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Local TV news is a joke

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Flip Wilson, Dec 6, 2006.

  1. Flip Wilson

    Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

    All through Boston Legal, the local station was promoing this story, and it was the lead on tonight's 10 o'clock news. The story below -- which is word-for-word from the broadcast -- was taken from the station's Web site; names have been changed to protect the incompetent.

    How could this drivel LEAD the newscast?



    E-Mail Message Threatens the Life of Local Woman

    Dec 5, 2006 10:45 PM CST

    E-mail Threatens Woman's Life

    PODUNKVILLE - A Podunkville woman received an e-mail from a supposed hit man, threatening to kill her unless she paid him or her $150,000.

    It sounded fishy to her, so she sent it to LOCAL NEWS STATION to check it out.

    The woman, who didn't want us to use her real name, so we'll call her Joanne, told LOCAL NEWS STATION that she thinks the e-mail is a scam, but she said it's scary enough to make her worried.

    The e-mail came from the address 1wayout@myway.com and begins with the subject line, "It's for your own good" and then it has the recipient's name.

    The author goes on to say that a friend of Joanne's hired him or her to kill her. It continues by instructing Joanne to "not contact the police or try to send a copy of this to them, because if you do i will know, and might be pushed to do what I have been paid to do."

    Joanne called the FBI and they told her to go to their Internet Crime Complaint Center online, at www.ic3.gov, where anyone can go to file a formal complaint if they receive a similar e-mail.

    After she contacted us, LOCAL NEWS STATION faxed a copy of the e-mail to the FBI office in Austin, where they will be investigating it further. The Podunkville Police Department is investigating as well. They say they have not heard of anyone receiving similar e-mails.

    Another reason Joanne remains skeptical about the threat is because nowhere in the body of the message does it say Joanne's name or any other kind of personalized statements.

    Because of that, Joanne hasn't replied to the e-mail, and she tells LOCAL NEWS STATION hat she has no plans to do so in the future.

    If you receive a threatening e-mail, forward it immediately to the FBI. That address is http://www.ic3.gov.
     
  2. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    Next on the Podunkville Nightly News, the person you think is an exiled Nigerian prince may be a con-man. Our investigative reporter tells you the signs to look for in e-mails to determine whether his intentions are legitimate...
     
  3. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Our next story is one that should concern you: foreign companies who want you to work for them, claim you can make a large salary then ask you for a retainer.
    But first, a look at buying on-line drugs. Are the pills you pop safe when you buy them through e-mail ads.
     
  4. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    Next up: the story of those who followed anonymous stock tips under the guise of friendly e-mails and the financial heartbreak that followed.
     
  5. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    I'm sorry. I do not get it. What makes you folks think that spam threatening someone's life is NOT news?
     
  6. jimnorden

    jimnorden Member

    Local TV news is the worst and all the newsreaders/"journalists" on local tv news should be ashamed of themselves.
     
  7. DocTalk

    DocTalk Active Member

    What I don't get about local news, is the amount of time spent on weather. Does the viewing audience want 5 minutes of isobars, recaps of windchills and futurecast projections for 10 days? I would be happy with how cold it will be tonight, what it will be like tomorrow and where I can catch the local weatherguy doing a live remote for St. Nick's
     
  8. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I'd be willing to bet the answer is yes, they do want five minutes of weather. That's why the rival stations are constantly trying to 1-up the competition with triple venti radars and acre-by-acre weather forecasts. And weather is a highly read part of the newspapers for which I've worked, which never ceased to amaze me because the forecast is guaranteed 12 hours old by the time anyone sees it.

    Plus there's hot chicks.
     
  9. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    If only it was Spam the Hormel meat product and not a spam e-mail, it would be newsworthy.

    I feel sorry for the lady in the story, but it appears that it's just a generic scam letter. Millions of people get those scam letters every day.
     
  10. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    I never got one in which the sender reported he/she had been hired to kill me. I'll take that as a sign I've been unusually blessed.
     
  11. <b>Breaking news:</b> SARAJEVO, Bosnia -- Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria has been assassinated. Some experts predict the event will spark world-wide upheaval. Developing.
     
  12. patchs

    patchs Active Member

    Our local news' top story at 11 last night was the NYC trans-fat ban.
    Last I checked, I don't live in NYC.
    That was probably because there wasn't a "Developing story" or "Breaking News."
    If it bleeds, it leads....
     
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