Why I Don't Watch The Local News

As, I've said before, I used to want a career in broadcast journalism. On the rare chance when I actually see tv news, I realize why I am glad i'm not in it.

Two examples from today:

1-I am still a news junkie and keep tuned to CNN all day (though they have been going down the tubes of late.) You may have heard this afternoon about a 14 year old boy who was trapped onder a piece of concrete in Butler County. Well, the cable channels were all over the story because it's easy and visual. MSNBC and CNN were picking up shots from WPXI's helicopter. PXI didn't break into programming with the story, WTAE eventually did. Well, MSNBC interviewed a WPXI reporter who shall remain nameless on their air. It's amazing how breathless these reporters are when covering stories like this. It's sick. They're practically salivating. And you can almost hear it on the phone. Yes, it's a story that the kid was trapped, but does it deserve this breathless coverage where facts that aren't even correct are put out there only to be retracted later? Perhaps, it's just the effect of the of a 24 hour news cycle, but come on - these reporters make the story out to be Watergate. Again, glad the boy is ok, but should it be all over the tv?

2-The only thing I ever really watch on tv at all is The Newshour on PBS. I turned the tv on tonight to watch. Well, I thought I turned PBS on, but I ended up on a local station. President Bush held a press conerence in the 5pm hour today. I caught about 30 seconds of it live on the local station. Bush was talking about the US attorney issue. Well, when the station came back to the anchors in the studio - they were absolutely clueless. It looked as if they had no idea at all what this story was about. Hello - you're news anchors! You should be paying attention to the news. It's disgusting, they were not able to put anything the viewer just heard into context. Why? They don't pay attention? They're only faces on tv? I have no idea - but that's not journalism - this is what they do everyday. Perhaps they should be paying attention to the news around them - that includes national news!!!
I saw one of those anchors doing a tease a little bit later about what kind of steaks to buy. Now - that's news.