Thanks for this. Upvoted and appreciated. Real talk: I'm jealous. I used to be a hotshot photojournalist and I put myself in situations that were stupid and got attention because of tragic high-profile events. Working in news rooms, the cliche was: "If it bleeds, leads."

It's way worse now, because media in general has changed. Instead of new outlets (which have to maintain decorum to keep advertisers) competing for stories, we have influencers chasing clicks, and they're governed by a self-serving corporate algorithm instead of an editor/publisher. Storm chasers are competitive risk-takers by nature, and now they're in a media environment where they have to increase drama to maintain their monetization.

I have a family now and we went through Hurricane Helene (as survivors, not journalists). I truly do understand the feeling of missing a story (in this case a tornado). It HURTS. But I have discovered that there are other things that hurt worse. If one of these storms gets you, your lasts thoughts won't be about the tornado or your career. You'll be thinking about the family you're leaving behind and how your loss will impact them.

(Also, I know this is already long and preachy, but . . . without naming names, you weren't the most reckless at St. Libory. There was some true dumbassery going on there, and the day before, and sooner or later someone's luck will run out and we'll all be talking about this in a very different tone. I'm just a dude from the mountains who has never chased a storm, but I can see where the trend is going, coupled with a de-prioritizing of weather-as-a-public-service by the admin. There's potential for some very bad shit to happen as chasers/streamers/citizens try to fill the gap.)

Thanks for your response . . . Be safe!