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Weather Event Reporting

landtuna

landtuna

After watching the national network weather reports concerning Hurricane Florence I doubt I will watch another. Reporting has become disgraceful.

Why do reporters (or their producers) feel that the reporter should be standing in wind/rain/snow to describe what is happening? Do they think most Americans are so stupid they do not understand the spoken word?

This past weekend both ABC and CBS were responsible for their national anchors to be outfitted in rain gear, standing in several inches of water, being buffeted by howling winds and drenched by heavy rain and telling us what we already knew from the backgrounds.

What a bunch of idiots!
 
TheBigA said:
Who do people slow down on the highway to see a wreck? Same thing.
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Exactly. And why does CNN send their new 9pm/6pm anchor Chris Cuomo to the edge of the beach with water beating down on him? This is purely to gain ratings. There is little substance with this play. But mark my words, once the storm passes, Chris will be back in the CNN studio doing what he was hired to do. Such bullcrap.
 
landtuna said:
After watching the national network weather reports concerning Hurricane Florence I doubt I will watch another. Reporting has become disgraceful.

Why do reporters (or their producers) feel that the reporter should be standing in wind/rain/snow to describe what is happening? Do they think most Americans are so stupid they do not understand the spoken word?

This past weekend both ABC and CBS were responsible for their national anchors to be outfitted in rain gear, standing in several inches of water, being buffeted by howling winds and drenched by heavy rain and telling us what we already knew from the backgrounds.

What a bunch of idiots!
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDzajY1bwWs

The united States is not the only Country to have sent its news staff to the storm.
Yes Philippines sent its News Crews to cover a Typhoon in their area for similar reasons and Similar effects did happen there too.
 
seatownmedia said:
Exactly. And why does CNN send their new 9pm/6pm anchor Chris Cuomo to the edge of the beach with water beating down on him? This is purely to gain ratings. There is little substance with this play. But mark my words, once the storm passes, Chris will be back in the CNN studio doing what he was hired to do. Such bullcrap.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, he’ll do what he was hired to do. It’s called a job. Part of that job includes on-scene reporting as well.

For the get-off-my-lawn crowd, the world changes. Tastes change. We’re in a world where visuals matter immensely. Is it really that surprising that the most visual medium would employ, um, visuals? Cameras are going to be there. So having reporters and anchors there is somehow problematic?
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
So having reporters and anchors there is somehow problematic?
Click to expand...

This isn't some new thing either. The Weather Channel has been putting its reporters in harm's way as long as I can remember. I know radio reporters have been doing it since the 1940s. They call them ROSRs. If it's disgraceful, buy a newspaper.
 
landtuna said:
After watching the national network weather reports concerning Hurricane Florence I doubt I will watch another. Reporting has become disgraceful.

Why do reporters (or their producers) feel that the reporter should be standing in wind/rain/snow to describe what is happening? Do they think most Americans are so stupid they do not understand the spoken word?

This past weekend both ABC and CBS were responsible for their national anchors to be outfitted in rain gear, standing in several inches of water, being buffeted by howling winds and drenched by heavy rain and telling us what we already knew from the backgrounds.

What a bunch of idiots!
Click to expand...


Well its the same thing with Local Sacramento and San Francisco Tv Crews going to the scenes of Wildfires yes they go on the ride to explain the residents why Sacramento and San Francisco can't breathe well + Residents from Closest to the fire being escorted out by Calfire and CHP. Sure TV Crews want dramatic effects though .
 
Apparently I am not alone in my opinion. Bill Maher began his program this week with a very similar observation.
 
landtuna said:
Apparently I am not alone in my opinion. Bill Maher began his program this week with a very similar observation.
Click to expand...

Let us know the next time a hurricane hits Phoenix. I expect your TV stations will send their anchors outside to report the phenomenon.
 
landtuna said:
Apparently I am not alone in my opinion. Bill Maher began his program this week with a very similar observation.
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Kudos to him for his wry and witty observations while safely ensconced in the Price is Right studio. Perhaps he can spin the big wheel backstage during breaks, or steal a case or Rice a Roni as a parting gift.

What seems rather comical is some of the same voices who complain vociferously about anchors being pampered or pretty or what have you, then complain when said anchors go out and join their colleagues in covering news. If "harm's way" is the issue, we've had correspondents and photographers out on the front lines of wars and at the sites of natural disasters, among other dangerous situations, since day one. Somehow it's a problem that Lester Holt or David Muir is there?
 
Ever since Dan Rather wrapped himself around a telephone pole, we've had this type of coverage. When does the Weather Channel get ratings? When there are hurricanes to cover. Otherwise it's better for them to run their reality shows because nobody wants to watch anchors report on the upcoming week of partly cloudy.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Kudos to him for his wry and witty observations while safely ensconced in the Price is Right studio. Perhaps he can spin the big wheel backstage during breaks, or steal a case or Rice a Roni as a parting gift.
Click to expand...

You have Bill Maher confused with some sort of game host. Far from that.

AbrahamJSimpson said:
If "harm's way" is the issue, we've had correspondents and photographers out on the front lines of wars and at the sites of natural disasters, among other dangerous situations, since day one. Somehow it's a problem that Lester Holt or David Muir is there?
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"Harm's way" is EXACTLY the issue....and the laughable part. Standing in the surf, the rain, the wind is not necessarily "in harm's way". It certainly was not for the reports I saw. And bellowing out what is already obvious is not real reporting either. One crack reporter gestured to a van parked in the background with water not reaching the rear view mirror and proceeded telling the viewers the water was "six feet deep". Of course, she could have been standing on stilts.....
 
I think some of the points being made here are valid. However, this coverage is just plain boring IMO. It is the same routine every time. Put your anchor out in the rain, and hope he blows over on his ass. Wow, how original. My point about Cuomo is he does a political show 5 nights a week, and suddenly he is the hurricane expert. I call BS on that. It isn't an issue of putting your high profile anchor into a breaking news scene, but is a consistent level of coverage that viewers expect. Cuomo could have gladly given his hour over to hurricane coverage, but did he really need to be there? No.
 
seatownmedia said:
Cuomo could have gladly given his hour over to hurricane coverage, but did he really need to be there? No.
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Of course not, but that's his job. So he does it. If TV reporting that is driven by the ratings is not your cup of tea, then you should watch PBS. Or read the newspaper. There are choices people make, options available to all people. They don't have to watch the dull & boring thing. They don't have to watch something they find "disgraceful," because there are LOTS of options.

But commercially sponsored TV is not going to change it's ways and become PBS because a handful of people don't like their approach. That's one reality I think we all need to become comfortable with.
 
seatownmedia said:
I think some of the points being made here are valid. However, this coverage is just plain boring IMO. It is the same routine every time. Put your anchor out in the rain, and hope he blows over on his ass. Wow, how original.
Click to expand...

And what, exactly, would be original about hurricane coverage? You either send someone or you don't. If you're a news organization, sending someone to the biggest news story of the day seems to be pretty much mandatory. And that means they'll be in the rain. Some things just are what they are, by nature. (No pun intended.)

seatownmedia said:
My point about Cuomo is he does a political show 5 nights a week, and suddenly he is the hurricane expert. I call BS on that. It isn't an issue of putting your high profile anchor into a breaking news scene, but is a consistent level of coverage that viewers expect. Cuomo could have gladly given his hour over to hurricane coverage, but did he really need to be there? No.
Click to expand...

Cuomo did New Day for many years and reporting before that, where the focus was whatever the breaking news was. He's done reporting from a number of non-political breaking news areas. That doesn't make him a hurricane expert, nor does he need to be. He does need to be able to report on whatever the biggest news of the day is, and he did that. I'm not seeing what difference it makes if Cuomo is the one reporting or someone else is if they're covering the hurricane either way. There's nothing to "call" anything on. The viewers expect coverage of large breaking news stories, and the network delivered. Did he "need" to be there? No. But someone did. So, again, if they send only correspondents, thats somehow less problematic than a mix of correspondents and anchors? That makes no sense.
 
landtuna said:
You have Bill Maher confused with some sort of game host. Far from that.
Click to expand...
Just having some fun with his taping location.


landtuna said:
"Harm's way" is EXACTLY the issue....and the laughable part. Standing in the surf, the rain, the wind is not necessarily "in harm's way". It certainly was not for the reports I saw. And bellowing out what is already obvious is not real reporting either. One crack reporter gestured to a van parked in the background with water not reaching the rear view mirror and proceeded telling the viewers the water was "six feet deep". Of course, she could have been standing on stilts.....
Click to expand...
So they should send only camera crews and no reporters/anchors? I mean, what, exactly, is the problem then? They go to the scene of news...being from a news organization...and report. Some, like in any industry, doing so better or worse than others.
 
landtuna said:
After watching the national network weather reports concerning Hurricane Florence I doubt I will watch another. Reporting has become disgraceful.

Why do reporters (or their producers) feel that the reporter should be standing in wind/rain/snow to describe what is happening? Do they think most Americans are so stupid they do not understand the spoken word?

This past weekend both ABC and CBS were responsible for their national anchors to be outfitted in rain gear, standing in several inches of water, being buffeted by howling winds and drenched by heavy rain and telling us what we already knew from the backgrounds.

What a bunch of idiots!
Click to expand...

I guess they've forgotten that time when The Weather Channel's Stephanie Abrams was hit in the head by flying debris and injured.
 
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