The top of the 6 p.m. news on all three stations reminded me why many viewers profess a hatred of local TV news. All three stations led with reports of snow.
"Anyone wanting an early Halloween scare just had to look out the window," said WPXI anchor Peggy Finnegan.
On WTAE, anchors Andrew Stockey and Michelle Wright narrated viewer pictures of the miniscule snowfall, including the incongruent comment by Stockey, agreeing with a viewer that "the snow is beautiful." Wait, you're trying to scare us with something beautiful? How does that work?
KDKA reporter John Shumway, perhaps ashamed at the reporting he was forced to do, blamed a superior for barging onto some guy's driveway near Uniontown.
"Our boss sent us down here," Shumway said.
"Well, this is just a little frost," the man said.
Nooooooo! That's not the narrative KDKA, WTAE and WPXI wanted to send! They want us scared, cowering in fear of the flurries, our only recourse to retreat into the warm. glowing embrace of local TV news.
Snow in October? It's going to be a long winter. The predictable, angry viewer e-mails to the TV Q&A column should begin any minute. But, seriously, why bother getting angry? Just turn off the local news on nights when it insists on insulting your intelligence. If that turns out to be every night, so be it.
Posted
Oct 29 2008, 06:34 PM
by
Rob Owen