First, take a look at the YouTube video below.
Have you watched it? Do you have a strong opinion?
Yes, on the surface it may seem like an ignorant American NBC reporter is asking Sven Kramer, the reigning Dutch long track endurance Speed Skating champ a very basic and stupid question that she should have never asked. It should be obvious to the reporter who he is, and where he's from, and what he just won.
But in fact the reporter's question is journalism 101 because:
1) The reporter will certainly give the tape to an editor who has hundreds of hours worth of interviews with dozens of athletes and this is just a simple and straightforward way of not misidentifying the skater.
Some people may point out that a more professional way to do this would be for the reporter to preface the interview with, "I'm speaking with Sven Kramer who just won the gold...." but
2) It's actually much smarter to have the interview subject say their name because this tells the reporter, editor, anchor, how to actually pronounce the name correctly .
Recently deaths/mistakes in American hospital operating rooms have dropped dramatically because many hospitals have taken the airline pilot's check list and applied it to pre-surgery procedures.
It's a simple idea but it literally works miracles.
The number one item on the surgery check list.
Have the patient identify themselves and their age to prevent the possibility of operating on the wrong person.
We can't help but wonder if Kramer would have been as outraged in a hospital if asked to identify himself.
Same procedure, different profession.
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