# Tsunami Coverage **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693 "2010-02-27T22:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/41 "2010-02-28T19:48:16Z")
I was watching the local, live feed from Hawaii yesterday. They stated that the quake that started the Indian Ocean tsunami was only magnitude 6.9. Uh, no. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/42 "2010-03-01T01:28:51Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Sorry, carry on with the main pitting, but this is a pet peeve of mine, to assume that because US journalism is mainly bad, that all journalists or TV reports are bad and not reliable. Thanks, **constanze**. I was getting irritated myself, what with my dad having been a (Canadian) journalist and all. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/43 "2010-03-01T01:34:09Z")
I had my TV on while I was working, and CNN spent literally HOURS on the tsunami crisis in Hawaii . . . while totally ignoring what was going on in Chile. For a while they were discussing some little reef that was alternately exposed, then submerged, as the water level rose 6 inches, then fell 6 inches . . . while the reporters were commenting on how “amazing” it was. Even after they realized that the tsunami was a big nothing, the coverage continued. This morning I turned on CNN, and \*\*\*they were still talking about the fucking tsunami that never happened. \*\*\* And by the way, if there had been a real tsunami, the place I’d want to hear about, besides Hilo, would be Waipio Valley . . . a magical place that had be totally wiped out by past tsunamis. But in all their coverage, Waipio Valley was never mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/44 "2010-03-01T01:40:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I guess that’s for the benefit of viewers (and newsreaders) who think that Hawaii (and Alaska) reside just off the coast of Baja, CA. While looking at a map of South America and the eastern Pacific, Rick Sanchez pointed to the Galapagos Islands and thought they were Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/45 "2010-03-01T02:34:10Z")
There’s video of a lot of this nonsense [here](http://gawker.com/5481928/cnns-rick-sanchez-exponentially-more-assy-than-usual-not-a-fan-of-metric-system). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/46 "2010-03-01T02:50:50Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > As long as you keep in mind that this sorry state of affairs is not an universal property of the news system, but rather a big problem in the US. Other countries do have qualified reporters and journalists, foreign reporters who stay in one area for months and years to get in-depth coverage and understanding (instead of one slob being put on a plane after something has happened, who doesn’t know anything about the region, or speak the local language). > And if somebody calls themselves a science reporter/ journalist, they better have either a science education in their background, or read extensively. For example, Ranga Yogeshwar went to University and got a degree in Science before he added journalism and went to TV; Hademar Bankhofer doesn’t have medical background, but reads so extensively the different journals and abstracts and talked to so many doctors that they awarded him a honorary degree in recognition of how much benefit his laymen’s (and cheery: he’s old-style Austrian, with charm and nice manners) advices and tips on healthy life-style has done for the population. > > Sorry, carry on with the main pitting, but this is a pet peeve of mine, to assume that because US journalism is mainly bad, that all journalists or TV reports are bad and not reliable. Indeed. I watch BBC, and the quality is superior. However, Thai reporters are the biggest bunch of Bozos you’d ever hope to see. They seem to know absolutely nothing about anything outside of Thai borders, and even when they are reporting on something in a neighboring country like Malaysia or Cambodia, they make the most godawful fools of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/47 "2010-03-01T03:34:29Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > And did anybody catch the hours of live footage of a perfectly still shoreline in Hawaii? Just cut to it when the wave actually arrives, for christ’s sake. I was in Philadelphia during the really huge snow storm in early February. All day long, every single local channel was featuring their news and weather teams talking about the fact that it was snowing - a lot. Thirty minutes later they’d have a breathless update - it was still snowing - a lot After an hour you got it - it was snowing. It was snowing all over the viewing area, making all of it white. My mother was absolutely pissed that Dr. Oz and Oprah were preempted. The next day the local news person said that the snow coverage got them their highest ratings in decades. It seems that people enjoy being glued to their TV sets, watching nothing happen, for hours. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/48 "2010-03-01T05:40:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, it does, which is why Tidal wave is just as accurate- or just as inaccurate. Yes, Tidal Waves are not caused by tides. They do occur in tidal areas. Tsunami do not occur only in harbors. True, but that is the sort of place where they have the most “opportunity” to do damage. On the open sea, no problem. In a narrows or at the shore, the water has no where to go, or it all tries to go through all at once. It’s physics. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/49 "2010-03-01T05:55:45Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Since they no longer use that system in England, I’d say that it’s a stretch. But more importantly, how do you get out of fourth grade without knowing how big a meter is? Even though the government has been forcefeeding us metricisation for years the Imperial (ie English) system of weights and measures is very much alive in England. Miles, yards, feet and inches are still in common use and metric measures still feel foreign to many of us. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/50 "2010-03-01T10:22:31Z")
In the comments section at the side of the live stream, they were calling it the Trollnami after the 3rd “surge”. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/51 "2010-03-01T15:25:37Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Even though the government has been forcefeeding us metricisation for years the Imperial (ie English) system of weights and measures is very much alive in England. Miles, yards, feet and inches are still in common use and metric measures still feel foreign to many of us. Some people in the US use the metric system, whats your point? I assume the foot-pound system is referred to as Imperial units in England, right? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/52 "2010-03-01T15:38:37Z")
The point is that Rick Sanchez, the CNN anchor in question, is retarded. And he’s not some third-string newscaster, he is on every weekday on CNN from about 2pm to 5pm, or something like that. [Here](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32032.html) is a recent story on the retarded anchor. Choice quote: > [@](#): > > … at one point Howie Lutt, senior director for “The Situation Room,” stood up and asked the roughly 200 staffers assembled in the [CNN] bureau to raise their hands if they respect him or Blitzer as a journalist, according to network sources. > > Almost everyone assembled raised their hand for Blitzer; only a few showed similar support for Sanchez. Even the people working for CNN hate Rick Sanchez. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/53 "2010-03-01T15:50:55Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Chile is part of Mexico, right? 😉 They speak Mexican, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/54 "2010-03-01T18:54:37Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > … It seems that people enjoy being glued to their TV sets, watching nothing happen, for hours. Cable, encapsulated. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/55 "2010-03-02T02:55:15Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > They speak Mexican, don’t they? Moron; they’re in Latin America, they speak Latin. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/56 "2010-03-02T03:12:43Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Moron; they’re in Latin America, they speak Latin. Ego venit ex Latin America quod Ego reputo ut vos es nefas! I mean, I came from Latin America and I think that you are wrong! Reputo! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/57 "2010-03-02T12:35:39Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > It’s like none of these dolts have even the most basic scientific or geologic education. Not surprising, but still pathetic. > > ETA: Someone asked what “meters” translated to in english, like it’s a foreign word, or that they wanted to know what the metric conversion was in feet? (about 3, btw). 😉 1 meter = 27 feet 1 centimenter = the length of a hot dog ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/58 "2010-03-02T21:11:58Z")
I know somebody asks this in every news pitting, but really, _if it’s so stupid, why the fuck are you watching?_ Do you expect it to magically change? Get your news somewhere else. Just use the web. You can get the same information at the same pace without as much moronitude. I sometimes catch a few minutes Sanchez at work here and there and I would never subject myself to it by choice. All I can tell you about the guy is that he has a very large head, and for some unfathomable reason, he thinks adding Twitter feeds improves the quality of his newscast. What else do you need to know about this guy? He is clearly a fungus with blow-dried hair. There is no reason anybody should willingly watch this. Incidentally, just last night Jon Stewart tore into Sanchez for this brainless performance. One mistake that has not been mentioned so far is that Sanchez mistook the Galapagos Islands for Hawaii on a map. I admit I wouldn’t have known from a glance that it was the Galapagos, but I sure as fuck know Hawaii is not in South America. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/59 "2010-03-02T21:21:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > One mistake that has not been mentioned so far is that Sanchez mistook the Galapagos Islands for Hawaii on a map. I admit I wouldn’t have known from a glance that it was the Galapagos, but I sure as fuck know Hawaii is not in South America. Post #44. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/60 "2010-03-02T21:49:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I know somebody asks this in every news pitting, but really, _if it’s so stupid, why the fuck are you watching?_ Do you expect it to magically change? Get your news somewhere else. Because it was Saturday morning and all of the mainstream networks were showing fucking cartoons, which, of course, can’t be interrupted for anything like breaking news. The NYT had a breaking headline and nothing else. Any other suggestions? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693.md?page=4)