I can't believe, even on LR, that we're "arguing" about this. What that man did was intentional, grotesque, and humiliating, and I'm honestly appalled that as a running community we can't come out and just say so. That people here are splitting hairs about this is both outrageous and sadly typical.
Let's say together: strangers should not touch strangers without consent. For example, holding one's hand out for a handshake is likely a sign of consent; leaving one's hand by one's side at a first-time meeting is likely a signal that touching is for now, not welcome. More to the point: Holding a microphone in one hand with one's back to a crowd while conducting a live TV broadcast is absolutely a signal that touching is not welcome. This is not difficult.
And let's say together: touching a stranger's butt is never okay. It's awful hearing folks say that a smack is somehow not a form of sexual assault. If someone gently fondled her butt, even briefly, we would all agree that it was sexual. But a smack--a gesture intended to at least shock and at most harm this reporter, and certainly intended to gratify the man who did it--is somehow not? It's about power--and is clearly an expression of sexual dominance. You think this man would race all the way over to this reporter to supportively pat her on the back? Of course not. The thrill is in pwning her. He has reminded her that even though he's underdressed in pathetic, overpriced running gear and is basically jerking off athletically, and she's a fully-clothed professional reporter and local personality, he is still powerful enough to expose her essential vulnerability, to remind her and her viewers that she is still in a precarious position.
And let's say together: Men wield physical sexual power over women orders of magnitude more frequently than women use physical sexual power over men. There is simply no comparison between the experience of a woman being catcalled, for example, and a man being hooted at. When was the last time you heard of a man being killed because he ignored the come-on of a catcaller, as is suspected in the murder case of Ruth George? I get called at (really infrequently) by women while I'm running, and the worst that happens is that I'm confused about their sincerity. I have never worried that the next thing that could happen is that I will be followed, stalked, and approached.
And let's say together: This man used a sexualized touch to perform his masculinity to himself and to others, while this woman was reduced to being a prop.
And let's say together: It can be humiliating and traumatizing to be touched this way, whoever does the touching. This reporter will not "move on" from this in an hour, or a day, a week; she will recall being diminished by a stranger for no reason for a long, long time. This sensation will be amplified for her because it was in public, while she was conducting a professional responsibility. The male poster earlier in this thread who was smacked on the butt during a naked run decades ago may claim that he was not traumatized--but he sure as heck remembers the event and is clearly still processing it. In other words, I'm not so certain that he wasn't traumatized, in some way. And if this same-sex touch in the middle of an already-sexualized performance (let's not pretend a naked run is somehow neutral) can sear itself into a man's consciousness to the point that he brings it up at irrelevant moments on a message board, please imagine how a woman might feel being smacked in public, on TV.
And let's say together: People who violate others through sexualized physical aggression should be dealt with in the justice system. This man should absolutely be charged with assault, and, if he is found guilty, his sentence should involve community service (monitored, of course) in some sort of facility for battered women. No prison time, no fine, will help him--but perhaps seeing that his ingrained misogyny (and make no mistake--touching a woman without consent for one's own gratification is misogyny) is on the same spectrum that includes violent abuse will.