As a TV field reporter, you’re taught to be laser-focused. Whatever’s happening around you, when you step before the camera to do what’s known as a stand-up, you try to keep your eyes front and your mind on the job. At times, it can be a challenge. People may wave or jump about and pull faces behind the camera. Onlookers shout at you or honk their car horns. There are a million things to distract your attention while you’re delivering your pearls of wisdom to the camera, but you have to soldier on.
When intern Alvin Kaunda went to do a story at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, he probably didn’t expect too many challenges. The trust cares for orphan elephants and other wildlife, and it’s a pretty closed environment, seemingly without much likelihood of your on-camera spiel being interrupted. But looks can be deceiving.
Watch the video to see a reporter’s concentration shattered by a mischievous elephant.
Kaunda’s piece-to-camera was going quite well as he explained to his audience how the charity cares for the elephants. But then the baby elephants behind him became curious. And gradually, as their confidence grew, one of the elephants began to muscle in on the reporter’s stand-up. To be fair to the rookie reporter, he kept talking as long as he could. But when the elephant started rubbing his head with its trunk and eventually tried to nuzzle his nose and mouth, Kaunda reached breaking point and burst out laughing.
And I can empathize with the young reporter. During my own visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust way back in the day, I also had a challenging moment. While speaking to the camera, I was spooked by a baby rhino. Sadly, I didn’t maintain the same composure as Alvin Kaunda as I ran away! It wasn’t my finest moment in broadcasting, but I did profit from my faux pas as the clip made it onto a blooper show in the U.K., which sent me a royalty check each time it aired. Hopefully, Kaunda enjoys similar good fortune as he dealt with the elephant’s intrusion like a pro!