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Best Providence News Team During R.I. Floods?

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

I understand that Rhode Island is being hit with massive floods this week. A state of emergency was even declared by the President, that's how bad it is.

Because I'm sure this question will be asked at some point... which station has proven to be the most reliable keeping viewers informed* about the flooding situation? WJAR? WLNE? WPRI/WNAC (would you even count them as separate news operations?)?

I know WLNE has gotten a lot of flak in the past on this board about being the big loser in Providence news, but - and I am not trying to make light of such a natural disaster as a flood - if WLNE wants to establish themselves to Rhode Island that they are a reliable news operation, now is the time for them to step it up.

* provided enough viewers in the state even had power to watch television during the floods
 
The question is: Did any of the stations interrupt regular programming for coverage? I know WBZ in Boston is known for doing that.
 
WPRI really dropped the ball last night. The Governor had a Live News conference with the entire Emergency management team present to provide information and to answer any questions. WJAR aired it Live. WLNE aired it Live. WPRI showed Wheel Of Foortune and Jeopardy.
 
I watched WLNE and WPRI, I thought that WPRI had the best, but WLNE was a close second. Both had numerous reporters throughout the region.

I can't even watch WJAR anymore, it is just painful to see.

Did anyone see how many reporters they had out live? WLNE had 3 or 4 I think, and WPRI had 4, plus T.J. Del Santo from outside the studio in the weather yard.

I'll have to watch today's shows more closely.
 
WPRI had good coverage, but how could they not air a Live News conference with the Governor as a disaster unfolds? That screw up even took me by surprise.
 
WJAR had 1 live reporter this morning, I just checked a recording of the newscast that I made to see if they would have another power outage.
 
I watched WLNE's 4 PM newscast, and I thought the coverage was very good.

They had 2 live reporters out in the field, and 2 reporters with taped reports.

One interesting thing that they did was send their deputy assignment editor out on the road to test how well the traffic detours were working, and how long it would take to get from downtown Providence to East Greenwich. He has been doing live phone reports, as well as a live shot at the start.

ABC 6 will also have a special live 5 PM newscast.

ABC 6 has been looking really good lately!
 
At 5 PM, WPRI had 4 live reporters with 5 reports about the flooding. They also had Call 12 for Action's Susan Hogan with a report about flood insurance, and an interview with an analyst.

At 6 PM, WJAR had 3 live reports, and 1 taped report.
 
bg02445 said:
At 5 PM, WPRI had 4 live reporters with 5 reports about the flooding. They also had Call 12 for Action's Susan Hogan with a report about flood insurance, and an interview with an analyst.

At 6 PM, WJAR had 3 live reports, and 1 taped report.
Click to expand...

Kudos to WPRI for the report about flood insurance. ::) Talk about too little too late...
 
Skynet74 said:
WPRI really dropped the ball last night. The Governor had a Live News conference with the entire Emergency management team present to provide information and to answer any questions. WJAR aired it Live. WLNE aired it Live. WPRI showed Wheel Of Foortune and Jeopardy.
Click to expand...

Really? Are you 100% sure about that one??
We aired the press conference with the governor on WPRI.
Wheel of fortune started at 7pm, and we broke into Wheel around 7:04 to air the Governor's statement, and did so for the entire duration of his statement. When his statement was over, we returned to Wheel of Fortune in progress. (The entire length of the speech was only 10-15 minutes.) The "press Q&A" part after the statement was streamed live on the website.
 
I think WLNE had the best coverage - they do not get the credit that they deserve. WPRI had very good coverage, too, and WJAR did well.
 
Necrat said:
Really? Are you 100% sure about that one??
We aired the press conference with the governor on WPRI.
Wheel of fortune started at 7pm, and we broke into Wheel around 7:04 to air the Governor's statement, and did so for the entire duration of his statement. When his statement was over, we returned to Wheel of Fortune in progress. (The entire length of the speech was only 10-15 minutes.) The "press Q&A" part after the statement was streamed live on the website.
Click to expand...


Well I guess it is entirely possible that I switched the channel a split second before WPRI started it's coverage. All I know is that Channel 10 and 6 were already into the Press conference. The Governor was speaking. Then when I switched to WPRI, all I saw was a spinning wheel. I checked back with WPRI a half hour later and I saw Jeopardy. So to me it looked like you guys didn't air any of it. However according to you, WPRI joined in a couple of minutes late and then did not broadcast the Q&A like the competition did. That's to bad. The Question and Answer segment offered some very important information. I think you guys should have stayed with it. WPRI is the number one News station in town. So it's a bit disappointing to know that WPRI gave this so little coverage that I somehow missed it both times I switched to the station. It makes me feel like channel 12 might not always have coverage that I can count on.
 
We never switched to it late though. We saw in the live shot, the governor walk to the podium, as soon as he was there, we broke in, Karen Adams did a quick intro and then tossed to him. We might have cut him by like 2-3 seconds at best.

It wasn't my decision to air the Q&A, so I have no say in that. Again, we did stream it on our website though.
 
Thanks for clearing that up, Necrat. Before I got to your first post, I had suspected viewers were directed to view the entire PC at the WPRI website. Good call.
 
Necrat said:
We never switched to it late though. We saw in the live shot, the governor walk to the podium, as soon as he was there, we broke in, Karen Adams did a quick intro and then tossed to him. We might have cut him by like 2-3 seconds at best.
Click to expand...

OK I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. It's just weird how it appeared differently at my house. Maybe I get a special alternate feed of WPRI that I wasn't aware of... LOL. I know you speak the truth though. So I obviously just missed the coverage on your station thanks to my trick channel surfing. ;D
 
I'd carry it but... Gov's rarely say anything of value at these things.

WJAR had a reporter I didn't recognize. Maybe it was a producer: I think her name was Davis?
 
Blackroc said:
I'd carry it but... Gov's rarely say anything of value at these things...
Click to expand...

When there's a state of emergency or crisis surrounding a Gov's presser or a Mayor's presser, I would imagine the larger local broadcast stations would have no choice but to carry it.
 
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