There are lots of examples. The death of JFK Jr happened, as I recall over a holiday weekend. Nobody around when his plane crashed. It happens more often than people know.
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No cable news / Weather Channel coverage during Midwest tornado outbreak
- Thread starter Theater of My Mind
- Start date
There are lots of examples. The death of JFK Jr happened, as I recall over a holiday weekend. Nobody around when his plane crashed. It happens more often than people know.
I think this topic comes down to less responsive news operations today. And perhaps a lag time to get them responsive. Of course local news channels are there, but mostly 7am to 7pm. Anything that happens outside those hours will be a struggle to cover.
But as I've pointed out continually in this thread, from post #2 on, the local stations in the path of the storm pre-empted all regular programming on their stations from the minute the weather emergency was announced straight through the night and into the first five hours of the next morning. Pre-empting ALL regular programming, pre-empting ALL commercials, and presenting non-stop coverage with full staffing. There were at least three on-camera people at every local TV station, plus all of the requisite support staff.
What say you to that, Mr. Unresponsive? Somehow, they managed to get staff into the studio and work non-stop for 16 hours.
This is an interesting story: People in that candle plant that was demolished during the tornado knew a tornado was coming, but were told they would get fired if they didn't come to work:
www.nbcnews.com
I know everyone wants to blame the media, but how about this?
Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say
Exclusive: At least eight people died in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. Its destruction has become a symbol of the tornado's ruinous power.
www.nbcnews.com
I know everyone wants to blame the media, but how about this?
That brings up a good point. Doesn't TWC have agreements in place with ANY networks to take feeds from them in weather emergencies, when they have no one available to do coverage? That seems like a major flaw in their programming model, though not totally surprising for an independently owned cable channel with no network affiliation.
By contrast, FOX Weather had multiple feeds up on their screens all night from communities across the affected areas. Sure it was dark and there were no storm chasers, but they were able to throw it to a local FOX reporter at each scene who described the situation and showed the initial damage. That's the importance of corporate synergy. Back at the FOX Weather studios they put together the big picture using those reports, their radar imagery and all the watches and warnings, past and present.
That's what a weather channel is supposed to do. It's breaking news when the newsmaker is the weather. And people love to watch live breaking news, even if they're far from where it's happening. That's what builds credibility and a loyal audience.
Sure. So did all the local channels in London, England when Lady Diana died. So did all the local New York channels on 9/11. Hands up, who thinks no national coverage was warranted outside of those areas because the local channels were on it? Of course not, but that's what so many people here seem to think is the case with this historic weather event.
The purpose of a national Weather Channel isn't just to send local weather warnings when there are local media outlets and cell phones available at the scene to do that. It's to be a national news channel when a huge weather event makes the news. And the importance of covering live breaking news for a huge story, especially in your field of specialty, is about as elementary as it gets when it comes to running a live news channel. So yes, it certainly was a major failure for TWC and they should all be embarrassed for it. But beyond that, it demonstrated that TWC's programming model under its current ownership doesn't work because they don't have partnerships with local channels or networks to get reports from them when something big happens.
I don't see how you can come to that conclusion. In the coverage on the day after the tornadoes, they used video from other sources. Their own reporter didn't arrive in Kentucky until late in the day on Saturday. Therefore, in order to have video of the affected area, they had to use outside video.
I watched local streaming coverage Friday night, and no one had actual video of the destruction. It was an active tornado, and they were telling viewers to stay indoors. The only thing the local stations had was weather radar. What they did was show the storm geographically moving from west to east, and the timeline of when the storm would arrive in certain towns. Had TWC stayed on past midnight, that's all they would have had as well.
That's not true, FOX Weather had a reporter on the ground and they had actual video of the destruction. There was also video of the destruction all over social media and I believe FOX got permission to use some of that. And by the way I'm no fan of FOX but credit where it's due.
By contrast, TWC cut to canned reality shows when it was still prime time in a good part of the country. And not to dwell on the point but see my comments above about why they should have been in breaking news mode. I can tell you're dug in with your opinion so I won't keep repeating it. Go to a journalism class, maybe they can explain it.
I watched a local Fox TV station in the area and they didn't have any video Friday night. The video wasn't available until the next morning when they sent drones over the affected area. When you say they had a reporter on the ground: Where? This tornado stretched over 200 miles from Arkansas to Kentucky.
I found this from a quick search:
December 10-11, 2021 Tornado Coverage from FOX Weather
A severe storm hit just as FOX Weather multimedia journalist Will Nunley was reporting from just outside Henry County, Tennessee. YouTube Tips ⓘ Exceptional performance from FOX Weather with coverage of the December 10-11, 2021 Tornado Outbreak on their app and YouTube channel. FOX News r
www.arlingtoncardinal.com
9/11 to a tornado? Come on, that’s not a remotely valid comparison.
Reporters and photojournalists share stories from the 60-mile path of tornado destruction in Kentucky - Poynter
‘Maybe I can do some good. These are such good people. I want to do my best for them.’
www.poynter.org
Here are news crews that did respond to the tornado.
Minnesota Weather: Historic December Storm Brings 2 Possible Tornadoes
A rare winter thunderstorm possibly whipped up two December tornadoes in Minnesota Wednesday night -- an unprecedented event in recorded state history.
minnesota.cbslocal.com
Expect another tornado scare this time in Minnesota.
Lawsuits!This is an interesting story: People in that candle plant that was demolished during the tornado knew a tornado was coming, but were told they would get fired if they didn't come to work:
Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say
Exclusive: At least eight people died in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. Its destruction has become a symbol of the tornado's ruinous power.
I know everyone wants to blame the media, but how about this?
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