That's not "news"

[Scott Shepherd]

I hope this is read and commented on as it's typed, not tangents that will surely end up in a political statement, so I'll give it a try....

Anyone else driven insane but what news agencies pass off as "news"? I don't mean the typical political stuff, but just what they fill space with.

Yesterday I heard the "breaking news" on the radio at the top of the hour. Apparently it was an apartment fire in progress. Okay, that's news, I get it. However, at the next report, it was stated that the fire was out, it was external, no real damage, no one displaced from their homes. Just a minor fire to the siding.

Next hour, recount of the entire story. Next hour, same thing. For no less than 8 hours, this was the headline story.

To me, it's like saying "Someone ran a stop sign this afternoon, no one was hurt, no accident occurred, nothing bad happened", and then run that all day. I mean is a fire that didn't cause any injury, no one displaced, no real issue, really worthy of having on the news for 8 hours? How many calls do firefighters go on during the day that are bigger stories? Probably a lot. However I don't hear them on the news all day. I hear sirens all the time, but I don't hear them on the news.

Surely there HAS to be bigger local news in everyone's towns than "a kid dropped an ice cream cone today. He got another one, it's all good now", repeated hour after hour after hour.

[Mitchell Andrus]

That's why I don't watch the local news. In the NJ/NY area... every night... apartment fire, a cop shoots someone, a demonstration, weather. In NC it's downright numbing.

Aside from the "nobody was injured' stories, it drives me nuts when the interviewer primes the person telling his story with what to say. Wolf Blitzer has gotten so bad I can't stand watching him anymore. He'll drone on for a half minute and spill so much information that there isn't anything to add.

A great interviewer will set the premise, ask a simple question and shut up.
.

[Joe Leigh]

Also, when did weather become "news"? Doesn't weather happen every day?
Do we really need a live shot of some otherwise unemployable "reporter" standing in the rain for us to believe it's really raining? or snowing? or hurricaning??

[David G Baker]

I worked in TV News in the San Francisco Bay area for around 26 years and around 15 years of that in the field as part of a news camera crew. One of our major complaints was weather live shots standing in the rain getting soaked along with our very expensive gear so we could let the public know that it was raining out when all they had to do was stick their head out the door and see for themselves. Another one was a live shot with a reporter standing in the dark with just his face and body lit telling about something that happened four hours before near a phone booth similar to the one they were standing in front of. Then the reporter knocking on the door of a family that had just lost a family member in a tragic accident asking them how it feels to have lost a loved one is one that made me hate the business.

[Zach England]

Local TV news=murders, drug busts, house fires, care accidents, touching stories of kids with cancer and live spots from classic car shows

unless it has changed since I stopped watching it ten or more years ago (and I'm not yet 30)

[Ed Hazel]

However, at the next report, it was stated that the fire was out, it was external, no real damage, no one displaced from their homes. Just a minor fire to the siding.



Sounds like a good day!

[Pat Germain]

Here's how I see the current rules for what's "news":

1. Something bad happened
2. Something, anything, happened to someone famous

And, best of all:

3. Something bad happened to someone famous!

There are truly amazing, interesting and wonderful things happening all over the planet. You can find out about some of them, but you really have to dig through a lot of nonsense to find it. Too bad the big news outlets aren't interested in any of it.

I like to read "The Economist" to find out what's going on in our world. I have a subscription. It's a great magazine. I admit I typically don't take the time to read it every week. But I typically don't take the time to watch TV news either.

[Jim Rimmer]

May be a tangent but I am sick of the local news coming on and telling me who is going to be on, what they are going to tell me and then going to commercial. After the ad, the same stuff angain, one story, and commercial. No news, just what they might tell me and who is going to tell me.

[Don Alexander]

i quit wasting my time on that drivel over 20 years ago i have been happier ever since :D

[Roger Newby]

As long as we're venting (sort of) why do you get 2 min.of news and 5 min. of commercials:confused:

[John Coloccia]

People have the attention span of goldfish. It's not about news anymore. It's about moving from segment to segment in a smooth, coordinated way so that at the end you feel smart, for watching a news show, without actually having had to use your brain. It's just as well since you weren't paying attention. You were distracted by something shinny on the other side of the room...

That's what it seems their target audience is sometimes, anyhow. Is it any wonder that Jon Stewart is the most trusted newsman in the US today? I mean, really. Jon Stewart is heir apparent to Walter Cronkite's legacy?

LOL.

I really miss the news the way it was when I was a kid. I think most people would be happier if they stopped treating us like dopes and started treating us like grownups again.

[Scott Shepherd]

But don't you think somewhere out there, the person that's reading on putting on the content would just tell the people across from the table "That's not news, that's a conversation you have with a neighbor. A dog getting loose and then finding it's owner is not news.".

You'd think SOMEONE would say "I'm not reading that same story again", or something like "I didn't spend 4 years in college to call a person running a stop sign a news story".

Instead, they just keep spewing it out like mind numb robots.

I don't watch the news either, this was all radio reporting. I guess radio news people are just people that can't get jobs on tv because they aren't pretty enough? ;)

So let's make this into the stupidest thing I heard on the news today thread if you all don't mind?

Stay tuned......

[Mitchell Andrus]

Actually, "News Radio 88" (am radio) in the NY market used to be the standard for radio. I haven't heard anything to match it in 30 years. When was the last time a 24 hour news station had a fan club?

http://donswaim.com/wcbsnewsradio88.html

NPR comes close in some of it's shows though.
.

[Tom Winship]

I just love the commentators who tell you just what the news means (as if you don't have the brainpower to form your own opinion). It is getting as bad in sports.

[Bryan Morgan]

If it bleeds it leads! :)

I never watch the news. I can't do it. Its either propaganda of some sort, some made up nonsense loosely based on events that happened, or trying to sell you some crap product. There is nothing newsworthy on the TV "news" (or internet news for that matter). I've been in the news before. They chopped up what I said to make whatever point somebody paid them to make. I've had family in the news. One situation was reported almost 100% incorrect. When I gave them hell about it I got the reporter to admit that nobody would give them an interview and they had to write something so they just made it up! :mad: I've had my area in the news with all kinds of details that were reported wrong but could have easily been reported correctly with a simple look at a map. There is no honor or integrity in "news" journalism.

[Pat Germain]

Jon Stewart is heir apparent to Walter Cronkite's legacy?

I admit I never watched Cronkite when he was on TV. But he just read the news, right? I don't understand all the hoopla around the guy.

[Belinda Barfield]

Big news here yesterday, 3 meth labs discovered in a neighboring county which led to three arrests.


People have the attention span of goldfish.

Apparently so and this has led to my peeve . . . shows that recap after every commercial. Discovery channel, TLC, etc. drive me bananas with that. A one hour show contains approximately 20 miinutes of actual information with everything else being commercials and recaps for those who just tuned in to watch.:mad:

[Bryan Morgan]

Apparently so and this has led to my peeve . . . shows that recap after every commercial. Discovery channel, TLC, etc. drive me bananas with that. A one hour show contains approximately 20 miinutes of actual information with everything else being commercials and recaps for those who just tuned in to watch.:mad:


I think thats because despite all the doom and gloom we think we hear, we actually have it pretty good. Whats to talk about? If it ain't bleedin', it ain't leadin'! :)

[Dennis Peacock]

How about disconnecting that TV from the cable or satellite receiver and start spending time with family...playing games, taking walks, eating dinner together and talking over life issues. Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee and 3 of your family members. And the list goes on.

IMHO, too many people have dumped "family" for entertainment and the blasted tv set that eats most everyone's time.

My kids are happier since we don't have tv and we all are much better off because we don't have the media influencing us to be something we are not.

Just my 2¢ worth. ;)

[Pat Germain]

^^ I'd say that's a very valuable two cents, Dennis.

While I didn't pull television completely from my house, when my kids were young, we had exactly one, small television connected to an antennae on the roof. This was in the 90s when it was almost unheard of not to have cable. And almost all my kids' friends had a TV with cable in their bedrooms. We had one VHS player and only family-friendly movies were permitted. (I wasn't as strict in that department as you might imagine. When "Saving Private Ryan" was released, I took my son to see it. I felt he was mature enough and I wanted him to appreciate the sacrifices of generations before us. I think the movie succeeded in doing this. I thought my daughter was still too young at the time.)

Of course, my kids sometimes whined about the limited TV options. But, amazingly, they found other things to do. My son was among the best trumpet players in middle school and high school. (Actually, as I recall, he was first chair trumpet in the concert band.) He taught himself to play guitar. He taught himself to write songs. He formed his first band when he was a HS freshman. He graduated college in four years while all his classmates were on the 5-6 year plan.

My daughter read many books far beyond her grade level. She got Stafford loans and finished community college. She recently decided to follow her brother to Seattle and stake out a new life.

Oh, and almost every year they had perfect attendance in school. :D My daughter still complains about that, but she admits it taught her good work habits.

Meanwhile, most of those kids who had cable TV in their bedrooms are just kinda hanging out. A few mostly sit around and get baked all day. Some take a few classes here and there. They bounce from job to job. I don't blame TV content so much for this situation. But I think those kids became very used to sitting around and being passive all the time from watching a whole of TV. Just my take, of course.

[Stephen Stark]

Think about Lindsay Lohan going back to jail. Stay tuned for even more developments in the story. Yeah, more worthless drivel. It makes you want to get a big stick. :mad:

[Mitchell Andrus]

How about disconnecting that TV from the cable or satellite receiver and start spending time with family...


Good points and practiced in our household. My 2 sons are more well-rounded for the lack of TV influence.

AS LONG AS....

your only view of the world isn't limited to what you can see from the front steps. Nature shows, science, balanced world news, etc., are important too.
.

[Michael Weber]

When I watch the news I like BBC America on the BBC cable channel. Less entertainment and more news. Actually no entertainment as far as I can tell except maybe a droll comment by the host(ess).
PBS Newshour is good. Some people consider it liberal but I don't think it is so much as I think the people that say that have shut there minds to anything but right wing radio.

[Dave Ogren]

News it seems is only bad. Very seldom is there anything positive. I guess that would not be news.

Dave

[Bryan Morgan]

How about disconnecting that TV from the cable or satellite receiver and start spending time with family...playing games, taking walks, eating dinner together and talking over life issues. Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee and 3 of your family members. And the list goes on.

IMHO, too many people have dumped "family" for entertainment and the blasted tv set that eats most everyone's time.

My kids are happier since we don't have tv and we all are much better off because we don't have the media influencing us to be something we are not.

Just my 2¢ worth. ;)


Amen brother :)

[John Coloccia]

How about disconnecting that TV from the cable or satellite receiver and start spending time with family...playing games, taking walks, eating dinner together and talking over life issues. Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee and 3 of your family members. And the list goes on.

IMHO, too many people have dumped "family" for entertainment and the blasted tv set that eats most everyone's time.

My kids are happier since we don't have tv and we all are much better off because we don't have the media influencing us to be something we are not.

Just my 2¢ worth. ;)

I personally watch zero TV, and haven't in many years, however the same can be said of the internet and bulletin boards like SMC. Just because some people are familiar with TV and talking about it doesn't mean we're all glued to the TV to the exclusion of everything else.

[Joe Chritz]

Rule for dealing with the media....Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you.

I couldn't tell you how many "news" stories I have been involved in that sounded a lot different when they hit the news.

Joe

[Greg Peterson]

If I owned a media outlet (paper, magazine, radio, TV, Web, movies) I can guarantee you that I would follow the proven business models that generate revenue. But on top of that I would also make sure that the content being distributed by my empire did no harm to my other business opportunities.

Face it, news as we experience in all its iterations, serves a less obvious than master. Call me cynical, but I find news in general to be very manipulative.

The brilliance of some outlets is their agenda is so obvious and flagrant that their audience can not tell the difference between an actual 'news' story and a daily talking point memo.

When someone tells me "Hey, I'm just telling you the facts. You form your own opinions of that criminal." or "If it isn't printed in our pages, it isn't fit to print.", they can not, and should not be trusted.

But then again, if you don't like the news being offered by one outlet, there are plenty other outlets to give you the news you want to consume.

[Paul Simmel]

I hope this is read and commented on as it's typed, not tangents that will surely end up in a political statement, so I'll give it a try....

Anyone else driven insane but what news agencies pass off as "news"? I don't mean the typical political stuff, but just what they fill space with.

Yesterday I heard the "breaking news" on the radio at the top of the hour. Apparently it was an apartment fire in progress. Okay, that's news, I get it. However, at the next report, it was stated that the fire was out, it was external, no real damage, no one displaced from their homes. Just a minor fire to the siding.

Next hour, recount of the entire story. Next hour, same thing. For no less than 8 hours, this was the headline story.

To me, it's like saying "Someone ran a stop sign this afternoon, no one was hurt, no accident occurred, nothing bad happened", and then run that all day. I mean is a fire that didn't cause any injury, no one displaced, no real issue, really worthy of having on the news for 8 hours? How many calls do firefighters go on during the day that are bigger stories? Probably a lot. However I don't hear them on the news all day. I hear sirens all the time, but I don't hear them on the news.

Surely there HAS to be bigger local news in everyone's towns than "a kid dropped an ice cream cone today. He got another one, it's all good now", repeated hour after hour after hour.

I dropped MSM years ago. Do yourself a favor and try Fox News and the various other websites (New Media).

[Scott Shepherd]

Paul, it was local news on the radio, no tv's involved. Please, let's not go down the MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN path. That discussion won't end well on a public forum.

This was local news, broadcasting top of the hour updates on the radio.

[Greg Peterson]

I dropped MSM years ago. Do yourself a favor and try Fox News and the various other websites (New Media).

I almost squirted milk through my nose. That was too funny.

Just for the record, MSNBC makes no claim to being a news channel. You can put the word 'news' in a name but that doesn't mean that's what they do.

[Chris Struttman]

Within the next few months, in the Chicago area, we'll have our first snow fall. This is usually preceded by the several days of "Storm Tracker" advertisements on the news stations. Every news cast seems to think that they have a better prediction of the storm and each wants to make it sound worse than their neighbor. God forbid someone just comes out and says that the storm doesn't look too bad. That does not sell.

Then, if the storm does materialize and we get some real weather, they send reporters out on the street to show people's reactions. As if the reactions aren't the same every year. Some people are taking it in stride and others are panicked. Big surprise.

However, my favorite is when they post a reporter and camera crew near an icy intersection and show the cars sliding through it and crashing into each other. Wouldn't their time be better spent trying to warn the drivers that there is a bad patch of ice at the intersection. I know, that wouldn't be self serving enough for a news cast.

[Norman Hitt]

If it bleeds it leads! :)

I never watch the news. I can't do it. Its either propaganda of some sort, some made up nonsense loosely based on events that happened, or trying to sell you some crap product. There is nothing newsworthy on the TV "news" (or internet news for that matter). I've been in the news before. They chopped up what I said to make whatever point somebody paid them to make. I've had family in the news. One situation was reported almost 100% incorrect. When I gave them hell about it I got the reporter to admit that nobody would give them an interview and they had to write something so they just made it up! :mad: I've had my area in the news with all kinds of details that were reported wrong but could have easily been reported correctly with a simple look at a map. There is no honor or integrity in "news" journalism.

Almost all media personnel abide by the "Famous OLD Quote" by a long gone but famous Reporter (that I cannot remember the name of) that said; "NEVER let the FACTS get in the way of a Good Story".

[Scott Shepherd]

As I was driving in the rain today, I was so thankful to hear the news that it was 100% chance of rain today. Thanks for that.

[Paul Simmel]

Paul, it was local news on the radio, no tv's involved. Please, let's not go down the MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN path. That discussion won't end well on a public forum.

This was local news, broadcasting top of the hour updates on the radio.

Sorry, my bad.

[Paul Simmel]

I almost squirted milk through my nose. That was too funny.

Just for the record, MSNBC makes no claim to being a news channel. You can put the word 'news' in a name but that doesn't mean that's what they do.

"MSM" = "Mainstream Media" Again, my bad.

[ray hampton]

the top items seems to be news that involves cats and dogs

[jackie gates]

There is more news on the ticker line than there is from the commentary.

[Greg Peterson]

There is more news on the ticker line than there is from the commentary.

News flash. News and commentary are two different things. Pundits spend their time telling you why they are correct, regardless of the facts. News is simply reporting the facts.

Real news reporting doesn't require assuring the audience that they are receiving a fair and balanced report and therefore the viewer can decide. What's to decide? It's news. Cat got stuck in a tree. What's to decide? Someone committed a violent act in public. What's to decide?

News, and especially the punditry that parades as news, is manipulative. And because of this manipulative nature, it is reasonable to ask to what ends are the audience being driven like a herd of stampeding cattle?

[Joe Chritz]

Facts are subject to manipulation by clever or biased reporting. That is why the need for opposite view points when discussing complicated issues.

People should be cautious to not take their info from any one source at all times.

Joe

[Myk Rian]

I watch Fox2 news Detroit in the morning, and that is it. The rest of the day is SPEED and wherever else I find a race going on.

[Scott Shepherd]

Careful, no need to get into the "news" section of this all and left vs. right, the intent of this thread was not to get into a "news channel" debate, but rather just to make lighthearted fun and how silly some of the stories are that are passed off as news, not whether or not someone's manipulating someone else or not.

Let's keep it that way and not end up with another deleted thread.

[Zach England]

A common household chemical may cause SUDDEN DEATH! Could you be a VICTIM? Tune in at ten to find out.

[Joe Leigh]

Hope I don't accidentally ingest that common household chemical before 10.

[ray hampton]

JOE , if you do ingest the common household chemical
before 10 and die, you still have tune -in and watch the
news report

[Jeffrey Makiel]

People have the attention span of goldfish.

My goldfish that resides in a bowl beside my monitor had read this and was very upset.

However, a few minutes later he forgot and was happy again.

-Jeff :)

[Joe Chritz]

All news ends on Friday anyway when the Wings open up the season against the Ducks.

Who has time for all that silliness when hockey season is in full swing? People need to have their priorities in order.

Joe

[Greg Peterson]

Joe, I didn't know you were Canadian. :eek: Not that there is anything wrong with that.

NFL and college are in full swing, NBA and NHL are starting up. This is the sweet spot of sports.

[Scott Shepherd]

It was pouring rain yesterday. Heard this one "chance of heavy rain possible".

Possible? Wouldn't probable be the better choice of words?

[John Coloccia]

I've actually started noticing that the forecasts are getting less and less accurate. This is where it really pays to have your pilots license. The FAA has far and away the absolute BEST weather resources available on the planet. Uhm...but it's only available to pilots, I'm afraid.

I don't even bother with the local forecasts anymore. It's like they're guessing. Somehow, I don't think you get to be the weather guy by having an extraordinary grasp of meteorology. Maybe it's different in other places. I remember them being pretty accurate when I lived in New Hampshire. Maybe the meteorologists in Connecticut where all at the bottom of their class.

[Bryan Morgan]

I've actually started noticing that the forecasts are getting less and less accurate. This is where it really pays to have your pilots license. The FAA has far and away the absolute BEST weather resources available on the planet. Uhm...but it's only available to pilots, I'm afraid.

I don't even bother with the local forecasts anymore. It's like they're guessing. Somehow, I don't think you get to be the weather guy by having an extraordinary grasp of meteorology. Maybe it's different in other places. I remember them being pretty accurate when I lived in New Hampshire. Maybe the meteorologists in Connecticut where all at the bottom of their class.

I don't like to brag but I'm a pretty good weatherman. I just go to the nearest window and look outside. I have 100% accuracy thus far. I 'upgraded" my meteorological skills by installing a thermometer outside where I can see it from the window. :p

[Darius Ferlas]

How about disconnecting that TV from the cable or satellite receiver and start spending time with family...playing games, taking walks, eating dinner together and talking over life issues. Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee and 3 of your family members. And the list goes on.
Just my 2¢ worth. ;)
That's gotta be worth quite a bit more than $0.02.
We don't even have a TV service at all. Feels good, and it's pretty affordable too.

[Joe Chritz]

Joe, I didn't know you were Canadian. :eek: Not that there is anything wrong with that.

NFL and college are in full swing, NBA and NHL are starting up. This is the sweet spot of sports.

Your making my eyes bleed. I'm still in a mourning period from the Olympics. Anybody but Crosby.

Joe

[Greg Peterson]

We have a guy at work that wears these big, oversized jerseys. Red and Black, and has the profile of an indian on the front. It looks European to me. Do they have a Chicago in Europe?;)

[Neal Clayton]

Also, when did weather become "news"? Doesn't weather happen every day?
Do we really need a live shot of some otherwise unemployable "reporter" standing in the rain for us to believe it's really raining? or snowing? or hurricaning??

i'll tell you when weather should be local news. the one time i've been motivated to send a letter to be published in the local paper...

last christmas little rock flooded due to heavy rains. the city itself rather quickly drains out into the river, which flows right through downtown. outlying areas, not so much. the suburb directly north of us was flooded for days.

and that city due north had about 10,000 cars stuck in it at any given time over that 2-3 day span. people driving the streets randomly trying to find a way through. there were barricades on some flooded streets, some not, some people had moved the barricades if they thought they could get through, and nowhere was a city official, or police car, or sheriff's deputy, nothing.

meanwhile the local TV news didn't even know what areas were flooded and what areas weren't. they sent a truck an hour in the opposite direction to talk to people about what they had for christmas dinner. how nice. apparently the TV news has decided that people should be happy about the flood, and simply chose not to report it.

you would think that would be a news reporter's best christmas present. a negligent city government not paying attention to the flood waters in the very city they're responsible for.

nope. they would rather talk to maw and paw about how they had ham AND turkey for dinner and the fact that their double wide flooded for the 37th time didn't bother them all that much. and since it didn't bother them it shouldn't bother the rest of the people stuck in the other town when there wasn't even so much as a couple of police to direct traffic with.