Topic: TWC Showed a Video of a Tornado, Soil Yourself Now

[HailHunter]

That's apparently what Jim Cantore and the producers at the Weather Channel wanted us to do after acting like a bunch of hyped up school kids upon seeing the first tornado video of the season. Now, granted, I am always excited to see the first tornado video of the season, and after having an historically quiet Winter for severe weather I will say that I could understand someone being extra amped for the situation.

What I do not understand is the Weather Channel devoting two hours to a single tornado that was, really, not that newsworthy. Thankfully, nobody died and I have not heard of any injuries. I don't like to hear about anybody losing their home, but mobile homes being destroyed in Oklahoma in severe weather season isn't exactly Earth shattering by any stretch. It's like getting up in arms after a minimal tropical storm brushes past the southern tip of Florida. Nobody is going to be losing their minds in the aftermath.

Then, and this is what really got on my nerves, Cantore started putting over the storm chasers giving out the tornado warning to the National Weather Service. Hey, great on them. That shouldn't be newsworthy either. That's sort of expected for storm chasers to not be jackasses. When they see a tornado they are supposed to call the NWS and say "you might wanna look into issuing a warning for (insert county here.)"

I'm glad they helped people out and all, but don't sit there and give them Sainthood for doing their jobs.

It just rubbed me all sorts of the wrong way that the Weather Channel of old would have shown that clip every 30 minutes and given it a couple of minutes of coverage at best, yet today's TWC made that one single clip a two hour infomercial for SevereStudios.com To me, it was pathetic and wreaked of sensationalism.

[mackbig]

...and CNN made "news" out of a 4.4 earthquake yesterday.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/09/hawaii.earthquake/index.html?iref=allsearch

how many 4.4+ earthquakes were there in the US in the last week?  news seems to equal scaring people these days...

Andrew

[SlowModem]

...and CNN made "news" out of a 4.4 earthquake yesterday.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/09/hawaii.earthquake/index.html?iref=allsearch

how many 4.4+ earthquakes were there in the US in the last week?  news seems to equal scaring people these days...

Andrew

Controversy and disaster, and how people feel about something is what news is about nowadays.  I sure do miss Walter and David and Chet.  

"Just the facts, Ma'am." - Jack Webb (aka Sgt. Joe Friday)

[ocala]

"Just the facts, Ma'am."  C'mon we need conjecture,  sensationalism, lies etc.
Facts are boring.

Hail hunter TWC is just trying to survive. They have to sensationalize everything to keep people watching. Very few of us weather junkies take them seriously, or for that fact, watch them anymore.
Back in the day  I like many of you guys would watch them constantly. I can still hear my wife saying "why do you watch that all the time".
If they didn't do it this way they wouldn't be on the air. In the process they have pushed us aside and gone after another demographic that eats that crap up. You go where the money is.

[Downlinerz2]

     Facts?  As is shown in my signature, Sherlock Holmes said of facts:  " There is nothing is more deceptive than an obvious fact".  In todays media "facts" are in the eyes of the beholder!  

[Cienega32]

"Just the facts, Ma'am."  C'mon we need conjecture,  sensationalism, lies etc.
Facts are boring.

And, on a local station level, don't forget the always impressive and seemingly important comment of "WE were the FIRST to tell you about it!" or "We were the only news crew there".

Well, sure! You were the only fools that thought it to be news worthy!

I'm with SloModem - gimme back the old-school when we had pros. Nowadays it's filled with a bunch of Hollywood Access wannabees that think I want every other word over emphasized for the wrong reason. My favorite part is when I have to listen to your opinion and/or personal reaction to the story you just read off a tele-prompter. I want news not kitchen table banter! I have to wonder how much of that is the fault of the producers.

[Weather Display]

its also a bit like airlines...you get something go wrong...then suddenly the media report on every plane around the world having some problem....when those incidents went un reported before...

[SlowModem]

I'm with SloModem - gimme back the old-school when we had pros. Nowadays it's filled with a bunch of Hollywood Access wannabees that think I want every other word over emphasized for the wrong reason. My favorite part is when I have to listen to your opinion and/or personal reaction to the story you just read off a tele-prompter. I want news not kitchen table banter! I have to wonder how much of that is the fault of the producers.

I'm reminded of one of the episodes of "From the Earth to the Moon" where the "older" news anchor is replaced by a new news director with a young reporter that reports on how the people feel, and the big news story is secondary.  I know it's fictionalized, but there's probably a lot of truth in it, too.

[HailHunter]

Sensationalism is a fact of life now, but it still hacks me off real good.

[port1]

   It's all about ratings now.  Even our local newspapers choose to report "bad things" instead or praising what is good in the world.
I don't like it.
 

Henry

[W Thomas]

  It's all about ratings now.  Even our local newspapers choose to report "bad things" instead or praising what is good in the world.
I don't like it.
 

Henry

That about sums it up!  Media is a great thing but sometimes it can send the wrong message and that sometimes ends up in a worse problem than they are reporting about at the time.   Mainly these school shooting massacres... seems like when they are to report on one event it's just a matter of time until another pops up somewhere!  I can't help but wonder if maybe the over all events..and low level fame by being televised nationally..tend to play on some of these "slightly unstable" individuals out there and they too decide to try a similar stunt for similar recognition.

It is truly a numbers game now days...  Plain down to earth news reporting has to be hyped up in favor of gaining better ratings numbers which the networks will hope translate to more viewers and hopefully more revenue!

My $.0002 worth 

[mackbig]

Another 4.4, oh my... 
 
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/16/california.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2

... in other news, the sun came up this morning .... though analysts expect it to set later on today.

Andrew

[casa manana]

at the risk of "piling on" the news media, I thought I'd just add a funny example from a large Los Angeles radio news station this morning.  it's actually about the minor mag 4.4 eathquake earlier this morning, noted in the above post.  Needless to say, mag 4.4 earthquakes in Los Angeles are as newsworthy as drizzle in Seattle (all due respects).   Well, since it occurred about 4:00 am, I barely stirred out of my sleep (although I'd probably be characterized as a "Survivor" in some news reports    )  When I was driving in to work, I turned on the news station on the radio, just to "get the facts".  It turns out they were all over a story about an emergency repair going on the 5 Freeway north of Los Angeles due to pavement damage probably caused by the earthquake.  odd, didn't seem that big to me.   When they finally got around to interview one of the CaTrans work crews, they found out it was basically just some pothole repair.  Darn, there goes another Pulitzer opportunity.

[W Thomas]

... in other news, the sun came up this morning .... though analysts expect it to set later on today.

Andrew

Can we expect an in depth report during the nightly news hour

I miss Walter Cronkite myself..... That's the Way it Is..

We definitely have several biased local news outlets in my area!  Always the same thing, same place!

[HailHunter]

Did anyone catch the wording of the report on that LA earthquake on TWC the other night? Right at the end they had all of the forecasters ominously say "some scientists believe this could be signs of a bigger one yet to come"?

[WeatherBeacon]

That's apparently what Jim Cantore and the producers at the Weather Channel wanted us to do after acting like a bunch of hyped up school kids....
To me, it was pathetic and wreaked of sensationalism.

This is how I feel about most sports commentators these days, especially those for college football, college basketball, and even the NFL. I could start rattling off some names, but some of you might actually enjoy them, and that's okay. I simply tire of their childish, exaggerated enthusiasm.

More facts on facts: "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."---John Adams in his defense of the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial. Dec. 1770.