Thursday, November 15, 2007

LOCAL MUSICIAN EXPRESSES VIEWS...

...OF TV NEWS
It's no secret that local news is often a pillar of all that's wrong with the media. Integrity has long since left this arena, with ridiculous scare tactics to get you to watch ('Could your child be playing with a sexual predator right now?! Find out at 11'), sensationalized headlines (‘Apocalypse at the Court House’), and the constant bombarding of propaganda to make sure that you know that the weather IS extremely dangerous, WILL kill you without notice, and is VERY unpredictable. That is unless you tune in often to WKLT where their Dual Doppler X5000 Beta Max Pro Integrated Radar and the First Alert Weather Team is always there to keep you safe and notified. You’re right Charlie Brown: good grief.

That being said, I have given up hope on those topics. But there is still one aspect of local news that just makes me nuts. Why do they always have to send some poor reporter out to some dark parking lot in front of a now empty building to report their two minute story LIVE! Yes, there may have been a 5-4 vote by the school board to keep sports drinks in the vending machines earlier that day, but do I really need to see Deborah Wingate standing outside in a parka by the closed district administration building being blown around by wind and snow at 11 at night so she can tell me about it live? For god’s sake let that poor woman go home and eat some clam chowder with her family! Especially since she is most likely just going to give a ten second intro to the story before cutting to a pre-recorded segment. She’s got to get all dressed up, get the van and camera guy, and stand outside for an hour waiting in a blizzard just to say three sentences. Four if she’s lucky, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. I’m willing to bet there wasn’t a single person who was sitting at home that night thinking, “Oh great, the school sports drink story! I hope they have a reporter waiting outside the school building right now ready to report, just in case the school board gets a wild hair and throws together an impromptu meeting to discuss adding energy drinks to the vending machines too!”

I’m sure this whole “live” business came about from everyone trying to prove that they are the ones most ready and available to update you with the latest news, not just recorded news, but 90% of that crap could be thrown together hours earlier. I wish they’d quit trying to show off and realize that no-one cares, and just let these poor reporters stay home.

Jesse Hernandez

Hernandez is a local Cleveland musician, to view his website: CLICK HERE

4 Comments:

Blogger silverdud said...

no offense to the musician, it was a well written piece. but i have heard that statement come from about 10 different sources in the last couple years. ive heard it from comics and radio personalities. i have read it in newpaper editorials. enough is enough. we understand the local news uses "scare tactics". do you know why? because it works. its like people are getting to the point of hmmmm what article can i "google" and re-arrange the wording to make my "blog" seem interesting. does no one have original ideas anymore?

12:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well, as the person who wrote the "blog," I'd like to respond. First, I never wrote this to be a blog, never thought it would be posted online as such, and DEFINITELY wasn't trying to rearrange someone else's words just to get a bit of attention. I just wrote it one day off the cuff after seeing the news, and posted it as a myspace bulletin, not even a blog. I wasn't trying to be groundbreaking or anything, just felt like voicing my opinion. Also, if you read this and thought it was about scare tactics and the like, then apparently you missed the entire topic. I acknowledge that the topic has been well covered, talk about it slightly, and move on to what I really felt like going off about.

2:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I LOVE IT! I wondered if anyone else felt the same way about how the news is done like I do. I say bring back the 15 minute news like they had in the '60's (I just barely remember it). And they can leave their personal opinions and poor attempts at acting at home. And who says scare tactics work? The organizations that do the surveys? They are a crock too. Tell me the news. Don't add into it and lets move on. Also I know what the weather is like in Ohio. Don't try to make it what it isn't. And I really don't need someone standing in a hurricane for me to realize what that's like. Haas

5:30 PM  
Blogger silverdud said...

Jesse,
my comment was not a personal attack on you. i understand your original message in the "bulletin."
i should have explained that i was focusing on the first paragraph and not the entire aritcle. as i explained it was a well written piece. i was referring to the redundancy of people talking about the "scare tactic" news method. it's been done before. it's kind of like hearing the same observational humor over and over again. it was funny the first time and maybe even the second. anything beyond that is like having someone beat you in the head with a hammer. its refreshing when people have an original idea and view things from a different angle.(much like TMC NEWS)
If i offended you i am sorry and that was not my intention.

you may have even sold a CD after all this. i checked you out on myspace and liked the music. i too enjoy a little stevie ray. its nice to see he was an influence.

p.s. i sent you a friend request

9:38 AM  

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