A TV reporter was caught on camera letting flood victims carry her through a puddle. Initially she received harsh criticism for appearing to care more about her fancy shoes than the story she was there to cover, but the picture soon took a life of it’s own…
Lydia Cummings, 24, was working as a reporter for the TV station Azteca Puebla. The picture of her being carried over a flooded street by a man and a woman was taken in the city of Puebla in central Mexico in late June.
Instantly, the picture went viral with the hashtag #LadyReportera. Cummings and her rescuers have been photoshopped into dozens of hilarious memes,
#LadyReportera jajajaja pic.twitter.com/RZVLKFoJXj
— Arturo Amador ? (@_ArturoAmador) June 28, 2016
In one picture, she and her rescuers are on the moon, with the text,
“Small step for man, giant leap for #LadyReportera”
* Small step for man, giant leap for #LadyReportera * pic.twitter.com/CtZLi7WPGO
— Papá Olvidado. (@PapaOlvidado) June 29, 2016
Another tweet shows several funny memes; one has people photoshopped into the original picture to create a catastrophe scene, with one man swinging a rat,
#Viral | Memes #LadyReportera pic.twitter.com/jFzOGwLlIZ
— Periodico Quequi (@PeriodicoQuequi) June 29, 2016
Meanwhile, Azteca Puebla saw the picture and promptly fired her. The TV station posted a statement on twitter, which said that she was disrespectful to the people of the community. Cummings replied by posting a video apology on Twitter, explaining her side of the story,
“The photos posted lack professionalism and tact. All we wanted to do was help and now we’ve created negativity.”
The couple had offered to carry her and she was scared it would be rude to decline.
In an interview with local newspaper El Pais, she said she still wants to be an journalist, and concluded,
“[Social networks] can work in your favor or against you and [can] change from one to another in seconds. I must be more careful and be more aware of what is shared in my network.”
Well, what Cunnings lacked in judgement by accepting to be carried by the very subjects she was there to report on, is also what gave her social media fame. She’s likely to get a second chance somewhere, and will hopefully judge future situations better.
As for the rest of us, we are left with a bunch of hilarious #LadyReportera memes. Enjoy!
Featured image from Twitter.
