Has this happened to news in your area? It used to be the case that when you turned on the news you'd see, you know, news. No more.
About two years ago, NYC's TV stations decided that news is optional on their news shows. Once they made that decision, they were free to broadcast a full hour and a half of snow coverage whenever they wanted to. Or rain coverage. Or any old weather-related thing. The heck with news. We don't need that stuff anymore.
But see, we already know it's winter. Even if we don't go out, we have these things called "windows". For this reason, snow doesn't come as a total surprise to us. We know when it snows. Now, if the only way to learn whether it had snowed was to turn on the TV and have them tell us, then it would qualify as news. See how that works?
This is a huge problem these past two months because there has been a slew of total-snow "news" shows. They don't even pretend to tell you anything that went on in the world that day. They just interview one shoveler after the next. They don't do this every day but they do it way too often.
And then, of course, they don't do it well. One of their most recent innovations -- wait for it -- is to send reporters out in a car so viewers can see out the car window as they travel along. Because we can't do that. We can't possibly get in our cars and look out the window. That is something only possible through the magic of TV. And the most horrifying thing is that as soon as one of the three NY news stations did this, the others promptly sent intrepid Driver Reporters out into the, you know, snow. Wow. I don't know about you but I'm impressed.
I remember when there used to be news. I liked it. Are things any better in your area?
About two years ago, NYC's TV stations decided that news is optional on their news shows. Once they made that decision, they were free to broadcast a full hour and a half of snow coverage whenever they wanted to. Or rain coverage. Or any old weather-related thing. The heck with news. We don't need that stuff anymore.
But see, we already know it's winter. Even if we don't go out, we have these things called "windows". For this reason, snow doesn't come as a total surprise to us. We know when it snows. Now, if the only way to learn whether it had snowed was to turn on the TV and have them tell us, then it would qualify as news. See how that works?
This is a huge problem these past two months because there has been a slew of total-snow "news" shows. They don't even pretend to tell you anything that went on in the world that day. They just interview one shoveler after the next. They don't do this every day but they do it way too often.
And then, of course, they don't do it well. One of their most recent innovations -- wait for it -- is to send reporters out in a car so viewers can see out the car window as they travel along. Because we can't do that. We can't possibly get in our cars and look out the window. That is something only possible through the magic of TV. And the most horrifying thing is that as soon as one of the three NY news stations did this, the others promptly sent intrepid Driver Reporters out into the, you know, snow. Wow. I don't know about you but I'm impressed.
I remember when there used to be news. I liked it. Are things any better in your area?
