plexus Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 In the Mt Hood thread, I keep reading comments about lines and quotes in stories. There is one thing you must remember; We are morons, especially in broadcast news. I have worked both in print and TV and I can honestly tell you, some of our writers and reporters and anchors are some of the dumbest people I have met. The best analogy to make is, if we were still hunter-gatherers, Darwinism would have struck. I had once made a writer change "hikers" to "climbers". His response was "Same thing". Mind you this was a guy who was 5'3" and about 200 pounds and had a heart attack reading Harry Potter. So I told him, "So I can call you an Orthodox Jew then. Because to me, it's the same thing." He finally got the jist. You'd be surprised how many "hikers" need rescuing in Boulder Canyon or Clear Creek Canyon. I can go on and on. I will say print reporters are generally smarter than TV reporters. To move up the ladder in print, you have to write well and know what you're writing about, or at least fudge it fairly well. To move up the ladder in TV, all you need for many News Directors is a certain look and be able to do a good live shot. I'm working on it, just like Barkernews is. But there are only so many of us that are in journalism that have any type of knowledge in regards to climbing and outdoors activities, and for that matter, many different niches that isn't related to journalism or television. Then again, I have a reporter that can't drive herself to a story because she gets confused with right and left. Sigh....do I have to go back to work tomorrow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisn Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I'd have to agree that journalists are especially skilled at making errors out of ignorance. In my experience both print and tv reporters are more concerned with selling a story that telling the story. Not that everyone I work with is perfect. I think every line of work as a certain number of people in it who could use a little help. At least there are some of us watching out for those folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I can understand why someone plodding away at the local desk cranking out single-paragraph blurbs wouldn't bother to get in touch with an expert source if they weren't familiar with an activity. In a longer story or feature this would be less excusable, but from the stories that I've been reading, it looks as though the folks in the media are at least making an effort to use expert sources. Doesn't stop a bit of editorializing on their part, and the absence of "What were they thinking?" or "How much is this going to cost?" in stories involving recreational boaters, snowmobilers, hikers, etc, etc, etc - but it looks like at least most people writing more than a paragraph are seeking out expert sources and incorporating their persepectives into the story. The info they get's only as good as their sources, but given the number of different opinions that climbers have on most things, it stands to reason that they may not print opinions or perspectives tbat are universally applauded by the climbers that read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Certainly seem to be doing better than they did a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 In the Mt Hood thread, I keep reading comments about lines and quotes in stories. There is one thing you must remember; We are morons, especially in broadcast news. I have worked both in print and TV and I can honestly tell you, some of our writers and reporters and anchors are some of the dumbest people I have met. The best analogy to make is, if we were still hunter-gatherers, Darwinism would have struck. I had once made a writer change "hikers" to "climbers". His response was "Same thing". Mind you this was a guy who was 5'3" and about 200 pounds and had a heart attack reading Harry Potter. So I told him, "So I can call you an Orthodox Jew then. Because to me, it's the same thing." He finally got the jist. You'd be surprised how many "hikers" need rescuing in Boulder Canyon or Clear Creek Canyon. I can go on and on. I will say print reporters are generally smarter than TV reporters. To move up the ladder in print, you have to write well and know what you're writing about, or at least fudge it fairly well. To move up the ladder in TV, all you need for many News Directors is a certain look and be able to do a good live shot. I'm working on it, just like Barkernews is. But there are only so many of us that are in journalism that have any type of knowledge in regards to climbing and outdoors activities, and for that matter, many different niches that isn't related to journalism or television. Then again, I have a reporter that can't drive herself to a story because she gets confused with right and left. Sigh....do I have to go back to work tomorrow? the media is full of liberals, it all makes sense to me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZimZam Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Bubble headed bleach blond comes on at Five Talks about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye Get the widow on the set. We need dirty laundry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 sex sells. tell me you don't masterbate about her when your runnin dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knelson Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 ...but from the stories that I've been reading, it looks as though the folks in the media are at least making an effort to use expert sources. The info they get's only as good as their sources... From my experience though, the media has their "pet experts" and stick with them. They seem to go for the easy to reach - or better yet, the ones that come to them - as sources and don't even try to seek out sources that can confirm what they're being told. I've had three cases - not climbing related, but work related - where I had first hand information of what was being reported in the news. What was written in the paper was 100% totally off base and it was obvious that they hadn't searched out more sources to confirm/deny the information being given to them. In these cases, it would not have been advantageous for the person being interviewed to tell the reporter the truth. This isn't crime related stuff where you expect misinformation - this had to do with public works projects. They just plain blew it and didn't do their homework. Since then, I've always viewed any news story with extreme skepticism. If they can't get the stuff that I know about right, then why should I expect them to get the stuff that I don't know squat about correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 In the Mt Hood thread, I keep reading comments about lines and quotes in stories. There is one thing you must remember; We are morons, especially in broadcast news. I have worked both in print and TV and I can honestly tell you, some of our writers and reporters and anchors are some of the dumbest people I have met. The best analogy to make is, if we were still hunter-gatherers, Darwinism would have struck. I had once made a writer change "hikers" to "climbers". His response was "Same thing". Mind you this was a guy who was 5'3" and about 200 pounds and had a heart attack reading Harry Potter. So I told him, "So I can call you an Orthodox Jew then. Because to me, it's the same thing." He finally got the jist. You'd be surprised how many "hikers" need rescuing in Boulder Canyon or Clear Creek Canyon. I can go on and on. I will say print reporters are generally smarter than TV reporters. To move up the ladder in print, you have to write well and know what you're writing about, or at least fudge it fairly well. To move up the ladder in TV, all you need for many News Directors is a certain look and be able to do a good live shot. I'm working on it, just like Barkernews is. But there are only so many of us that are in journalism that have any type of knowledge in regards to climbing and outdoors activities, and for that matter, many different niches that isn't related to journalism or television. Then again, I have a reporter that can't drive herself to a story because she gets confused with right and left. Sigh....do I have to go back to work tomorrow? the media is full of liberals, it all makes sense to me now. so why does Fox suck so bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 fox re-invented modern day media and the liberls followed. bunch of republicans makin money off little stoner liberals watchin the simpons & king of the hill. it's funny because it's true. you suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 so why does Fox suck so bad? Why do you swallow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 you mean follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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