Australian news reporter's broadcast response to harassment is applauded
'What’s your problem, sir?'
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Your support makes all the difference.An Australian TV news reporter has been praised for her response to a passer-by who harassed her when she was trying to do her job.
Maggie Raworth was preparing to film a piece to camera when a man approached her and started insulting her.
He body-shamed her and also criticised her purely for being a journalist.
Raworth was reporting on the case of a pregnant woman who was sentenced to eight years in jail over a New Year’s Eve crash that killed a teenager.
She posted footage of the incident on her Facebook page and has since been widely praised for her calm response to the man.
“F***ing journos,” the man says. “Lowest of the low.”
“What’s your problem, sir?” Raworth asks in response. “What have I personally done to you?”
He criticises her for choosing to be a “lying piece of shit for a living.”
The man goes on to tell Raworth he believes she’ll be out of a job in five years, “wrinkled up,” and that she’s “already getting fat.”
Raworth, however, remains completely calm, and when she got out her phone to film the man, he responded with: “Film me, b****.”
Despite her confident reaction, Raworth has revealed she was scared.
“To be honest, I thought he would hit me so I wanted to capture that,” she told Nine News.
But the comments about her body didn’t bother Raworth.
“I don’t care what he said about my weight,” she said. “I’m a confident person and he definitely chose the wrong target. When he said get a real job that made me so angry.”
Her reaction has won Raworth praise from the general public.
“Good on you for standing your ground!” one person commented on Facebook.
“Really well handled Maggie. Very admirable.” added another.
The police are now looking into charging the man with offensive behaviour.
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