WATCH: Middle East Journalists Deal With Kid Interruptions, Too
Robert E. Kelly’s BBC interview is interrupted by his kids. Image by Screenshot/BBC
By Naomi Zeveloff March 12, 2017
A BBC discussion with South Korea expert went viral last week when the children of Professor Robert E. Kelly burst in on his Skype interview as his wife scrambled to pull them out of the room.
Part of what makes the video so hilarious is the element of surprise, as the somber TV newscast is interrupted by the toddling colorful duo.
To journalists with young children, the video was less surprising than relatable, an illustration of the struggle to maintain a professional front while dealing with the pressures of parenting.
In Israel, a similar situation took a different turn when Karen Seddon gave an interview on French affairs to the Israeli Channel 10 show London and Kirshenbaum with her two-year-old daughter sitting on her lap.
The clip, which was dug up by journalist Lisa Goldman after the BBC clip went viral, is a contrast to the BBC interview in which Kelly tries to bar his daughter from coming closer. Ella was allowed into the studio when she didn’t want to leave her mother’s side, and host Yaron London even chats her.
Palestinian journalist Dalia Nammari, who reports for Russia Today’s Arabic channel, also shared her own kid interruption experience.
In a Russia Today clip, Nammari is just finishing a Skype interview when a child’s voice is heard loudly in the background calling for her mother.
Nammari hangs up, as another commentator cracks up.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
