# I never wanted to smack the free press as much as I just wanted to. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 19, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696 "2005-08-19T02:13:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/21 "2005-08-19T14:53:35Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Another vote for “Why the hell are you watching local network news in the first place?” Complaining about sensationalist crap on the local news is like complaining about bathing suits at a water park. If you don’t want to see it then stay away. No, I think your’s is the first vote for “Why the hell are you watching local network news in the first place.” Because I like to know what’s going on locally. It seems to me pretty self-evident why one would watch the local news. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/22 "2005-08-19T14:58:53Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > No, I think your’s is the first vote for “Why the hell are you watching local network news in the first place.” Okay then, I’ll be second. Since I live in Northern Virginia, the lead story every night is about some shooting in SE DC. Then there’s a story about the Nationals, then one about the Redskins, then a feel good story about a squirrel who can water ski. Then a promo for whatever’s coming up next. Nothing even remotely useful. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/23 "2005-08-19T17:51:53Z")
Along a similar line – playing the 911 calls. They seem to love to do that here in Chicago. A few months ago a guy came home to find his wife had killed their two kids. The stations played his frantic call to 911 over and over again, for at least a week. It was horrible to hear. A state senator or representative is going to introduce a bill to prevent 911 tapes from being released without the approval of the caller. He said he was contacted by a friend of this father, who said the guy breaks down every time he hears his call on TV. Local TV news is good for one thing: weather. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/24 "2005-08-19T18:54:52Z")
> [@5que](#): > > Local TV news is good for one thing: weather. And if your news is anything like Pittsburgh’s, even that is only accurate 30% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/25 "2005-08-19T19:06:06Z")
> [@5que](#): > > Along a similar line – playing the 911 calls. Jeebus toast, I cannot possibly express how much I fucking hate when they do that. A few years back a little boy went missing. His body was found by a man who was hiking with his similarly-aged son. The news played that 911 call over. And over. And over. Listening to the poor man in tears, freaking the fuck out because he’s just found the _dead body_ of an innocent boy just like his son, not knowing how he’s going to explain things to his kid, and generally an emotional wreck … it made me sick to my heart and to my stomach. The fact that a child’s body has been found is moving enough without having to capitalize on the emotional state of the poor guy who found him. They had no goddamn reason to play that on the air. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/26 "2005-08-19T19:30:47Z")
Though I hate to admit it, I occasionally get the feeling the Channel 11 news staff is just a [reflection of the public it serves](http://www.nypost.com/seven/08182005/news/regionalnews/27179.htm) > [@](#): > > (George Drescher) was fatally stabbed by a vagrant near dance-music icon Moby’s Lower East Side tearoom in broad daylight yesterday — and shocked witnesses said passers-by just stepped over his body before cops arrived…A Teany employee, who identified herself only as Juliette, said Drescher was in “his death throes” when he collapsed, his shirt “soaked through” with blood. Some **people were in too big a hurry to walk around his body, she said — and just stepped over it** …“I asked the cops to tape the front of the restaurant because people were like, **'Can we get lattes**?’ " We’re like, ‘No, you can’t get anything.’ People in New York just don’t care.”… ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/27 "2005-08-19T19:40:50Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I like to know what’s going on locally. It seems to me pretty self-evident why one would watch the local news. That’s a valid argument - but perhaps there’s _one_ too many _ones_ in your station preference. I’m sure you’d agree Louis Dodley is alot easier to watch than Marvin Scott ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/28 "2005-08-19T20:03:11Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > That’s a valid argument - but perhaps there’s _one_ too many _ones_ in your station preference. I’m sure you’d agree Louis Dodley is alot easier to watch than Marvin Scott You’re right. I can’t imagine NY1 doing that shit. But then again, I didn’t think channel 11 would have done that either, until I saw it. Oh, the snippet of crying family members, sure. But not deliberately making someone cry in such a cruel way— and then playing it on TV. Not that 11 is my preference. It was the channel that was on when the news came on. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/29 "2005-08-19T20:04:18Z")
Stupid infotainment. If any of those people approached me I’d be pulling a Kenny Rogers/Ron Artest on them. [sub]Not Artest on the cup throwing guy, Artest on the MSG cameraman.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/30 "2005-08-19T20:12:51Z")
Seems to me it wasn’t a live shoot\*, so there’s no freakin’ _way_ that should have gotten on the air. \*My inference, based on the fact that they had time to determine that the young lady was a family friend, and to prepare a graphic to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Barely\_Adequate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58956e/32.png) [@Barely\_Adequate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barely_Adequate)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/31 "2005-08-19T20:45:27Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > _“I gave up on local/network news on TV. > […] > CNN rarely has depth but seems fairly evenhanded and mostly responsible.”_ But…but… what about Natalee? All Natalee all the time? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/32 "2005-08-19T21:56:11Z")
The only reason I watch local news is to see if our hockey team made the sports segment. Sadly, it usually doesn’t. I think we got 30 seconds when we won the league championship. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/33 "2005-08-19T22:09:59Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > On TV, what other kind are there? I was a victim of a local panty thief (actually, he only ever peeping-tom-ed me, but I was still involved in his prosecution) shortly after Brooke Wilburger, a college-aged girl was kidnapped from near here. A crew showed up to interview me. The reporter asked me a few pointless questions (Weren’t you _scared?_ How did you sleep that night?) and I mostly shrugged it off. The thief was the most harmless guy you can imagine, and well, it wasn’t my panties being stolen. It was ooogy, but not scary. The reporter kept pushing me with more questions along those lines until I said something like “I’m glad I had my dog with me that night.” Out of a 10 minute interview, those 15 seconds were all that made it on the 5:00 news. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/34 "2005-08-20T03:21:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Obviously there is a line. As a reporter/photographer/cameraman/editor/graphic designer/layout person, it’s always important to recognize where that line is. There are just a few problems – the line is different for every person, and it’s different for every situation. When tens of thousands of people are going to see the work that you’re doing, it’s tough to judge just how far to go. > > Journalists of all kinds have to be continually and completely sensitive to all kinds of issues, including this one, every single day. And if we screw up, or offend someone, it isn’t like your fuckup at the bottle factory where you put the label on upside down, it’s out there in front of tens or hundreds of thousands of people. If it’s TV or radio, it’s probably recorded who knows how many times. If it’s print, there are thousands of copies all over town. Being factually incorrect AND being insensitive are both things which journalists do not take lightly. > > … > > I don’t consider journalism to be any more of a “hard-hearted” job that “requires making other people’s misery public” any more than I consider a police officer to be an insensitive asshole who has to shoot people. It might happen during the course of the job, but it’s PART of the job, and no one enjoys it. Stop and ask what purpose is being accomplished. Do you think the revelation that “people are upset when somebody they know is murdered” is newsworthy? And showing these people crying is the only way to convey this startling information? Filming the friends and family of victims isn’t news - it’s just cheap sensationalism. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/35 "2005-08-21T02:53:52Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Journalists of all kinds have to be continually and completely sensitive to all kinds of issues, including this one, every single day. Sadly, it’s increasingly easy to get the impression that the big issue, the one journalists are most sensitive to, the one that trumps all others, is ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/36 "2005-08-21T06:53:57Z")
I don’t know why folks are getting all pissy about _local_ TV news. I was just watching Faux News. There’s a report about a missing lady. The only known fact is that she is missing. There’s been no crime, no arrest. She’s missing. News Lady and Distressed Dad are talking NL Have the police talked to anyone? DD I don’t know. I think maybe they talked someone. NL What’s your opinion of this person? I’m paraphrasing slightly, but only for the sake of clarity. NL asked DD for his opinion of a person whom he had never even heard of before. The comment of my American co-worker: “Faux News makes me ashamed to be American.” ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/37 "2005-08-21T07:48:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Seems to me it wasn’t a live shoot\*, so there’s no freakin’ _way_ that should have gotten on the air. > \*My inference, based on the fact that they had time to determine that the young lady was a family friend, and to prepare a graphic to that effect. From a technical standpoint, it only takes a few seconds to prepare that graphic. Part of it is a template, so all the graphics person has to do is type the person’s name in. That said, this is a particularly scuzzy use of “gotcha!” journalism, and probably the product of a brainless producer wanting ratings. The station should go out of its way to apologize not only to the friend, but to its audience, as well. They can start by firing the person responsible for airing this drek. Robin ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/38 "2005-08-21T08:27:28Z")
My “alarm clock” is the television in the bedroom that goes on and I hear the last ten minutes of the local news, and then Katie Couric and Matt Lauer. Not often, but enough to annoy, is to wake up hearing an interview with some grieving relative sobbing uncontrollably n agony and listening to stupid platitudes by the newscaster, “our prayers are with you” or “this must be a hard time for you.” Does anyone really need to see a mother wailing away on a crying jag about their child dying? This is “news”? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/39 "2005-08-22T14:55:40Z")
The rules of TV news: Rule #1: If it bleeds, it leads. Rule #2: If people are wailing and screaming, it leads. Rule #3: If you can’t see blood and nobody is crying, ask incredibly stupid and abrasive questions until someone cries. Then it leads. Rule #4: If no one cries after the questions in #3, then screw it, it’s not worth putting on the air or even mentioning in passing. Get back in the van and drive around until you find another car wreck or dead kitten. ---
**Author:** ![Lizzie1210](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Lizzie1210](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizzie1210)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696/40 "2026-05-06T17:49:58Z")
Oh man…I’m 70 and have always HATED those reporter on the scene scenarios with reporters shoving mics and cameras in peoples’s faces after tragedies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-wanted-to-smack-the-free-press-as-much-as-i-just-wanted-to/317696.md?page=3)