Attention TV Station Managers: Leave Us Alone
Milwaukee TV is in full weather emergency mode even though the relatively mild snowfall (this is Wisconsin in December, remember?) was predicted for days and, as we speak, measures 1.2 inches at the airport.
Which is on the lake where totals can pile up faster.
Yes, there are somewhat larger measurements here and there, and yes, there have been accidents because motorists make poor decisions and cause trouble for others, but this is not a blizzard and the end of the world is not happning or on the weather radar.
Somewhere along the way, TV station managers decided that treating every storm, regardless of the season, was a way to ratchet up ratings with programming and images that provoked fear.
Maybe I should just hunker down and watch more TV!
TV news in general has lost credibility with its various helpings of 'news-you-can-use,' sweeps'-driven trivialities and focus-group tested sloganeering, like 'We're On Your Side' (whose side would you be on?), but continuing to cry wolf when there's none at the door is self-defeating and condescending
Posted also at Purple Wisconsin.
4 comments:
when my son was very young, 3 or 4 maybe, one winter morning we were going to get in the car to go to day care and work, and at the door he burst into tears.
It was the first snow of the year, and of course the TV stations were in full panic and doomsday mode. He had interpreted this as snow being something that could hurt you directly. It took fifteen minutes to calm him down and get him to walk out the door.
Thanks a lot, TV weather freaks.
OMG! Mass hysteria. Cats and dogs...living together.
The sky is fallng!!
This irresponsible behavior by the media is how people end up dying. Every misty morning is treated like a disaster until the words "emergency" and "alert" has no meaning and becomes ignored.
Laurette: The sky IS falling--in tiny white pieces.
Post a Comment