Did a reporter really ask that question?

BALTIMORE MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT, FAR RIGHT, RESPONDED TO A CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION AT THIS MARCH 26 EARLY-MORNING PRESS CONFERENCE, FIVE HOURS AFTER THE FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSED

It’s about five hours after a cargo ship hit the Key Bridge in Baltimore, collapsing it and sending six construction workers on the bridge into the water. The city’s mayor is holding a press conference when a reporter asks him: “How long is it going to take to rebuild the bridge?”

Calmly and immediately, the mayor responds: “We shouldn’t even be having that discussion right now. The discussion right now should be about the people, the souls, the lives that we’re trying to save. There will be a time to discuss about a bridge and how we get our bridge back up but right now there are people in the water that we have to get out.”

On social media, the mayor got mostly applause. The reporter got mostly ripped apart. One X poster wrote: “Shoutout to our mayor Brandon Scott for focusing on the people and showcasing empathy, because the nerve of that reporter to ask about the bridge repair. Like, sir read the (expletive) room.”

I understand why many people saw the reporter’s question as disrespectful to the victims. But I don’t have a problem with it. How about you?

It may have been an impossible question to answer so soon after the event, and perhaps a mayor isn’t the right person to ask. And knowing the press conference is a live broadcast, an acknowledgment of the loss of life from the reporter would have shown a sense of understanding.

But that question had to be asked. It’s a fundamental part of the story, with long-term implications for thousands of people. Pursuing all aspects of a major breaking news story does not mean indifference to the human tragedy. Nor does it prove backward news priorities. (And I’d say that regardless of the demographics of the victims.)

If that moment -- five hours in -- was too soon to ask about the bridge, I’m hard-pressed to pick the moment when it becomes OK. When everyone is known to have died? That was already certain. When each body is recovered from the river? That might never happen.

Clearly, though, much of the public thought that moment was completely wrong. It’s a reminder that journalists and the public often have different values. And one more example, even if not justified, of why so many people hold the news media in such low regard.