Tonight's Local Network News Complaint

FOX Orlando was reporting on Obama's visit to Central Florida tonight. They had a live broadcast outside of some meeting place. The reporter explained that it was a private dinner. She put emphasis on the fact that it wasn't open to the public. She said each reporter had a chance to ask Obama one question. Her question? Not what he planned to do to help Central Florida's housing market crisis, where thousands of homes are in foreclosure and 10s of thousands of roofers, painters and construction contractors are out of work. She didn't ask what Obama might do to curb inner city crime or his thoughts on global warming or how he'd deal with the country's energy crisis.

Instead, she used an accusatory tone to ask him why his fund-raising dinner tonight was private. Where do they get these idiots? Does she think she's uncovered a conspiracy? Every candidate holds private dinners to raise money. It seemed to me that she was trying to convince people that he'd done something wrong. Then they cut to a pair of interviews. One was a white guy who couldn't get a ticket. The other was a black guy who had a ticket.

I almost never watch the local news. But I did tonight. After the Obama bit, they had an interview with some girl who, according to the graphic on the screen "survived drowning." Christ.

 

It was Fox?

I'm shocked she didn't say "Who did you vote for tonight, Cook or Archuleta?"

 

Local TV is geared to the lowest common denominator. Did you not get the memo?

 

The only reason I can think of to justify the reporter's question would be if only a certain group of people were specifically invited. Otherwise, you're right.

 

Did they show any other reporter question during their broadcast? Maybe other reporters already asked those? I'm guessing not though since you likely would have seen it in the broadcast.

Seriously this is f'd up. I mean you have the chance to get one solid answer from the guy on any topic and you ask that?
I guess hope and change will have to be the answer for your other questions I-S. Why? Because we have another lazy reporter in the world.

 

Fox affiliates' local news operations are typically excruciatingly bad, but WOFL in Orlando takes it to new lows. Just awful in a wasteland of local TV mediocrity.

 

This is from a TV industry source:
Old rule: news is news.
New rule: news is marketing.
Old rule: weather gets the attention it deserves.
New rule: rain is a lead story.
Old rule: cover the issues.
New rule: cover the emotions.
Old rule: cover breaking news.
New rule: make up breaking news.

 

Old rule: cover news.
New rule: car crashes, murders, armed robberies.

 

As someone who works in local news, I have to say... that's deadly accurate.

 

We watch the local news at our shop . . . to make sure they don't screw up our leads when they read them on air.

 

I, too, work in a local news shop.

This isn't suprising, sadly. Our industry sucks. End of story.

 

People who worked in local news in the 1970s will tell you it was that way as well, especially at ABC affiliates and those who had Frank Magid (sp?) as a consultant. So even the new rules are old.