ShopTalk | Social Media

Reporter Carried Over Flood Waters, Becomes Meme, Gets Fired

By Kevin Eck 

TV Azteca reporter Lydia Cumming apologized on social media after pictures of her being carried over flood waters by two interview subjects went viral.

tv azatecaThe Kansas City Star reports Cumming interviewed two residents about flooding in the city of Puebla in central Mexico. The two then offered to carry the reporter to a neighbor’s house for an interview so she wouldn’t get her shoes wet.

She told El País a photojournalist took a shot of her and posted it on her Facebook page. The photo then hit the social media sphere where it led to Cumming being shamed via photoshop and placed into all sorts of scenarios. Her boss didn’t think it was funny, so he fired her.

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According to Buzzfeed TV Azteca fired her for “the lack of respect shown towards neighbors who were part of the reporter’s coverage.”

“I try to maintain a good relationship with people and I was afraid I would sound rude if I turned down the favor,” she told El País. “They carried me two seconds and after I asked them to put me down.”

“I admit my mistakes,” she said later. “The photos show a lack of professionalism and tact.”

Here she is on the moon:

And doing her version of Jean Claude Van Damn’s volo commercial:

Here’s a compilation:

The Beatles gave it a shot:

Here’s Azteca’s statement:

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