Local "News"

[filkertom]

Gaaaaah. Once again, I'm pissed off at our "news" organizations.

I've tried not to post much politically lately, for a few reasons, the most prominent of which is that I'm trying to relax and get some stuff done without going ballistic over the latest BushCo atrocities, of which there are now several every stinkin' day. There are also many, many good blogs out there, and I'd basically just be paraphrasing them.

but now and then, the stupidity of my local news affiliates leaps out at me.

Usually it's local radio, specifically the vacuous and superficial WWJ-AM out of Southfield, which I wouldn't listen to at all if not for traffic reports. But today it's the good ol' Detroit Free Press.

See, last night a shitload of severe weather blasted through southeastern Michigan. Like, multiple tornadoes over five counties. Flooding. Homes destroyed. Roofs ripped up, cars flattened by falling trees, 70,000 people without power, major property damage. Miraculously, no one was hurt. But lives were changed last night, and not for the better.

All of which is mentioned in the second major story on the front page of the Freep's web site.

After "THE LONGEST WIN: Guillen's 3-run HR beats Yanks after huge rain delay".

They really do think we're just fuckin' sheep, don't they? "Jeez, people were left homeless last night, they've got insurance nightmares ahead of 'em, but good news! The Tigers won!"

Oh, and, to add insult to injury, one of the photo galleries tells how the storms "reek" havok. The word is "wreak", Mr. Professional Newspaper Editor, sir or ma'am. What reeks is your skill at editing.

I truly want to know if anyone in SE Michigan or northwestern Ohio right now cares less about the effects of last night's weather than about that stupid game.

Any particularly noxious "news" coverage you've noticed lately?

Comments

[aulayan.livejournal.com]

Sadly, people do care even when they have nothing. Sports is one of the things people can be fanatical about.

A friend of mine lives in the Bay Area in California. When the whole Barry Bonds mess started, the SF Chronicle ignored every story and used large fonts to declare that they discovered Barry Bonds may be using steroids. While there was no disaster befalling that day, other than the usual things in Iraq and D.C., it was still ridiculous.

My fiancee goes to State and was at the Meridian Mall in Okemos when she called and left a message telling me a tornado had touched down and they were being told not to leave the mall. That thing touched down within 2 miles of where she was if Google Earth is to be believed.

I think th emost noxious coverage I've seen lately has not been by a news organization but by a gossip blogger. Perez Hilton is stating Fidel Castro is dead, and I keep seeing more and more people falling for it. Local Radio, various internet sites. He won't retract his story no matter how often the major media ignores it.

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

"Perez Hilton is stating Fidel Castro is dead"

I haven't had my coffee yet, and I initially read that as "Paris Hilton...." (speaking of nonsense that "news" media feed up instead of actual news...).

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Frankly, after reading some of "Perez Hilton"'s stuff, I'd rather hear Paris Hilton's opinion on Castro.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I think there were one or two days when the Bonds circus was above the fold, and those were usually slow news days.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

In all fairness, Tom, I know that some newspapers have a policy of "no bad news". When the Murrah building was bombed in OKC, for example, the Tulsa world fixated on the rescue and relief efforts, not the destruction.

That having been said...a sports story?!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Focusing on the rescue and relief efforts is still focusing on the exact same story, just a different aspect. It's as if, when Katrina hit New Orleans, the local paper's main headline was, "Blues Festival Delayed".

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Check out the Detroit News (www.detnews.com). Their top story is "Fieger Indicted"...

[kayleetvs.livejournal.com]

Don't ask me. I always thought that reporting on sports in the newspaper was justified for the same reason that printing the comics and crossword was justified: it is bonus entertainment provided alongside the news.

But then I have never even understood the entire concept of professional sports or why anyone would want to watch them. (Well ... I see the point of watching good-looking, physically fit people exerting themselves in scanty uniforms, but in such cases the winner in the viewer.)

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

So, you don't know much about football but you know a tight end when you see one?

[kayleetvs.livejournal.com]

*grin* You could say that, though it'd be more accurate to say that I know how to play and coach football and see no point in knowing anything else about it. ^_~

[scrummycat.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I am not surprised. During art fair there was a tornado in Livingston county where I live. I think it was on Thursday. Anyway, there was major damage throughout Genoa Township. Every house on my street had damage of some kind, huge trees uprooted, over half the streets closed because limbs and/or entire trees were blocking the way. We are still cleaning up the mess from that, and not one news organization said anything about it.

My relatives thought I was overexagerating because they could not find anything in the news about it, and when I came to work slightly disheveled the next day my boss was surprised to hear my area had no power, much less that there had beem major storm damage throughout. It was very frustrating. Since this one happened in a more populated area, at least people are hearing about it.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

In semi-defense of the Freep, its a design problem more than an editorial problem.

Their web site is a float design. They just drop the next story into the hopper, it is at the top of the stack, the others float down. No priority is assigned.

Most newspaper websites work this way, heck outside of a chosen tear item, CNN works this way.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

That's true -- although our tiny (10,000-minus curculation) daily's site's design software allows for the option of placement, assigning one article as the featured story and the others with a priority ranking from 1-9, determining where they appear on the home page.

Still, I can see the thinking behind it, putting the most recent story in the feature slot, reasoning that the storm is still right there on the home page and assuming that people aren't going to just look at the top story and ignore the rest. Though, sadly, that doesn't take into account that a lot of people spend maybe less than a minute a day perusing a news source and will only read the top story. Sigh.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Um...the word is also "havoc." Havok is the occasional X-man. I think. Scott's brother, isn't he?

Shuttingupnowsir. :)

Speaking as someone who generally manages to avoid news altogether, the only thing I can call to mind is our local freesheet's valiant attempt to pretend that the issue of a bypass for our fair town is ever going to be resolved, and therefore still of any interest. Every time someone suggests a route the people who live there rise up and stomp it. Everyone wants the bypass, just, you know, in someone else's part of town, not mine. And the paper reports all this faithfully. So I suppose that's...actually quite good news coverage.

I'll go and make the tea, shall I?

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I stopped expecting the Freep to be a serious newspaper back in the 1990s when it ran a story about a summit meeting between Israel and Palestine on page 3. The page 1 story was about UFO sightings in western Michigan.

I lost all respect for the Michigan snooze media during the 1994 Democratic primary campaign for governor. The best candidate was state representative Lynn Jondahl. The political reporters and columnists admitted he was the best candidate: highly respective by members of both parties, able to get things done in the legislature, experienced in Michigan politics, etc. etc. etc. But, they said, he wouldn't run a mudslinging campaign, and that's what you need in these tough times, so there's no way he can win. And after making that pronouncement, they stopped mentioning his campaign. With no news coverage, he had no chance of people learning enough about him to consider voting for him.

I've seen this behavior repeated in subsequent Michigan electoral campaigns. The news media decide whom they want as candidates and winner, and they provide or withhold news coverage accordingly. I was relieved when they decided they wanted Jennifer Granholm as governor, but that doesn't excuse the way they usurp the decision from the voters by the way they report (or don't report) on political events.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

"snooze media" Heh. I am SO stealing that! :-)

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether this was a National Public Radio thing or specifically a Minnesota Public Radio thing, but yesterday afternoon during All Things Considered they played the tapes of the 911 calls from the 35W bridge collapse. I'm sure these recordings are very useful for emergency professionals trying to reconstruct the event and improve response to future events, but there was absolutely no valid reason to broadcast them.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I disagree. Edward R. Murrow's reports live from London were actually information-light, but hearing what was actually happening during the Blitz was electrifying to the American people.

Hearing the 911 calls is similar. It is eyewitness testimony to a tragic event, and should be part of the public record.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

With the disclaimer that I've heard about but never actually heard Murrow's broadcasts from London, I that the same function as was performed by Murrow's broadcasts ("eyewitness testimony to a tragic event," to borrow your words) has been more than adequately performed by the hours of broadcasts made from the bridge immediately after the collapse. Broadcasting the 911 tapes now, 3-1/2 weeks out from the event, reeks (to me) of trying to drag extra life out of an old news story. YMMV.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

There is a tenet in journalism that I learned back in high school: Find the good news and print that first. Hey, they did include the long rain delay, right? So it wasn't like they were ignoring it.

And, hey, the Tigers are in a pennant race! Where are your priorities, man? :-^)

[tollermom]

One that caused a "ummm... huh?" moment for me recently was on NPR. They were talking about hurricane Dean and said that "Dean will make landfall first on the Yucatan Peninsula and then again in Mexico." Hard to convey vocal inflection in writing, but the way it was stated made it fairly clear that the person reading and/or writing the piece didn't grasp that the Yucatan Peninsula _is_ part of Mexico.

I expect stupidity from local radio... it startles me coming from NPR.

[gorgeousgary]

Heh.

My favorite geographical smeg-up came from the TV broadcast of the Liberty Celebration Op Sail back in '86. Peter Jennings, presumably reading off copy, identified an Israeli barq as being from "the Israeli port of Eilat in the Caribbean..."

Survey says: BUZZ!

He then tried to correct it to "Mediterranean"

Steeeerike two!

Never did get it right...

(The correct answer is "Gulf of Aqaba", although I'd accept "Red Sea" as reasonably close.)

[lizreay.livejournal.com]

More of an ethnocentric kvetch than anything.

Yes, the 6 miners getting trapped, then 3 more dying while trying to rescue them, is horrible and tragic and speaks volumes as to how dangerous and outdated mining really is, and we need competent people overseeing this instead of just greedy bastards.

But scarcely mentioning 180 Chinese miners trapped and left to drown that very same week? Leaving this HUGE tragedy hidden on distantly tertiary pages?

One hundred and eighty men. No rescue attempt whatsoever. Trapped in flooded caves and left to die by mine owners who couldn't give a shit. Gah.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of a CNN article I saw yearsandyears ago, something to the effect of "the hurricane turned northeast towards Nova Scotia today, leaving thousands of relieved coastal residents in its wake."

(Then again, that place doesn't recognize the Canadian capital, so I shouldn't be surprised.)

[gorgeousgary]

On top of the 1800 or so of their fellows who have died in other accidents and almost 6000 a year on average.

Makes me want to switch entirely to solar and wind power...

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Many years ago, someone (National Lampoon, maybe?) ran an "American Deaths Converter Chart". Down the side were various nations, across the top were various numbers of casualties. To convert, say, a bus plunge in Uruguay, you'd find Uruguay along the side, then follow across until you got to the number of deaths -- say, 35. That cell would give you the equivalent number of American deaths. (For a South American bus plunge, about fifty to one. Chines miners, probably 500 to one).

Jon Stewart level bitter humor.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

"Any particularly noxious "news" coverage you've noticed lately?"

Humbly, I have tried not to commit any this week.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Here in SF were dealing with the Ed Jew scandal. Short form: Ed Jew is a City Supervisor who is under FBI investigation for accepting bribes. It's also alleged he doesn't even live in San Francisco! His alleged city address is a vacant house where no water is used, the power is off, and the neighbors tell friends to use the driveway because no one is ever there.

The wankage comes from the fact that Ed Jew is Chinese. So we get endless reports on Chinese persecution in California, talking heads going on about race riots in 1868.. none of which has to do anything with the actual charges!

[gavroche42.livejournal.com]

I was hoping the sports article would at least have been written by Mitch Albom. That would have made it a little more worthwhile. (I had to admit last year that Detroit had a better sportswriter than St. Louis did. But in the end, that didn't make the difference.)

If the above poster is correct, and the sports story is only 'above the fold' online, and not in the print version, then I think they need to change their design, but not necessarily their priorities.

Of course, 'reek' does reek. Somewhat related to the above issue, I think a lot of news articles are posted online before editing. Because it's online they feel they have to publish the news quickly - so it's up to the minute. They edit it for the print edition. But sometimes the online version is never edited. Not sure how it works at the Freep.

[madmanotl.livejournal.com]

Carlos Guillen hit a 3 run HR??? Cool, I have him in my fantasy team.

Seriously, If the storm that hit your area Friday was similar to the one we in the Chicagoland area experienced the day before, it should take priority as a story over a baseball game in August.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

Carlos Guillen hit a 3 run HR??? Cool, I have him in my fantasy team.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, no less. It was VERY cool!

Hem, hem. (blushes and slinks away)

[kengr]

An all too often shown ad for one of the better local stations. They boast of their "investigative reporting" work. Emphasizing how they exposed the huge number of registered sex offenders living with *1 mile* of schools. And bemoaning the lack of a law against it.

Grab a map of any large city and draw 1 mile radius circles around the schools. Don't forget the kinderergardens, private schools, etc.

Then look at how *little* of the residential areas are *not* inside one of the circles.

Irresponsible fear mongering...

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Isn't that the kind of investigative reporting that thirty seconds with Google can manage?

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

You're caught, with local news coverage. The local NBC station did their half-hour news broadcast last week for an hour and a half to cover all the wildfire infomration that was happening not 10 miles away--a HUGE blow-up, evactuations, the whole shebang.

People complained they'd pre-empted sports coverage. O_o

They don't just think we're sheep; a lot of people ARE.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Well, I remember having a tantrum under the kitchen table because the daily 5 PM cartoons were pre-empted for Kennedy's funeral, However, I was 6.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Several years ago, Spokane had a really nasty ice storm. For almost two weeks the roads were covered with 2-9 inches of solid ice, which were of course carved into all sorts of impossible-to-traverse ruts and peaks by people trying to get home before they were snowed in at work. Power lines were down everywhere, roughly 400,000 people were without power for a week, I think the death toll was over 75. Local newspaper covered it well enough, but the Seattle newspapers? One had three inches on page four, the other decided it wasn't newsworthy until day four after the storm had passed. Then two months later, Seattle had a storm that left about 10,000 people without power for two days and only sent one person to the hospital. They covered the "tragedy" (the word used in the big front page headlines) for 8 days straight, making it sound like they had narrowly escaped the End Times© , and every now and then mentioning how this was totally different from that "slight" bit of "incliment weather" Spokane had earlier.

Yeah, even though I now live in Seattle, I still wouldn't consider getting the local papers. Ever.

[aulayan.livejournal.com]

After getting my local paper on the west side of the state, I see that the 5 probable tornados are given Below the fold status.

The primary story above the fold? "Hey, High School Football actually happened! The weather cooperated!"

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

Just saying hi to a fellow West Michiganian -- I'm in GR.

[gorgeousgary]

The only thing I've noticed that would fit the description was one evening in my hotel room (I was on business travel) I was flipping channels and discovered that all the cable news networks were running Paris Hilton stories *simultaneously*.

I think that's one of the nights I wound up on ESPN Sportscenter watching the same highlights five times. It was the most entertaining thing on. (Either that or I flipped open my laptop and fired up Live365).

I for one would *love* to see news outlets doing much more coverage of wind storm damage than they do. Of course in my case there's professional curiosity going on...

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>>I for one would *love* to see news outlets doing much more coverage of wind storm damage than they do. Of course in my case there's professional curiosity going on...<<

Funny you should say that...When I first heard of the Minnesota bridge collapse (listening to NPR on Minnesota Public Radio), one of my first thoughts was of you when they started talking to engineers. Any thoughts?

[maiac.livejournal.com]

The news atrocity I saw this morning was a report on the increased percentage of U.S. women dying in childbirth. The report mentioned the "blame the victim" possible explanations up at the top -- e.g. obesity causes complications -- and only indirectly cited the increase in the number of people who have no health insurance and no access to government-funded medical care. An uninsured woman in effect has no access to prenatal care, which is much likelier to result in fatal complications.

[ladysoapmaker.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and those people who follow the so called family-values don't give a shit as to what happens when a person carries the child to term or after. Just that she didn't have an abortion and doesn't get public assistance. I think it's a travesty thatmore people are not up in arms about the whole healthcare situation.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

And that is another thread, probably tomorrow. We've touched on it before, but jayzus the fetus worshippers and fucking-makes-the-baby-Jesus-cry yahoos are making me crazy again.

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

The Boston Globe, a few days ago, had an op ed piece about some agency "flaunting" government subpoenas. (Even though the piece said that they refused to respond to them, we thought perhaps they were waving them out the windows.)

They liked the phrase so much they used it for the teaser insert.

Editing? Not so much.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

I don't live in SE MI or Ohio (I'm in W. MI), but I was able to watch and/or listen to most of the game last night because I worked third shift. It was very exciting!

But yes, I agree with you that the horrid weather should be the most important thing. We didn't have as bad as weather as you did, but there were a couple of tornado touch downs up north, again, thankfully, with no deaths or bad injuries that I heard of.

[dbcooper.livejournal.com]

The Freep did screw up bigtime, but I'm just happy you're okay.

You are okay, right?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Dandy fine dandy. Although when the sky turned green and the storm front wasn't racing to the east but just hanging there and lightning and thunder were going off like continuous cannon fire, I got a tetch nervous.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately the media on all sides seems to be content with doing appeasement pieces these days. There's so much attention given to the mediocre and the mundane that real stories, like the on you mentioned about the situation in SE Michigan (which is where I'm from as well) get left by the wayside.

Maybe its time for a paradigm shift.