Reporting on live television can be challenging. The Internet is flooded with videos of journalists trying to do their job despite rude interruptions from passers-by, the weather playing spoilsport or, in some instances, curious animals getting a bit too close. And most times, given the nature of the job, these moments are caught on camera for the world to see. This is exactly what happened to a reporter, during his live shot in Washington. In a video, CNN reporter Manu Raju can be seen preparing to give his byte, while a large insect is crawling on his suit and making its way to his neck.
The insect that graced Mr Raju's shot was a cicada, known to stay underground for two to 17 years. In the clip, the journalist is initially oblivious of the fact that the cicada is crawling on his suit. He only feels the insect once it reaches his neck. He instantly flicks it off his body and exclaims in shock. “Do I have more on me? Are they in my hair?” the reporter asks, as his colleagues assure him that there are none, between peals of laughter.
Sharing the video on Twitter, Mr Raju said, “Had an unwelcome visitor try to crawl into my live shot earlier.” The clip has garnered over 1.7 million views and nearly 47,000 likes within a few hours of uploading.
Responding to the tweet, some users shared other popular videos of reporters and their unfortunate trysts with bugs and insects.
Elie Honig even nominated his college for the “best live shot animal moment”.
Several Twitter users also wondered why none of his colleagues warned him about the bug sooner.
“Was nobody gonna say anything?” asked a user.
Some even referred to Mr Raju's “murderous look” upon sensing the cicada.
“This is 100% the right reaction,” said a user about the way Mr Raju responded to the situation.
Another viewer confessed that the journalist “handled this way better” than she would have and added the hashtag cicadapocalypse.
"No cicadas were harmed during the filming of this segment," a user added cheekily.
Tell us what you think of the reporter's “creepy” cicada encounter.
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