Bad TV journalism

[Freelance Hack]

Just watching the WAVE 3 (Louisville) newscast after the Sunday night game.

Here's the gist: A guy wanted for questioning in a fatal arson was arrested in another state. Louisville police did not reveal the location of the arrest. The announcer then says "our affiliate there sent us an arrest report." Yet, the announcer doesn't mention either the affiliate or any information from the arrest report that would give the location.

Here's my problem: Just because the local police won't reveal the location of the arrest, if you come across it (or someone gives you information) in other public records, then you have every right to disclose the location of the arrest.

Am I missing something here? Have I gone soft in the head? I realize it's not a big deal where someone was apprehended as long as they were apprehended, but just because the police won't reveal it, that doesn't mean you can't, right?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

It's WAVE. WLKY, I think, has always been the best of the Louisville stations.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Redundancy in thread title.

 

[Freelance Hack]

It's WAVE. WLKY, I think, has always been the best of the Louisville stations.

WLKY does a great job of covering your neck of the woods, KYSW. They're a good news organization, but I think WHAS is the gold standard for local network news around here.

 

[Dickens Cider]

Redundancy in thread title.

PCLoadLetter's going to have your ass for that one.

 

[Desk_dude]

Was he charged?

Most media outlets won't list the name if he/she hasn't been charged. He needs to be arraigned or indicted.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Was he charged?

Most media outlets won't list the name if he/she hasn't been charged. He needs to be arraigned or indicted.

The name was given. They just said the police wouldn't release the location of his arrest. Then, in the next breath, said they got a copy of the arrest report from their sister station, which they did not identify.

 

[lone star scribe]

Sounds like more an issue of sloppy reporting/editing than a desire to hide the city. What would be the point? To keep from casting aspersions on the populace of said city? If I'm the affiliate reporter/editor/producer, I'm pissed that we didn't get on-air credit for helping on the story.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

The list of TV stations that are bad journalism is far longer than the ones that do good journalism.

Sadly, there isn't a good station in the city in which I live.

My wife no longer lets me watch because she gets tired of me yelling at the TV. She says, "You know that they can't hear you."

Maybe I need to yell louder.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

The list of TV stations that are bad journalism is far longer than the ones that do good journalism.

Sadly, there isn't a good station in the city in which I live.

My wife no longer lets me watch because she gets tired of me yelling at the TV. She says, "You know that they can't hear you."

Maybe I need to yell louder.

Oggiedoggie and friends, frustrated with the quality of their local TV news operations, have given up on yelling at the screen and have found a new method they hope will finally get news directors' attention.



;D

 

[crusoes]

Not if it's snowing.

Last week, I tuned into TV news at 11 to get more details on the Freep/News story, as I was on vacation. Instead, I got five minutes of "team coverage" of an impending blizzard that might leave 2 inches of snow. Because it never freaking snows in Michigan.

After five minutes, I turned it to the Simpsons.

 

[slappy4428]

Not if it's snowing.

Last week, I tuned into TV news at 11 to get more details on the Freep/News story, as I was on vacation. Instead, I got five minutes of "team coverage" of an impending blizzard that might leave 2 inches of snow. Because it never freaking snows in Michigan.

After five minutes, I turned it to the Simpsons.

it's not the overpermissive parents who are ruining America, it's local news directors

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Redundancy in thread title.

PCLoadLetter's going to have your ass for that one.

I've been summoned!

There's no reason on earth not to name the city. But remember, on a Sunday night in a medium size market you're going to have some pretty green people putting the newscast together. In a lot of cases they're going to err on the side of doing whatever police say simply because they don't know any better.

As for the dig on TV news... eh. Yeah, a lot of TV news sucks. Some of it's not bad. That's about the batting average of the typical newspaper these days. I'm in a major city where much of the newspaper is now put together by interns. I'm not sweating the comparison much.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Redundancy in thread title.

PCLoadLetter's going to have your ass for that one.

I've been summoned!

WIZ-ARD!!!

 

[bigbadeagle]

Did they say why the police wouldn't offer up the name of the city where the arrest was made?
And if you've got help from your affiliate, give them a plug - and, uh, maybe give your viewers a little news they might not get elsewhere.

 

[clutchcargo]

The title of this thread assumes there is such a thing as good TV journalism.

Case in point: Katie Couric.

I rest my case.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

It's WAVE. WLKY, I think, has always been the best of the Louisville stations.

WLKY does a great job of covering your neck of the woods, KYSW. They're a good news organization, but I think WHAS is the gold standard for local network news around here.

WAVE usually does a damn fine job here, too. But there are so many things about that station I can't stand.

And besides, WLKY has Jay Cardosi (or at least used to).

 

[ColbertNation]

The title of this thread assumes there is such a thing as good TV journalism.

Case in point: Katie Couric.

I rest my case.

Seriously. Why is she still on the air? I thought they were getting rid of her after the election.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Ratings are up.

The governor's granted a reprieve.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Plus, CBS has absolutely nobody that would serve as a reasonable replacement.