Local TV News Presenter Criticizes Certain TV Viewers and Listeners

[Mario500]

Well that's a damn shame. Must be a real bitch to engage in normal human interaction, right? Quite a pain in the ass, I'd say.

^I found your response very immature, unfunny, and inaccurate (mainly the part about human interaction). It made me wonder if you would have used such language in front of relatives of yours?

 

[AKA]

^I believe that was an insult toward me.

It wasn't meant to be an insult, per se, but yes, it was definitely directed toward you. Call it whatever you'd like, though.

Not for nothing, but if you're going to be a schoolmarm about mild expletives, Internet forums probably aren't the best place for you.

 

[firepoint525]

Mario should definitely have his own board, since he insists on being the "internet police" here.

Anyway, getting this one back on topic, back in November 2005, a wave of storms rolled through here (middle Tennessee). I was staying over at my sister's house, dogsitting in her and my brother-in-law's absence. I was watching local news for coverage of storms, when the cable company (damn you, Comcast!) interrupted coverage of storms that WERE affecting me to mention a new watch or warning in an area that did NOT affect me! Had I been here at my own house (just 10-11 miles away) at the time, I would have seen the coverage that I was intending to see, because I do not have cable here.

And no, Mario, I will NOT apologize for my language because I was pissed! And I believe rightfully so!

But I have a weather radio now, anyway.

 

[FredLeonard]

But I have a weather radio now, anyway.

As I said, there are better ways for people to get this information (affecting only a small part of the viewing area) than interrupting TV shows.

I get text messages on my smartphone.

And apparently the TV people haven't realized that a big part of the audience is not watching live anyway and will see the tornado alert three or seven days later.

 

[firepoint525]

In April of 1998, a tornado came right through downtown Nashville. I don't remember much coverage of it, since I was nowhere near a TV at the time (I was actually IN downtown Nashville when it roared through!), but I still remember that even then, the local NBC affiliate ran all of NBC's missed programming (must-see TV!) during overnight hours a few days after the storms were gone.

 

[JeffM]

I can only agree with mrschimpf that this station was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, especially in a semi-rural area where tech toys often don't work. Radio and TV can be a lifeline at those times, and that's a hell of a lot (sorry, Mario) more important than "a very special episode of Uncle Chunky's Family."

Maybe the anchorwoman's remarks were over the top, but at least they were honest. (Fred L., that "fat lady" crack was a cheap shot unworthy of you. Or maybe we should replace all female TV reporters with lingerie models...)

It's in emergencies, weather or otherwise, that radio/TV people rise to the occasion, or at least they should. Only when they fail do they deserve a putdown. A few years ago in my area, an old-line full service AM that had just changed to talk per their new owners' orders had to do emergency coverage during a huge blizzard; something they had done dozens of times over the years. Unfortunately, the air talent (what was left after the new regime fired or retired some of their best people) turned it into just another neocon clambake, speculating on how long Hillary Clinton would wait before eating her own daughter if trapped in the storm, instead of telling the audience which roads were passable. They were concerned with giving the owners what they wanted instead of giving the public what it needed.

They took a well-deserved clobbering over it, with the station manager writing a "mea culpa" editorial in the local paper. Since then, they have played it straight during emergencies, as they had for decades, and in keeping with the public interest a broadcaster is supposed to serve.

 

[FredLeonard]

Maybe the anchorwoman's remarks were over the top, but at least they were honest. (Fred L., that "fat lady" crack was a cheap shot unworthy of you. Or maybe we should replace all female TV reporters with lingerie models...)

Gee, around here, they already have. The first wave of female TV TelePrompTer readers were student council presidents. The next wave were sorority girls. Then cheerleaders. All presentable but not sexy; the kind politicians marry. Now lingerie models.

And the fact is that news reader is not going to make it out of Aberdeen unless she drops a few pounds.

 

[JeffM]

Congrats, FL. You've just revealed yourself to be every bit as shallow as the @$$clowns you put down. Deal with it.

 

[FredLeonard]

Congrats, FL. You've just revealed yourself to be every bit as shallow as the @$$clowns you put down. Deal with it.

Is it fun being self-righteous and out of touch with reality? Haven't you figured out why people who read TelePrompTers get those jobs? What consultants and news directors look for and test for? Magna *** laude from the Columbia Journalism School? Pulitzer Prizes? It's the Ken and Barbie ILF factor - no more, no less. Welcome to show biz.

 

[crainbebo]

IT DOES NOT matter how HOT they are, how CUTE they are, how close they are to frickin' BARBIE. News reporters are there to REPORT the news, weather forecasters tell people to GET IN A SHELTER DURING A TORNADO, traffic reporters talk about not taking a certain road because of an ACCIDENT. News is not a "sexy lingerie fashion Victoria's Secret 5:00PM show". It's the NEWS. Sorry, FL.

[end of rant]

-crainbebo

 

[JeffM]

Is it fun being self-righteous and out of touch with reality?

Look who's talking. Let me tell you how it is in this TV market. We have five major stations here, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox affils, plus a PBS. The NBC and ABC stations have always run neck and neck for first place, while CBS usually ran last (about which more later) and Fox does their news at different times and does not directly compete with the others. At NBC, there are two female anchors and one male. Both of the women are in their 50's. One of them did put on a great deal of weight a few years ago, decided on her own to do something about it, got into fitness and emerged as a competitive female bodybuilder. (I am not making this up.) She's been on air here at least 20 years and always popular; she, her husband and family have put down roots in the community and are well liked. The same longtime career and family roots goes for the other woman, who doubles as a field reporter and has great credentials for her investigative work. Neither is a Barbie doll, but both are doing fine, thank you, and so is their station.

The ABC station had the same anchorman for something like 30 years; always high ratings despite an advancing paunch and receding hairline, the latter later covered by an unbelievably phony-looking toupee'. But again, involved with this area and its people, genuinely liked and respected, and top rated until his retirement about a year and a half ago. He keeps his hand in the business by hosting a weekly magazine show on the PBS station. He's become sort of our own local Walter Cronkite.

CBS and Fox have tried interchangeable Barbies and Kens and got nowhere, and all the stations use younger faces on the weekends. The CBS station eventually closed their own studios, formed an operating agreement with the NBC, and now shares their people. One of CBS's former anchors, again a fiftyish male, moved to ABC to replace their retired anchor and is doing well there.

Glitzy glamour? Nope. Credibility and staying power? You bet. Can we be so exceptional here as to be unique in the business? I truly doubt it.

 

[FredLeonard]

Glitzy glamour? Nope. Credibility and staying power? You bet. Can we be so exceptional here as to be unique in the business? I truly doubt it.

Since I have no idea in which market you're located and about which stations you're talking, I have to take your word for it. But, exceptional, yes. Unique, maybe not. Father figure news readers have always been a factor, and some news personalities have gone from Ken/young news stud to father figure. But Barbie's don't age well.

Before you make judgements about me, maybe you should comment on all those people with remotes who made the current news reader as celebrity system. Me, I don't watch local news and I can't even stand the promos in prime time programming (through which I fast forward). It's a much better system in Europe - or in this country at one time - when real news people wrote and produced news shows and the people on the air were performers (no more, no less). This pretense of journalism causes in incidents like this when Barbie starts believing that because she wears a mic and has a camera pointed at her, she has something worth saying.

 

[sack]

My takeaway from this is that this country has turned into a bunch of wimpy crybabies. "OH OH,, I"m Missing Oprah"!! Get over it, its a TV show,, pick up a book. Do you not care at all about your neighbors that are in harms way? Is this such an imposition on you,, missing some of your blessed TV show that you need to complain about it? This is just an example of why America needs to GROW UP.

 

[JeffM]

This pretense of journalism causes in incidents like this when Barbie starts believing that because she wears a mic and has a camera pointed at her, she has something worth saying.

Even when she does. I guess it just wasn't what you wanted to hear.

 

[FredLeonard]

My takeaway from this is that this country has turned into a bunch of wimpy crybabies. "OH OH,, I"m Missing Oprah"!! Get over it, its a TV show,, pick up a book. Do you not care at all about your neighbors that are in harms way? Is this such an imposition on you,, missing some of your blessed TV show that you need to complain about it? This is just an example of why America needs to GROW UP.

Do I care about people so stupid the during threatening weather in tornado country they sit in front of a TV and need the TV to tell them to get to shelter? No!
Besides, nobody has provided any evidence these TV interruptions saved anybody's life.
Growing up means learning to think for yourself. That includes not believing everything (or anything) TV people tell you.

TV keeps telling people not to be stupid. Possibly they assume people are stupid. Or maybe TV targets stupid people - a desirable demographic to advertisers. The Darwin Demo.
Here's who I don't feel sorry for...
The people who go out when snow is forecast to stock up on eggs, milk and bread - perishables which quickly become inedible in a power failure.
The people who live on flood plains (and want us to rebuild their houses in the same spot).
Ditto people who live on earthquake faults.
Ditto people who live where wildfires repeatedly happen.
Or mudslides.

These interruptions happen mainly because Vidiots like to do them. It makes them feel important. It gets the adrenalin flowing. But anyone with half a brain who has lived any amount of time in tornado alley knows what twister weather looks like and knows what to do without Ken and Barbie, recently arrived from some other market and looking to move again to a larger one, condescendingly telling them.

 

[crainbebo]

The Kens and Barbies are the ones who do morning news and usually nothing else. But I don't mind. On those Fox/CW/IND morning shows they HAVE to talk about Kardashians sometimes in the "entertainment news". Like it was "Entertainment Tonight." The NEWS is the NEWS, not gossip!
But in emergencies, telling everyone to get in a shelter NOW, move away from windows, turn the TV up loud so you can hear me, etc. could save dozens, hundreds, thousands of lives. Have you ever heard of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925? Radio was a toddler then and there was no such thing as TV. Killed over 750 people and likely close to 1000. Imagine if there was TV in 1925. Do you think that number would be dramatically lower? I think so.
Tuscaloosa in 2011 however killed close to 300, but it could have killed 3000 if not for the tornado sirens, James Spann from ABC 33/40 and NWS alerts. THOSE save lives. NOT Ken/Barbie lookalikes.

-crainbebo

 

[FredLeonard]

The Kens and Barbies are the ones who do morning news and usually nothing else. But I don't mind. On those Fox/CW/IND morning shows they HAVE to talk about Kardashians sometimes in the "entertainment news". Like it was "Entertainment Tonight." The NEWS is the NEWS, not gossip!
But in emergencies, telling everyone to get in a shelter NOW, move away from windows, turn the TV up loud so you can hear me, etc. could save dozens, hundreds, thousands of lives. Have you ever heard of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925? Radio was a toddler then and there was no such thing as TV. Killed over 750 people and likely close to 1000. Imagine if there was TV in 1925. Do you think that number would be dramatically lower? I think so.
Tuscaloosa in 2011 however killed close to 300, but it could have killed 3000 if not for the tornado sirens, James Spann from ABC 33/40 and NWS alerts. THOSE save lives. NOT Ken/Barbie lookalikes.

-crainbebo

In 1925 weather forecasting, and meteorology as a science, was even more primitive that radar. No satellites. No radar. Not even weather balloons. Forecasting was not much more advanced than "red sky at night...". Storms came out of nowhere (like the Galveston Hurricane or New England Hurricane). Maybe people had to pay more attention. Just like all these laws about stopping for pedestrians results in kids walking in front of buses (when kids were once taught to look both ways). Besides, even with modern weather forecasting, nobody knows where a tornado is going to strike until it's right on top of you - in a very specific location.

"God Bless America?" That's sickening. Like after the storm when Ken and Barbie go out and interview people who thank their "god" for sparing them - while killing the folks down the road.

 

[paulsonj72]

Look who's talking. Let me tell you how it is in this TV market. We have five major stations here, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox affils, plus a PBS. The NBC and ABC stations have always run neck and neck for first place, while CBS usually ran last (about which more later) and Fox does their news at different times and does not directly compete with the others. At NBC, there are two female anchors and one male. Both of the women are in their 50's. One of them did put on a great deal of weight a few years ago, decided on her own to do something about it, got into fitness and emerged as a competitive female bodybuilder. (I am not making this up.) She's been on air here at least 20 years and always popular; she, her husband and family have put down roots in the community and are well liked. The same longtime career and family roots goes for the other woman, who doubles as a field reporter and has great credentials for her investigative work. Neither is a Barbie doll, but both are doing fine, thank you, and so is their station.

The ABC station had the same anchorman for something like 30 years; always high ratings despite an advancing paunch and receding hairline, the latter later covered by an unbelievably phony-looking toupee'. But again, involved with this area and its people, genuinely liked and respected, and top rated until his retirement about a year and a half ago. He keeps his hand in the business by hosting a weekly magazine show on the PBS station. He's become sort of our own local Walter Cronkite.

CBS and Fox have tried interchangeable Barbies and Kens and got nowhere, and all the stations use younger faces on the weekends. The CBS station eventually closed their own studios, formed an operating agreement with the NBC, and now shares their people. One of CBS's former anchors, again a fiftyish male, moved to ABC to replace their retired anchor and is doing well there.

Glitzy glamour? Nope. Credibility and staying power? You bet. Can we be so exceptional here as to be unique in the business? I truly doubt it.

Are you in the Fargo ND DMA. Because what you described on the CBS affilliate sounds like Fargo-Moorhead.

 

[blizzard59]

Look who's talking. Let me tell you how it is in this TV market. We have five major stations here, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox affils, plus a PBS. The NBC and ABC stations have always run neck and neck for first place, while CBS usually ran last (about which more later) and Fox does their news at different times and does not directly compete with the others. At NBC, there are two female anchors and one male. Both of the women are in their 50's. One of them did put on a great deal of weight a few years ago, decided on her own to do something about it, got into fitness and emerged as a competitive female bodybuilder. (I am not making this up.) She's been on air here at least 20 years and always popular; she, her husband and family have put down roots in the community and are well liked. The same longtime career and family roots goes for the other woman, who doubles as a field reporter and has great credentials for her investigative work. Neither is a Barbie doll, but both are doing fine, thank you, and so is their station.

The ABC station had the same anchorman for something like 30 years; always high ratings despite an advancing paunch and receding hairline, the latter later covered by an unbelievably phony-looking toupee'. But again, involved with this area and its people, genuinely liked and respected, and top rated until his retirement about a year and a half ago. He keeps his hand in the business by hosting a weekly magazine show on the PBS station. He's become sort of our own local Walter Cronkite.

CBS and Fox have tried interchangeable Barbies and Kens and got nowhere, and all the stations use younger faces on the weekends. The CBS station eventually closed their own studios, formed an operating agreement with the NBC, and now shares their people. One of CBS's former anchors, again a fiftyish male, moved to ABC to replace their retired anchor and is doing well there.

Glitzy glamour? Nope. Credibility and staying power? You bet. Can we be so exceptional here as to be unique in the business? I truly doubt it.

Are you in the Fargo ND DMA. Because what you described on the CBS affilliate sounds like Fargo-Moorhead.

I've watched enough news from the Duluth, MN - Superior, WI DMA to say that description has to refer to that market.

 

[JeffM]

I've watched enough news from the Duluth, MN - Superior, WI DMA to say that description has to refer to that market.

Doesn't really matter if it's Duluth, Fargo, Sioux Falls or wherever; as far as FL is concerned, it's just "flyover country," Podunk burgs filled with refugees from "Deliverance"...