Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Milwaukee Local Television News (Sic) Is A Farce

Local stations broke into national news and other programming at 5:45 p.m. to carry so-called "Breaking News," a Brett Favre news conference in Minnesota.

TMJ4 at the time was in the midst of a story about swine flu preparations.

Favre's signing with the Vikings was all over the news all day. It is hardly "breaking" or "news" at this hour, and will certainly be the lead at the 6:00 p.m. local 'news' broadcast, then repeated again during the sports segments a few minutes after that.

TV's slavish devotion to all things Packers, even to former Packers, is pathetic, as its its disregard for the rest of the news.

8 comments:

  1. One more reason to simply unplug the TV. I haven't seen the evening news--not national, not local--in over twenty years.

    The TV is in the basement. If I really want to see something--an occasional "Frontline" offering or an interview by Bill Moyers--I''ll go down there and turn it on.

    Sunday, late in the afternoon, I recalled that there was a tight golf match between T. Woods and an unknown Korean golfer. Saw the last four holes and enjoyed the spectacle.

    That's all the TV I've seen in the past month.

    I feel great; my garden is weed- free and thriving; I had tomato and mayo sandwiches for breakfast and lunch today.

    TV is simply unnecessary, probably bad for you, beyond the point at which it might be retrieved from its fundamental banality.

    Let it go. Don't watch. Use it for an occasional enjoyable couple of hours with a favorite flick. I watched "Topsy Turvy" from a DVD last week, and enjoyed Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert, as much as when I first saw it years ago). Next week when the bride is gone on vacation I'm gonna watch my favorite, "The Duellists," with Harvey Keitel, David Carradine and about a dozen other great actors and actresses in a Joseph Conrad story.

    A TV set can be a wonderful and useful thing, if you don't spend more than two or three hours a week near it.

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  2. There's a typo in your headline. It should read "Milwaukee Local Television News is a Favre."

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  3. To Jim B. My TV is usually tuned to Brewers games, and little else, but 'news' there is a habit. I'm working on that.

    To Tim C. You are on a roll today. Your Facebook item about the horror film Favre on a Plane was a keeper.

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  4. Thanks Jim, Tim, and James. I have recently unplugged -- completely. And so far, I think I am the better for it. But I do depend on my online sources, which include the occasional video peak (at Huffingtonpost.com, for example) at something that originally appeared on TV.

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  5. perhaps taking a cue from channel 4,a minneapolis tv station used a helicopter to track the suv in which favre was riding from the airport, oj style.

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  6. I hope he has enough to pull out a final Super Bowl like John Elway...

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  7. Local television "news" programs have been a farce for well over 20 years now.

    Can't remember the last time I was able to watch one for more than 2 minutes before either changing the channel or better yet turning the TV off.

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  8. I hope Favre steps it up this season and does well for his team.

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