It’s been a while since I stopped reading the news (that’s been going great, btw!) so I don’t know if I would have seen this on NY1 or whatever, but apparently this road-rage incident was a big story in Portland this summer. Reason I bring it up? Via BoingBoing I see that the accidental photographer, Rick Adams, did a helpful but all-too-short writeup about his experience dealing with the media. He notes that there should probably be some type of FAQ for when you’re in this increasingly-common type of situation, and gives some helpful advice:

First off, and remember this: make the arrangements with everybody yourself. I didn’t understand how this works and it cost me some money. You don’t need to speak to agencies that represent the networks; you can speak to them directly yourself, and if you’re in the middle of something like this where they are running your footage right now they will actually call you back. You won’t know who to call but start with your local TV station, tell them they are running your copyrighted footage and you’d like to get paid for it. Then, while you’re doing that ask for a contact number for the parent network itself so you can do the same thing there. It really is that simple.

This reminds me of the tourist this summer catching the NYPD officer attacking a bicyclist. I wonder if he knew to negotiate a deal with the media? I think this FAQ sounds like a good idea!

I know from my limited experience dealing with the media over a thing in college that they can be unbelievably persuasive in getting you to give them things for free. I’m doubting that tourist got anything for filling the space between their commericals. I hope I’m wrong!