local news reporting...

[kimo55]

So when they say late breaking news, suppose this is it:

Think it was KITV the other night when they reported brkoen news, news report dat was all buss up.
an electric company person finds a wrecked overturned car and the body of the driver at 4 a.m., from a car crash wthat hit a pwer pole at 2 a.m.

The news guy sez:

Speed was a factor.
But.
When you saw the footage of the overturned car, in plain sight was at least ONE VERY bald tire. Not kinda bald, like a lil tread left, but VERY bald, as in slick and very rounded.

They shoulda interviewed a cop. who shoulda said: LOOK! da dummy was driving with bald tires! people! Stupid people. do not DO that!
(instead we have cops saying in commercials pick it and flick it or sumpin li'dat)

No. They don't give ya the whole story.

driving a dangerous weapon in dangerous conditions was a factor. and make no mistake about it;
a car speeding, in the rain, with even ONE bald tire, is a dangerous weapon.
Insatnt karma at work.

[Erika Engle]

Re: local news reporting...

Being human, I can only attest that sometimes, observational skills are not always what they should be.

Reporters are rightly told to get official quotes from official sources ... but sometimes our own five senses can at least help us ask better questions (if not find the truth that is not forthcoming from said official sources).

Several years ago a 150 mm round strayed from a military range to civilian property in Central Oahu. Nobody was hurt, but it was a momentary nightmare for the Army. An Army Public Affairs Officer, in recounting a press briefing later on, recalled a question asked by a female reporter as he was holding up a SMALL-caliber projectile. She asked if the projectile he was holding was the SAME SIZE AS THE 150 mm ROUND that had strayed.

I don't know from guns and ammo ... but I think I would have known enough to OBSERVE the size of the projectile being displayed, think "150 milimeters," and perhaps ask a different question.

[Composite 2992]

Re: local news reporting...

I know an engineer that would ask a reporter what their educational background was at the start of an interview.

He could then try to make sure that his answers were at a level the reporter could understand.

It wasn't because he thought reporters were dumb. But he saw too many instances where technical information was misinterpreted, usually toward the sensational side. Especially if it had to do with hurricane damage.

For example, actual wind speeds in Iwa and Iniki were a lot lower than repoted wind speeds. However, the media would report highest recorded wind speeds as it's a lot more interesting to the general public. Unfortunately it's not exactly accurate.

Civil engineers will use highest confirmed wind speeds: They check afterward to make certain that anemometers were functioning accurately at the time. And they take air density and humidity into account as well.

As a result: it was discovered that the horrendous damage on Kauai wasn't due so much to the wind speed but to the poor construction techniques. Poor construction meant more debris added to the wind stream and that adds to the destructive power of a storm, just as shrapnel makes a grenade much more deadly than the small amount of explosive contained within.

[kimo55]

Re: local news reporting...

and now, I am totally depressed.

[buzz1941]

Re: local news reporting...

Also, remember that reporters aren't asking for themselves, no matter what their educational level -- they're asking for the average reader.

[LikaNui]

Re: local news reporting...

Last night at 5pm on KITV, Pamela was doing a story about a guy who had just pulled into the Ala Wai for emergency repairs to his boat. The guy is sailing around the world singlehanded.
Pamela clearly said that he was "circumventing the globe."
Whaaaat?!?! "Circumventing"? Why would he want to avoid the globe?
Anyway, I wish him well on his attempt to circumnavigate the planet.


By the way, you can read about this story in the Star-Bulletin and in the Advertiser.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: local news reporting...

Last night at 5pm on KITV, Pamela was doing a story about a guy who had just pulled into the Ala Wai for emergency repairs to his boat. The guy is sailing around the world singlehanded.
Pamela clearly said that he was "circumventing the globe."
Whaaaat?!?! "Circumventing"? Why would he want to avoid the globe?
Anyway, I wish him well on his attempt to circumnavigate the planet.


By the way, you can read about this story in the Star-Bulletin and in the Advertiser.

Why would anyone want to cut the foreskin off the Earth? Oh my bad I thought she said.... well you know

[Leo Lakio]

Re: local news reporting...

Why would anyone want to cut the foreskin off the Earth? Oh my bad I thought she said.... well you know

Ah, 'tis a bris(k) business, makin' puns on HT --- keep the tip.

[LikaNui]

Re: local news reporting...

You're both being very circumspect about the circumstances of that particular, um, da kine.

[1stwahine]

Re: local news reporting...

You're both being very circumspect about the circumstances of that particular, um, da kine.

Wat dey talking bout?

Auntie pUpUle

[lavagal]

Re: local news reporting...

dunno! maybe it all belongs in circuits circus!

@

[adrian]

Re: local news reporting...

Why would anyone want to cut the foreskin off the Earth? Oh my bad I thought she said.... well you know

So, it also popped into your head when you read that too huh?

<_<
>_>

I gotta get out more.

[BigD]

Re: local news reporting...

Popped into which head Doc ? Upper or lower ?? LOL