The local news fluff piece has long been a staple of local news programming across the land. Whether its on-the-spot coverage of a new mascot for the local fire department, or the opening of the new Shoney’s by the WalMart Supercenter, most local news stories are as fulfilling as cotton candy.

With that in mind, it would be hard to reduce the quality of local programming much further than it already is. That, however, didn’t stop Show Me St. Louis host Julie Tristan when she interviewed David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals. Tristan’s behavior was so unprofessional, she may have set back local reporting for good, especially in regards to local female personalities covering athletes. The video, which has blown up on a viral basis, was pointed out by Deadspin. Naturally, they offer scathing review of Tristan’s “watch me act like a schoolgirl and hit on Freese the entire day” interview skills:

…quite possibly the most uncomfortably awkward fluff piece ever.

The video in question. It truly is cringe-worthy, especially if you’re an aspiring female reporter who would like to be known for her ability to conduct an interview:

I can’t imagine someone like Lisa Salters or Erin Andrews is incredibly happy with Tristan’s performance, one that played up to every negative stereotype involving the Twilight mom/soccer mom generation, a cross-section of America who makes such consumer endeavors like Forever 21 possible. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to find out Tristan was somewhere in this photograph:

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On her Twitter account, Tristan justifiies her actions with the requisite amount of smiley faces:

Clearly, being trendy, popular, and/or “super famous” is the only result folks like Tristan care about. As long as you attain something equivalent to that status, it doesn’t matter how you behaved to get to that point; at least, that’s what her Twitter response indicates. I mean, who cares if her fawning, embarrassing actions were damaging to women reporters everywhere? As long as Tristan gets to bask in the feedback her piece caused, that’s all that matters.