ripdog
10-29-2002, 01:36 PM
I live in the Seatte area and have been accused of being a "News Junkie" by my wife. Having done very limited travel, I used to think that the newscasts in this area were somewhat more professional than the broadcasts I'd seen in Oregon and Arizona. Several things have turned the tide against my news addiction.
Exhibit 1: The great Mount Ranier lahar event of 2000. More of a non-event, really. There was a report of glacial melting that was supposed to send massive amounts debris filled water down into the local rivers (that's a lahar). Our brave newscasters got to the scene quickly and began reporting the news.
"It's very dark up here and the water levels haven't risen yet and we can't see anything." That's Jim Foreman reporting as he stands out in the river in his knee boots and rain slicker. Not having any current video to show us, the news team digs out footage of the raging Toutle River after the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, complete with images of huge trees being tossed like matchsticks and entire houses being swept into bridges and disintegrating with a tremendous roar. On the following morning's news broadcasts, there very little mention of the previous night's events. That kind of struck me as odd because the breaking news of the lahar coverage cut ito regular programming by about 2 hours.
Exhibit 2: The sniper coverage. Our news teams were giving the story it's fair share until the "local connection" broke. These jackals are positively drooling the fact that the killers came from Washington State. Ok. We've seen arial coverage from every possible angle of the U-Haul hauling off the stumps. Several hundred people take a detour on their way home from work to watch the search. We are blessed with their observations. This really cements my view that most people are genuinely stupid. Every freaking night the lead in is the "local connection". Who cares where they originated from?
Exhibit 3: Any hint of an earthquake calls for 3 hours of coverage that is peppered with invitations for the morons of the community to call in and grace us with their harrowing experiences. "Yeah, I felt the shaking too. It was like a big truck (or maybe a train) had driven by and I felt it as it passed." This drives me insane. Any excuse to break in.
So I don't watch the news anymore.
Exhibit 1: The great Mount Ranier lahar event of 2000. More of a non-event, really. There was a report of glacial melting that was supposed to send massive amounts debris filled water down into the local rivers (that's a lahar). Our brave newscasters got to the scene quickly and began reporting the news.
"It's very dark up here and the water levels haven't risen yet and we can't see anything." That's Jim Foreman reporting as he stands out in the river in his knee boots and rain slicker. Not having any current video to show us, the news team digs out footage of the raging Toutle River after the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, complete with images of huge trees being tossed like matchsticks and entire houses being swept into bridges and disintegrating with a tremendous roar. On the following morning's news broadcasts, there very little mention of the previous night's events. That kind of struck me as odd because the breaking news of the lahar coverage cut ito regular programming by about 2 hours.
Exhibit 2: The sniper coverage. Our news teams were giving the story it's fair share until the "local connection" broke. These jackals are positively drooling the fact that the killers came from Washington State. Ok. We've seen arial coverage from every possible angle of the U-Haul hauling off the stumps. Several hundred people take a detour on their way home from work to watch the search. We are blessed with their observations. This really cements my view that most people are genuinely stupid. Every freaking night the lead in is the "local connection". Who cares where they originated from?
Exhibit 3: Any hint of an earthquake calls for 3 hours of coverage that is peppered with invitations for the morons of the community to call in and grace us with their harrowing experiences. "Yeah, I felt the shaking too. It was like a big truck (or maybe a train) had driven by and I felt it as it passed." This drives me insane. Any excuse to break in.
So I don't watch the news anymore.