in Lemont to report on the Citgo refinery fire for the station’s 10 p.m. newscast.
Asides from the blatant stammering and stuttering, Parker didn’t acknowledge some of the questions that an active viewer might be asking — are there any injuries or casualties, how close is the fire to being extinguished, are there any interruptions to traffic or road closures, are any nearby homes or businesses in danger?
Near the end of his report, Parker warned that anyone (assuming nearby residents?) with asthma or breathing problems should close their windows and… lock their doors.
Just an observation… I actually caught wind of the story via a blurb on the WGN-TV Ch. 9 News Facebook page just before 10 p.m. While the story on the WGN website was extremely vague with virtually no details asides from “there’s a fire,” the Lemont Patch story, for as short as it may have been, at least addressed some of the obvious questions a reader might be looking for.