inane weather coverage

[Aldisimo]

It's a beautiful day in northwest Austin. Instead of the torrential rain and winds that were predicted, it's warm, sunny, breezy, and dry. But I'm most happy to find out that my family and friends in Houston, though without electricity, are fine, and their homes are still standing!

[JRB]

I noticed that CNN covered absolutely no news last night but the hurricane. They offered nothing new in terms of information all evening (I periodically checked). It seems to me that occassional updates between regular broad news coverage would be just as effective in terms of storm coverage as the total hurricane domination they supplied to the viewers. After three hours and shots of ten different reporters desperately clinging to hotel patio railings I got pretty bored. There was a horrible train crash in LA last evening and I only saw a snippet of news on it.

[Carolina Kiltman]

My prayers and sympathies to all hit by Ike.

As far as the news goes, the budgets have been cut to the point where whether a certain starlet is wearing any underwear is more important than the train wreck in LA, the bombings in London Underground and I could go on and on.

There is a reason I usually only watch TV for the weather forecast and some local news. I do not have cable, nor do I feel any need for it. Yes there is some stuff I would like to watch but not for the price I would have to pay to get that one channel along with 99 others I have no interest in watching.

Unfortunately news is. in the minds of the Media Bosses, only another means of making money, so if it doesn't, it gets cut. I turned on the TV this morning to try and find out what had happened in Galveston . . . . regular programming not even a crawler. I had to go to the weather channel via the internet to find out anything at all. I'll climb down now.

[bigdad1]

Reporters have always gone "in harm's way'". Think of the war correspondents in WW II. quite a few of them were injured or killed, the most famous being Ernie Pyle. It also happened in Korea, Viet Nam as well as the current conflicts. They know the risks they are taking.

Not the same thing at all. Ernie Pyle was a hero and he was reporting something relevant such as a war in a time of no televisions or computers. Other war correspondents during Korea and Vietnam were also doing something worthwhile and they did know what risks they were taking. Telling a mid-twenties woman to go stand in the teeth of a hurricane isn't comparable. What does she know about risk? She just wants face time. The stations could put a remote camera out there and not risk lives. It isn't just the reporter who is at risk it is the police and fire and other rescue people who have to go help the dolts when they get into trouble. The reports from the middle of a storm or other natural disaster make as much sense to me as when the President or some other politician feels it necessary to spend taxpayers money to go see for them selves that indeed New Orleans is flooded.