My local NPR news station is really quite good (WNYC-820AM). Also, the Jersey City Reporter is not bad.
re-reads the OP
Wait, you’re pitting TV news? As if there is a chance that it is anything other than crap?
You forgot to mention the Medical Mart and the downtown water main problems.
A couple of months ago, our News broadcast - for the entire state of Victoria, which combines international, national, and local news - had an item, with reporter on the scene, of literally a cat stuck up a tree. It was a living breathing cliché right in front of me! I couldn’t believe it!
And then the next night, they had a followup story of how the cat got out of the tree!
What the flying fuck???
You left out 15-minute coverage of last night’s reality shows on their station.
I stopped watching local news a few years ago, and I don’t think I’m missing anything. I switched to “hard news” channels like CNN. Unfortunately, even these channels have gone soft. The anchors/reporters sit around doing mindless babbling on inane subjects, interrupted by commercials.
The “California” section (local and state news) of the LA Times is generally very good, but sometimes, there are just too many random shootings and decomposing babies.
And the bridge column.
As long as they do it DURING the commercial break. Interrupt House, I’m coming to get you.
And casino gambling.
I gave up on local television news a while ago, opting to get my info from the local NPR affiliate and the newspaper.
Things that drove me away:
Sally: OMFG! It’s RAINING!!! We’re all going to DIE! Let’s cut to Joe Shmoe who is live on the scene on the north side. Joe?
Joe: Well, Sally, I’m here live on the north side where just about half an hour ago it was really coming down. It’s not raining here right now, but you can see there is a tree behind me. When it was raining, that tree was really waving around in the wind!*
Sally: Do you see any signs of damage from the storm?
Joe: The parking lot we’re standing in has a lot of puddles. There appear to be some leaves that have fallen off of the tree, along with some small branches.
Sally: Thanks, Joe. Stay tuned to this local station while we bring you continuing coverage of the RAINSTORM OF DOOM '08 for the next three hours. Coming up next, we evaluate the latest gadget being hawked on late night cable television. Does it really do that? Stay tuned to find out!
Cue four minutes of commercials, one minute of teaser for the “Does it really do that?” story, and four more minutes of commercials.
Sally: We’re back with continuing coverage of the RAINSTORM OF DOOM. Joe Shmoe is still live on the scene. Joe?
Joe: Well, Sally, it’s dark out here right now, so there’s absolutely no point to my standing out here. If it were light out, you could see that about 100 yards beind me, a woman’s porch furniture blew off her deck in the fierce winds that gusted up to almost 25mph. I’ll continue to stand out here in the dark, pointing out nothing of importance. Back to you, Sally.
Sally: Thanks, Joe. Now Susan has our “Does it really do that?” story. Susan?
Susan: I tested the latest gizmo. It sort of works, but not really well. Back to you, Sally.
Sally: Thanks, Susan. Coming up next, a ten minute story about Brittney Spear’s latest breakdown. A story which is neither news, nor is it local, but the Steelers didn’t do anything newsworthy today so it’s all we’ve got. But first, back to Joe with the weather.
Joe: It’s still not raining out here, but we’ve seen some possible light precipitation over by Columbus on our Super Radar 2000. I’m going to stand outside with my feet in a puddle some more and hype up this terrible dangerous spring shower, preempting the national news and half of Entertainment Tonight.
*This tree waving report really happened last summer.
It’s not Detroit unless the lead is something like: Today Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick denied fellating attorney Mike Stefani, who is known to have a wooden penis, but was unable to explain the splinters in his lips. We’ll hear federal indictee Geoffrey Fieger’s views on this recent non-development after some stupid banter and more commercials.
Here in Boston, we get stuff that’s both non-news AND non-local.
Just in the past few days, we had a CHILD IN JEOPARDY ZOMG!!!111one! story about a car that got towed with a baby inside…in freakin’ New Orleans.
To make it even more titillatingly outrageous, THE CAR SEAT WAS INSTALLED FACING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION ZOMG!!!111one! I could barely contain my recreational outrage. Only not really.
We also heard about an ADORABLE TINY KITTEN RESCUE ZOMG!!!111one! from a storm drain…in freakin’ Florida.
This is why I go out of my way to avoid watching TV news, but I’m not always in control of the remote. I think my husband actually enjoys yelling at the TV, “Are you aware that THERE’S A FUCKING WAR ON, YOU MORONS?!?!? And here you’re talking about counterfeit jeans?”
Personally, I don’t think it’s good for his blood pressure.
I would just like our shit-for-brains TV news guys to understand one very simple thing: Their station’s programming is NOT FUCKING NEWS. These features about what happened on American Idol or Survivor or whatever the fuck need to stop right now. You guys have 35 minutes, less 15 for the stupid sports report so just stop that crap and report the NEWS. Hint: “News” almost always happens somewhere outside your fucking TV station.
Also, the ridiculous panic they seem to undergo every time a winter storm approaches the California coast. [Eddie Izzard voice]“Giant Frogs, heading our way!”[/E.I. voice]
Christ, get a grip.
Every. Single. Night. on Fox they spend, and this is an honest estimate, at least 7-8 minutes of the 30-minute broadcast talking about American Idol. It’s only on once, maybe twice a week! EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!! That’s why I don’t watch it.
Breaking news! Generalissimo Francisco Franco … is still dead.
Solfy, that was brilliant.
I think it also is the We Have to Be First On the Scene In Case It Turns Into Something phenomenon. You see this with hurricanes…not only the local affiliates, but NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, etc, all send the reporters down, sometimes with comical results. Remember the woman in the canoe post-Katrina, talking about the flooding, and then two guys wade past behind her, with the water no higher than their shins? Or Al Roker on a hotel balcony, falling over because of the wind? Meanwhile, those of us caught in the hurricanes (summer of '04, the time of three hurricanes through Orlando(ish)) can’t see it because we have no power! But by Og, our reporters were there, and we’ll show you in the coming weeks as we edit together the most compelling footage into promos to milk it for all it’s worth.
All our programming is taken over by a fire right now, It is an old people home. They all were quickly rescued. We have a bunch of cameras including chopper cameras showing the building burn. On sight reporters are pointing out to us that it is burning. Sometimes they go back to the studio where another first class reporter is assuring us the building is on fire. With all that expertise I guess I can believe my eyes and admit there is a fire.
I’ve been working in local news for 18 years, and I still do. Hung Mung has it exactly right. If your local news actually did what you wanted them to (cover the news and not the fluff), you wouldn’t watch. Sure, you say you will. But you don’t. No one ever does.
Instead, local TV news is nothing but a machine designed to manipulate you into watching commercials. That’s all. Everything else, every bit of utility or public service was picked clean long ago. If you’re watching local news, you’re wasting your time.
There is usually one local news web site that is good in each market–often several. Find that site, and get your news, weather and traffic there. Get comfortable with RSS feeds, and subscribe to good ones.
You have the technology available to easily gather your own news. You don’t need these idiots to do it for you. Not anymore.
I watch PBS and read internets everyday.But the weather and local sports are on the local news. It is maddening slow ,broken into segments with commercials and useless maps.
Weather forecasts are easy to find online–just go to your favorite station’s site. Sports is another story. Sports is usually the lowest rung on the local TV ladder, so the site info is often not updated well. Just tune in five minutes before the end of the newscast for sports–that’s where it’s all quarantined.
Bonus weather tip: if you’re looking for the 5-day forecast (or 7 or 10 or whatever), tune in right after the 15 minute mark. The 5-day is what most viewers are waiting for, so stations usually wait until the second quarter-hour to reveal it (ratings are measured on the quarter-hour, so it’s important to keep you around long enough to be counted in both quarters).
gonzomax, I’m with you in spirit but I can’t work up any vitriol over local Detroit news. I get home from work around 5:30AM every morning and turn on Fox2 News solely to amuse myself, since WJR-AM has already given me a heads-up on anything important I might want to know. Fox2 News, though, well they’ve got Deena Centofanti and Ben Bailey, my local news crushes. Plus, how can I hold a grudge against any market that is willing to keep Al Allen on the payroll so that his family doesn’t have to put him into Senile Elder Daycare?
Hey, can you imagine the fun we could have here if Bill Bonds and Sonny Eliot were still on every night? (To be fair, I have a lot of respect for Sonny Eliot – but his weather segments were just embarrassing 35 years ago.)
Technically, you are right, because I wouldn’t watch any TV no matter what happens. (I’m addicted to TV, so it’s no TV at all for me.)
However, I have to call Bullshit. I listen to my local NPR affiliate and get good local news. If I still watched TV, I would watch PBS for news and wouldn’t go near any of the pablum on the TVNews stations, local or national. You may be right that most people wouldn’t watch real news, but I don’t know, and neither do you. Has any station tried to be a real local news station in the current market? (I’m not talking about 30 years ago, of course.) Maybe it would work.
I couldn’t agree more, but really I have to ask: Are you ashamed of your job? I really don’t mean that as an attack, but you do seem pretty derisive of your own industry.
OK, commercial local TV news. There’s plenty more qualifying I could do, if you like. It’s not all crap. There’s some good work being done. It’s just not worth the time spent waiting for it. Station websites are often a good place to pull out just the real reporting from good reporters.
Well, you pointed out that NPR does good, serious news. And it has a relatively small audience.
WBBM in Chicago tried something like what you describe in the 90s. It failed, which caused the entire industry to decide that “no frills” newscasts don’t work. A dumb conclusion, yes, but that’s the TV business. The problem is that viewers who might want a real news program left local TV news a long time ago, and convincing them to come back would be an uphill battle. In this climate, you’ll be hard pressed to find a station manager who’s willing to take that kind of risk.
I’m very derisive of my industry, but I love my job.