Good evening, all.

Is everyone nursing their Golden Globe hangover?

I stopped watching local news years ago, while I was still in Houston because local news is full of shit like, “Major ____________ in ___________ and how that affects us right here in ____________”. It’s fucking mindless drivel. I don’t watch the national news anymore either since the early W administration, (in fact since the evening of September 11, 2001), because it became non stop, unabashed cheerleading. Dunno how those clowns are treating Obama and don’t wanna know.

I tuned into the local news the other day after a huge rain event in order to see of there were any road closures but other than that, I couldn’t care less what star wore what dress from which local designer or how 3 pounds of confiscated marijuana has an estimated street value of $900,000. I can’t afford to lose many IQ points as it is.

Teddy!

The local station I watch is not too bad about that, but they have been infected with this bug as well. The other local stations are simply pathetic, even without this horseshit. There seems to be a sense of desperation by the media generally, and local media in particular, that they have to stay “relevant”. Like you, I feel they could do better at that if they did a better job at their core function, reporting local news. Fewer Chamber of Commerce fluff pieces and more in depth local reporting, getting into the meat of local issues and the groups involve.

“Major ____________ in ___________ and how that affects us right here in ____________”

And, of course, its counterpart, “Kristen, were there any Eastern Iowans in that plane crash in Bangladesh?”

Local TV news is best ignored. So is national cable news.

There has always been a lot of that in the local news and I filter most of it out. It does sound like your local stations are rather gratuitously frivolous, however. We actually have one station that at least half way tries, tough it is still mostly fluff and they never criticize anyone with any power or clout.

Spot on. And it’s been going on for a long time. It’s like news programs in general are pandering to one demographic: White, upper middle class, conservative. They really don’t try to target anybody else, except for the Sunday talking heads which seem to cater to the really wealthy.

Exactly! I just want one of those plastic bobbleheads to say, “No you fucking idiot! Of course there weren’t any eastern Iowans on that flight. Are you a moron or what?” Because at that point, that’s what I’d be saying.

A-yup.

teddy! this video is a hoot… and yes, there is far too many local news anchors asking folks to ‘like’ them on facebook and doing who can get the most likes contests with their co-anchors.

as you said, stop all the promo and just report the forking news! and weather. and sports. i couldn’t give a hoot about what their twitter follers tweet back at their tweets either. tis all infotainment and not news

RONFLMAO !!

On a similar topic, did not the last Congress, among its general idiocy, pretend to pass a law that television stations couldn’t raise the VOLUME when the commercials come on? Does anyone know where to report flagrant violators? Our channel 8 here is portland (KGW, right down the street) seems determined to try my patience in this department.

I tend to keep the volume a little higher than usual (I’m told, what’s that? Eh? Speak up, youngster!) so by the time the network ads, then the regional ads, then the local ads play, everyone is YELLING. Then I turn the TV down (or someone else grabs the remote and does) so when the program starts, everyone is whispering again.

It’s very frustrating, and I had heard there was a Big Accomplishment in this regard in the 112th Congress. Did Big Media convince them it would take until 2017 to implement, or something?

In my experience, they are, at least in smaller markets, mostly pandering to the
Chamber of Commerce and the local power structure.

Yep, that too I’m sure.

I do think you have pegged the national networks’ target audience, however.

Well…they’re the only ones who can afford to buy the crap their advertisers are pushing.

Hah. One of my recent pet peeves (Hi! Channel XX is interactive! Therefore modern and appealing-to-youth!!) about a perennial pet peeve (local news infotainment, happy-talk, if-it-bleeds etc.).

I keep wondering what long-time tv news folk think about suddenly having to tweet or write blogs or whatever. In that, I almost feel for them.

But yeah, it’s like with newspapers. Surely it’s obvious that just doing their damn jobs, reporting, with quality work, getting the facts right, learning to use words properly and some attention to grammar and punctuation, would get them more loyal viewers/readers.

But no, the consultants have been telling them for decades that fluff is what attracts viewers/readers, and so they let go the people with skills (in local tv, anchors and even weather people have been disappeared as they hit 40…well, the female ones, anyway) on tv, and in print, the best writers and columnists have been laid off or induced to retire early, the news stories are shorter and lighter on facts…

then they wonder why people like me, lifelong newspaper subscribers and consumers of news in all forms, find we can live without the new, lightweight version.

Yup. Hit a nerve there, Teddy.

what’s this? so much agreement? that just won’t do. my duty to be disagreeable. i’ll give it a try, although i don’t have much practice: The people in the media are registered democrats and voted for obama.

same thing…

Time for me to toddle off. I have young minds to corrupt tomorrow. Take care all.

and that proves……. something

yeah. i need to send one back to be corrupted by jesuits tomorrow

The Jesuits are the BEST! One of my favorite guys is a gay Jesuit priest.
My traditional aunt isn’t really sure if the Jesuits are actually Catholics any more.

By the way. I thought that parody was interesting, but not especially ground breathtakingly funny. I still remember when the TV stations were trying to get people to visit there web pages.
h. t. t. p. colon forward slash forward slash w w w.actionnews6.com
then just http://www.actionnews6.com
then actionnews6.com then visit us on facebook then follow us on twitter
@actionnews6.com

I was watching CNN where people were reading random fraking tweets on the air. Wow. Lazy much?

Then of course the iReporter on CNN etc. “Upload your crappy phone videos to our page so we can use your content free of charge so we don’t have to pay any actual professionals to cover the news.

But, there is always a butt, the good news is that these places are so hungry for a news like substance that we could be creating our own news.

Of course the right wing is already doing this. I think that there have been lots of opportunities to do this but we aren’t teaching people the methods.

graduated a jesuit high school and college. i was happy she picked a jesuit school too- (with zero input from dad-her own choice) guy i graduated h.s. with became a jesuit, then left. i’ve known some good ones, very influential in my life. i hope she has the experience with them i did

I thought the sound law for commercials was to start this year, but forget it, it still blasts everytime MSNBC goes to commercial.

And I’m totally pissed off that “The Newsroom” didn’t win.

Thank you!

But it’s such a wonderful slap to the Academy that the HFPA gave the Globe to Ben Affleck, whom the Academy did not deign to even nominate!

Hmmmm. beerfart liberal – did you say daughter goes to Boston College?

One of my best exes (bf, college) is a B.C. grad. Loooong ago, of course. At the same time I knew him (a summer program) we hung out with a couple of jebby seminarians. They were way cool. So I’ve had a good impression of the Jesuits since. They tend to come off as intelligent and rational, it seems.

Teddy…just a couple weeks ago I heard somewhere that the law re sound differences between show and commercial went into effect that very day. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference since.

That is very true. And, damn, Ben and Co. loved it!

*heh* That is too funny, Teddy…! I always thought the Globes were the better barometer than the Oscars…!

I was disappointed that Downtown Abbey didn’t win, but, I finally got my Better Half interested in it…! We just finished watching DA here in the Isles…!

Hey CT! We finished a few hours ago. Just wonderful for some of us — agony for others.

Very clever satire — it’s the times we live in, alright.