# News Idiots **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 1999, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972 "1999-09-15T13:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/1 "1999-09-15T13:14:00Z")
So, I’m watching CNN to check the status of Hurricaine Floyd. What’s up with the news idiots? They are outside in gale force winds, you can’t even understand them because of the rain. I just watched one woman who couldn’t even keep her footing while she was screaming into the microphone- she actually staggered back about 12 steps, still yelling. Do we need this kind of coverage? I just can’t get over how stupid that is. Totally dangerous and unnecessary. * * * Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/2 "1999-09-15T13:17:00Z")
Anything for ratings, I guess. Or maybe they think viewers are too stupid and need to see Floyd in action to believe it’s really happening? Good grief. * * * I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest. Alexandre Dumas the Younger (1824-1895) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/3 "1999-09-15T13:21:00Z")
I’m with you, Zette. I just watched the _third_ instance of some brainless twit standing strapped in a university wind tunnel while it’s run up to about 125 mph so as to ‘demonstrate the devastating force of Floyd!’ – and the moronic level of news management in this country. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/4 "1999-09-15T13:30:00Z")
## Of course, we do live in a society that enjoys shows like “When Animals Attack”…You’re right- anything for ratings. I find it insulting and childish. Totally unnecesary… Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/5 "1999-09-15T13:41:00Z")
My husband is watching the news. I had just started reading this thread, when I hear him say “What in the hell are they doing out there? Why don’t they go inside? There’s a hurricane on!” Weird. I really, really hope those newspeople are getting A LOT of extra pay for this… ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/6 "1999-09-15T14:04:00Z")
. . . and by providing on-the-spot pictures of what was going on, they accomplished their purpose: They got you to watch their channel for some period of time. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/7 "1999-09-15T14:59:00Z")
These newspeople are lucky that atomic bombs aren’t in common use, or they’d be asked to demonstrate the effects of extreme radiation exposure: > [@](#): > > \ ***Reporter:** I’m standing next to the still-operating Core #1 of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. The radiation my body is receiving is equivalent to standing 20 miles from Ground Zero of a 1 Megaton fission bomb, similar to the bomb detonated above London by the IRA last Thursday. > > I feel flushed and sweaty. I also feel that I’m losing control of my bowels at this very moment. My vision is clouding over as my corneas are irreparably damaged by the beta radiation. Within an hour, the collagen holding my joints together will disintegrate, making it impossible to walk. My teeth should also fall out. > > Oh, wait! Yes. Here’s a lock of hair that has just fallen out of my scalp. > > My projected life-expectancy is less than one week. If I’m lucky, I’ll be dead by tomorrow.\* ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/8 "1999-09-15T16:27:00Z")
AWB- Good one! You are so correct!! pldennison- not at all true- I am not watching this because I can’t believe they have idiots out there or because I find that entertaining or informative. I’m watching because I have family I’m concerned about,and the majority of the time they are showing the people in the newsroom. * * * Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/9 "1999-09-15T16:33:00Z")
Oh, come on! How else are producers going to punish the reporters who piss them off? “Jim, I want you to go to Cape Canaveral and see if the shuttle building tips over. Bring a raincoat and an asbestos suit in case one of the commercial rockets explodes. And while you’re there, I want you to think about whether you’re ever going to miss a deadline on me again.” * * * Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/10 "1999-09-15T16:35:00Z")
Zette— Uh…they’re out there because idiots like me watch them, hoping that the freak tsunami or washed-up manta ray will hit them and carry them out to sea. Live, and in color!!! ``` Bluepony, Proud member of the Lowest Common Denominator :) ``` * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/11 "1999-09-15T16:39:00Z")
Blue, You sick SOB! I shoulda’known… 😉 * * * Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/12 "1999-09-15T19:56:00Z")
Blame it all on Dan Rather. The hurricane beat was his big break. Back in his young days (about 1960-61) a hurricane was blowing through the Gulf coast. Rather, at the time an eager young reporter for a Houston TV station, went outside and reported live from the height of the storm. CBS executives, impressed by his courage in facing parts of buildings that were flying past him, hired him. Now every dumb young reporter figures if they don’t die, they’ll get to be a network anchor. ---
**Author:** ![Heath\_Doolin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Heath\_Doolin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heath_Doolin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/13 "1999-09-15T20:35:00Z")
Heheh I love it… I just watch this girl trying do a report in the middle of it get kicked back by the storm then I switched over to another station and saw another live report with a guy standing there and seeing the same girl walk into his shot before they zoomed in. God I hope she finally takes off in flight. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/14 "1999-09-15T21:03:00Z")
OK, you guys got me…now I’m cheering for these idiots to blow away in a stiff wind or get whacked with a car or something 🙂 * * * Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/15 "1999-09-15T21:25:00Z")
Hooray! Another convert to the **dark side** 😉 * * * Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/16 "1999-09-15T22:07:00Z")
They had to stay out in the huricane so they didn’t miss their ride. The alien mother ship is leaving the Burmuda Triangle and coming to take them to to paridise. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 1999, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/17 "1999-09-16T15:36:00Z")
manhattan, I hope I’m not the last person in the world to “get” your sig line- very funny! * * * Run for the hills, folks! Or you’ll be up to your armpits in martians! ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 1999, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/18 "1999-09-16T15:50:00Z")
I used to live near the ocean, and you always see on tv, a airhead reporter interviewing a citizen of seabright nj, saying something like “why are you here in the middle of this ferocious storm?” I would pay good money to see the resident say “I live here, why the fuck are you here?” I suspect that a lot of carful editing prevents this. ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 1999, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/19 "1999-09-16T16:01:00Z")
Zette— I liked Manhattan’s sig—with apologies to Jerry Garcia, of course. 🙂 * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 1999, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972/20 "1999-09-17T02:49:00Z")
Thanks all for the compliments on my sig, which BTW is due to get rotated out soon. ## And Zette, there are many who do not get it. Getting it is only one of the _many_ benefits of joining the **dark side[SUP]TM[/SUP]**. Welcome. Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-idiots/7972.md?page=2)