A television journalist has been the target of a torrent of verbal abuse from a stranger – before she whipped out her phone and filmed him.
Maggie Ramworth, a 24-year-old Channel Nine reporter, was outside Victoria’s Ballarat Court about to film a piece-to-camera when a stranger approached her.
He walked up to Ms Ramworth and launched into a string of insults directed at both her and the camera operator, telling them to ‘get a real job, the both of you’.
‘F**king journos, lowest of the low,’ he said.
Maggie Ramworth, a 24-year-old Channel Nine reporter, was outside Victoria’s Ballarat Court about to film a piece-to-camera when a stranger approached her
The man spotted Ms Ramworth from his car, and decided to park up and approach her.
Despite the hostility she encountered Ms Ramworth remained patient and measured during the exchange.
‘What’s your problem Sir? What have I personally done to you?’ she asked.
‘You chose to be a journalist, there’s a million and one jobs in this world and you chose to be a lying piece of s**t for a living,’ he replied.
‘Give it five f**king years and you’ll be out of a job, all wrinkled up and shit. You’re already getting fat and that so f**k.’
Ms Ramworth calmly pulled out her phone and began filming the man.
He walked up to Ms Ramworth and launched into a string of insults directed at both her and the camera operator, telling them to ‘get a real job, the both of you’
‘Yeah film me b**ch, at least I make money, unlike you. Local news motherf**kers,’ came his reply as he pulled the fingers at her.
The man then walked off away from the courthouse.
Ms Ramworth posted a video of the interaction on Facebook, with the ironic caption ‘When fans pull their car over to talk to you’.
She has received a lot of support since posting the video, with people telling her she kept her cool and she ‘handled it like a pro’.
Ms Ramworth calmly pulled out her phone and began filming the man
Ms Ramworth told news.com.au she deals with abuse every day in her job.
‘It happens all the time, every TV journalist can say that happens to them almost on a daily basis. I get yelled at from cars all the time, it’s just part of the job,’ she said.
She said she was still ‘reeling and angry’ after the incident.
‘Don’t just hate somebody you don’t even know purely because they work for the media.
‘Nobody deserves to be spoken to like that and you shouldn’t just have to accept people speaking to you in that manner.’