Irene: Overhyped by the media?

[KentBrockman]

I think so. :

Irene was barely a Category 1 as it hit landfall. For comparison, Katrina in 2005 was a Cat 3 when it hit Louisiana.

The cable news nets with their scary bumper music, overdone graphics and dire predictions of a 10 foot storm surge hitting NYC were laughable. I found myself chuckling at an overly dramatic Jim Cantore Friday night as I watched NBC Nightly News.

Hype draws more viewers = more ad revenue.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I agree too--although I know some people affected by Irene--and I can't help but wonder What If on this: What if during Irene or another major hurricane, there was a MAJOR but separate severe weather/tornado outbreak in the Midwest or South similar to the likes of Greensburg, KS (2007), Parkersburg, IA (2008) and Tuscaloosa and Joplin this year--or perhaps a severe weather episode like the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair two weeks ago? If any of those or similar severe weather/tornado outbreaks occurred in the Midwest during a major hurricane, would The Weather Channel and the news channels even make a mention of those storms (although if heaven forbid there was another Joplin-like F5 tornado during a hurricane I would think TWC would be devoting some time to that storm in addition to the 'cane)?

What do you think--because how crazy this year's severe weather season has been IMO it would not surprise me later this fall if during a major Gulf Coast/Eastern hurricane, the tornado "second season" in the Midwest really gets cranked up and there could be a major outbreak of severe weather/tornadoes there WHILE a hurricane is bearing down on one of the coasts (and I'm not talking about tropical remnants that might affect the Midwest/Ohio Valley/Mid-South).

And BTW earlier today there was a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska (which has since expired)--but I don't think it was even mentioned on the Weather Channel.

And also today is the 21st anniversary of the F5 Plainfield, IL tornado of Aug. 28, 1990, which killed 29 people and injured 353:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainfield_Tornado

 

[mjlarochelle]

CNN even has the Katrina music, and Anderson Cooper has been reporting from within the hurricane. I had to wonder if any bystanders - and there were some - were thinking of trying to make him giggle again on-camera.

 

[therealjm12]

Maybe the fact that Irene is affecting more than 60 million people has something to do with it. Tornadoes & severe thunderstorms are no less important to the people in the midwest, but come on, who do you think the media is going to pay more attention to, Washington, DC, Philly, Baltimore, NYC & Boston or Topeka & Ottumwa? Once again, it's all driven by the $$.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Irene was not well-handled by the forecast models. It was projected to be category 4 east of Jacksonville, Fla. It was projected to skirt up the eastern seaboard, but not make landfall until somewhere between Atlantic City, NJ and Long Beach, NY. Instead, Irene was a strong category 2 storm east of Jacksonville, and made landfall in North Carolina.

So yes, lots of people overreacted to Irene based on bad forecasts.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I don't know if you have ever been responsible for the weather info that went on the air, and worked for an owner who thought that was THE MOST PRIMARY of tasks to provide his community.

You NEVER want to UNDER report the weather... lead people to believe it is going to be weak, going to be mild... and then have it turn out to be the meanest, ugliest storm to ever hit.

I haven't been able to follow this one as closely as I usually do, I I think the forecasters early on thought it was going to even reach the next to the highest level of severity.

I wouldn't want to have to report the funeral of a family who took me at my word when I said "This one won't be so bad."

 

[jsu5381m]

CNN even has the Katrina music, and Anderson Cooper has been reporting from within the hurricane. I had to wonder if any bystanders - and there were some - were thinking of trying to make him giggle again on-camera.

I'm dissapointed The Weather Channel didn't do Katrina music for the local forecasts because they didn't even do regular local on the 8s all weekend.

 

[KML0224]

Irene's last landfall was at Coney Island in Brooklyn as a weak category 1 system. The tropical storm was down to 50 mph and was heading up west of Brattleboro, VT at last check. I heard of the major problems WFSB-TV (CBS) channel 3 of Hartford was having with power at the Rocky Hill, CT studio. A good 51% of the state is without power (I'm one of the few who has it right now). More rain than Gloria of 1985, but slightly less wind. It was still an awful morning here in central Connecticut and the west wind is still gusting to about 30 mph or so.

 

[searadiofreak]

Overhyped? Absolutely. But let's look at what drives cable news today. Predictions of tragedy always will work for the cable nets. Let's tell viewers what the worst case scenerio is and let's watch our ratings spike.

Beyond that, this story is another perfect example of how the national media determines what is important based on the DC to Boston corridor. This is total BS, and it reflects an east coast mindset that continues to minimize anything that happens outside their realm of reality. California would need to drop off into the Pacific before the east coast media would even consider it important. This is just pure and simple an east coast bias. My message to them is simple: Realize that the country does not end outside of the DC-Boston corridor, despite your short-sided perception that it does.

 

[gregg75]

I think it was a good TEST DRIVE. Kinda like your family rehearsing how to exit the
house in the middle of the night in case of an emergency. Things could have gotten
worse. Be thankful that it fizzled and fewer lives were lost. The opposite might have
been more newsworthy but no news is sometimes good news (to most people).

 

[recto101]

Overhyped? Absolutely. But let's look at what drives cable news today. Predictions of tragedy always will work for the cable nets. Let's tell viewers what the worst case scenerio is and let's watch our ratings spike.

Beyond that, this story is another perfect example of how the national media determines what is important based on the DC to Boston corridor. This is total BS, and it reflects an east coast mindset that continues to minimize anything that happens outside their realm of reality. California would need to drop off into the Pacific before the east coast media would even consider it important. This is just pure and simple an east coast bias. My message to them is simple: Realize that the country does not end outside of the DC-Boston corridor, despite your short-sided perception that it does.

But Wait CNN and HLN is based in Atlanta so the bias is really from the North East and the South east of the country with some Midwest focus like Iowa when elections come. Also Once a west coast bias is involved it would lean more to LA since its the largest city on the west and San Diego when it comes to immigration issues. This means Seattle, Portland the Rockies, Hawaii, and Alaska are ignored. San Jose would come into play when tech stocks are involved.






Look Heat wave of the century always happen on the east coast and Gulf Coast for a few weeks from July to August before Hurricane of the century or Tornado of the century comes in this same area from August to September. Look at Diablo Valley to San Gabriel Valley they fear for Wildfire of the century around the July to October but its confined to local media in the area.

 

[recto101]

BTW look at the Philippine media they just had a typhoon that same week as Irene and now its heading to China.

 

[searadiofreak]

Except CNN has a big NY office as well. Anderson Cooper is based there, and Wolf Blitzer is based out of DC. Atlanta is just the corporate HQ, and a limited studio location.

 

[ROBGv1]

HLN's coverage was prerecoded.

 

[imhomerjay]

Not overhyped. 1, 2, 5....it matters little when you need to know to hit the basement right away, when you need to plan possible evacuation options, when you're in the middle of it. Perhaps the comparatively small number of tragic outcomes, though all are regrettable, is due to people paying heed to the warnings and acting accordingly.

 

[searadiofreak]

Good point, but I still maintain most will rely on their local channels than CNN or Fox for this kind of information.

 

[imhomerjay]

Probably so. But something that causes that kind of general impact is plenty newsworthy. Bigger hurricanes sometimes cause less impact because of where and how they hit. So the number ranking is just one piece of the equation.

 

[BRNout]

Maybe the fact that Irene is affecting more than 60 million people has something to do with it. Tornadoes & severe thunderstorms are no less important to the people in the midwest, but come on, who do you think the media is going to pay more attention to, Washington, DC, Philly, Baltimore, NYC & Boston or Topeka & Ottumwa? Once again, it's all driven by the $$.

Here's the thing: it's not 1950 anymore. In 1950, nearly half of the US population lived in the northeast; now that's down to less than 25%. In fact, if 60,000,000 people were impacted by Irene (likely an overestimate, but we'll go with it) then that means 250,000,000 were NOT impacted by Irene. An even bigger number couldn't have given a crap about the little earth tremor earlier last week.

Big media, because its based on the east coast (mainly NY) thinks that the rest of us have their same interests. They think that we want to see EVERY press conference that Michael Bloomberg calls. Really? Isn't that a job for the likes of WABC, WNBC, WPIX, WCBS and WNYW? Yes, there's interest in an east coast hurricane. Having family in New England, I sure was interested. Then again, New England was generally ignored through most of the storm, in favor of New York City - even though parts of New England ended up seeing far more damage than the Rotten Apple did.

Yes, there's a breathtaking tone deafness when it comes to how the cable news networks and big 3 broadcast networks prioritize what "news" is.

And, the above statements are made giving a pass to the media when it comes to the blown forecast that the NHC provided. Blown because they were totally, completely off as far as storm strength is considered. And that is a bigger deal than they're making it this morning. Predicting an "end of the world storm" that will "flood much of Lower Manhattan" and ending up with the equivalent of a moderately strong nor'easter is a blown forecast - even if the track was correct. In fact, it is worse because the track (along the shoreline) made it impossible for the storm to maintain its strength. If you have the right track, how can you be so off on the storm strength? Unless you screwed the pooch - thus causing a lot of needless waste of resources.

Remember the story of the boy who cried wolf? This past week, I heard a litany of commentators and so-called experts telling us that Irene was the REAL deal. Well, "wolf, Wolf, WOLF!!!" In the event of an actual emergency, will people listen?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

BRNout.... there is another wrinkle to grand-stand quarterbacking network coverage of news in general and the hurricane in particular. Nit-picking over how many people live in the "Eastern Corridor" is NOT the total way to analyze the choice of coverage.

How many people living in Mulberry, AR or Lincoln, KS or Moultrie, GA have a son or daughter who graduated from college two years ago, got married and now lives in New Jersey or maybe have a family member stationed at Norfolk, VA in Navy.

I really hate it when on a national broadcast they mention that tornadoes roared through the Ozarks today and seven people died in some small stinkin-butt town in Arkansas, but they don't name the town! People live in Seattle and Bangor and Atlanta and Chicago that have roots and/or family in out-of-the-way dinky little parts of Americana. If the story is worth covering, name the place! ( I know. Go to the Internet. But in the helter-skelter chaos of a tornado or tornado, it may be two or three days before the detail hits the web. Like... when next week's once-a-week local paper is published and is picked up on the web.)

Interest in news made in one location IS OF INTEREST to some people living in other parts of the nation... even other parts of the world.

 

[quadraphonic]

Most people live in a three-foot wide box. Nothing outside the box really affects them. I'd say it's a vast majority who don't care about details about what happened in Big Flat Bird, Montana, they just want to be amused with some generalities.
That's why tv news is generalities. Because that's what the people want. Anything more, and most of them seize up immediately, and run back to the box and shut the door.