Why Local Tv News Is Destined to Darkness
A great new and depressing report by USC’s Norman Lear Center documents what an insulting load of drivel local L.A. TV news is. From my anecdotal observation traveling around the country, I am willing to bet most other markets are worse, not better than our local one. LAObserved has the advance on the report from my USC colleagues. Here are a few self explanatory graphics from the report.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:59 am
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2h296_don-henley-dirty-laundry-live-insid_music
March 11th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Jim R’s idol can’t take questions from the press.
Why does that make her a good choice for governor of California?
What also annoys me about local news is the faux news. For example, NBC may have a made for TV movie involving a stalker, then have a news segment that night on stalking. It’s like an advertisement.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I rarely watch local news anymore. I get so sick of them wasting a half-hour by continually telling us what they are going to tell us without telling us, and then it really turns out to be no big deal anyway. That makes me madder than anything. Just tell us and move on!
Then, they waste too much time on the weather. I don’t care to know about fronts coming in and swirling masses of air currents. Just tell me if it’s going to rain and what temperatures to expect. Also, quit lying about snow just to get people to tune in.
The sports are pathetic. The only knowledgeable TV sports reporter was fired. They said he was gay, but he was good with locker room interviews.
The news itself is stupid. How many wrecks do they have to show before people get tired of seeing wrecks? If you want to see a wreck, there are several places in town where you just have to wait a little while and one will happen.
But, some crime news is helpful when there are a series of crimes in an area, like there have been around Georgia Tech. But, when there is a crime and they want us to look out for armed robbers, it would help if, with the descriptions, they told us what race they are. Nah, forget that. I already have that part figured out.
I told my wife that I’m going to start a local news service that is over in ten minutes flat and respects people’s time. I could say more than the current thirty minutes news in that time. We’d talk fast and only say what’s important. There would be streaming ads at the bottom to pay for it, along with streaming sports scores,and stock quotes to cut down on what has to be said. I guarantee people would rather see that.
Call me, networks, when you’re ready to do it right.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:53 am
they told us what race they are. Nah, forget that. I already have that part figured out.
Gap-toothed, white guy, meth addict from the trailer park down the road?
March 11th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
“Call me, networks, when you’re ready to do it right.”
Hey…stranger things have happened. Glenn Beck has a show.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
The PBS News 10 Minutes with the Woodster? Hey, maybe in the interest of balance. Or would that would be unbalanced…
March 11th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
This might be a good show for TV Klan, which is the Albanian network.
March 11th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/breaking_news_some_bullshit
March 12th, 2010 at 10:53 am
I’d make the news fair, I really would, but I wouldn’t use clips of politicians using dopey, misleading 30 sec. talking points.
And, no happy talk! In fact, I would probably be screaming at the
weather guybeautiful weather girl if she didn’t finish in 30 seconds, kinda like me if you get my drift.I’d also get the guy who used to do the micromachines commercials so that we could squeeze in as much information as possible.
Don’t forget that I used to have a show on public television, although it was about science, so they would probably love to have me back on to explain the global warming hoax.
That’s a great video that Sergio linked. It’s exactly like some scenes in Atlanta recently, in which a zebra escaped from the circus in town and was roaming around on expressway through downtown during rush hour. It must have thought it was in Africa when it went by city hall, for some reason that I can only imagine. And, then a few days later, a buffalo jumped out the back of a truck on an expressway a few miles away. The local news led off with those! You people in L.A. have your car chases, and we have cop cars corralling animals on our roads. Next week, road kill!