Television Viewers Are Dumb

Let me rephrase that...the television viewers who think their opinion will impact what is shown on TV are dumb. Let's start at the top...this week, my area was bitch-slapped by Mother Nature like Snooki's mom should have slapped her. Snow...turning to freezing rain...turning to dangerously icy streets that STILL aren't completely clear almost a week later. Monday's news coverage? SnOMG storm coverage. Little else. This is the one time when I think the balls-to-the-wall storm tracker 8000 coverage was warranted, and I'm a tough sell. So you can imagine my surprise when a viewer sent an email complaining that there was too much snow coverage on and nothing about last weekend's shooting in Tucson that "involved an assassination attempt on a U.S. Representative." Um, two things...one, take a look outside your window. Which story impacts YOU DIRECTLY that morning? Two, I can't help but notice your email completely absent of a mention of anyone DYING in the shootings, including a NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL BORN ON 9-11!!! Oh, you just happened to forget that? You're a fucking idiot. So are the bulk of the people who complain just to be an asshole. Perhaps my opinion could be better summed up by an anchor who's been on the air for years in Phoenix, Arizona (you know...Arizona...the state where the shootings actually happened). KPNX kept breaking into network programming to bring live, local updates on the shooting. Here's the problem: "network programming" just happened to be "football playoffs." So you KNOW a bunch of (sometimes drunken) assholes called into the KPNX newsroom to politely request that the station perhaps shorten the important coverage, possibly even being more strategic about when to potentially break in with the very-important news. I believe the calls went like this: "You *********s, I'm watchin' the ****** game! **** you!" So give it up to anchor Mark Curtis, who posted THIS on his Facebook page:

I love football as much as anybody. For goodness sakes I was a sportscaster for 25 years… but for people to call and bitch about coverage of todays shooting in Tucson interrupting their halftime hilites drives me CRAZY! 18 people were shot today including a U.S Congresswoman…and 6 were killed including a 9 year old…

Hells yes! It's those same fuckers who call upset that tornado coverage is keeping them from watching "Dancing with the B-listers." People...PRIORITIES!!! Get them straight!!! How important IS that touchdown versus having an actual idea about what's going on in the world around you? No wonder people think Sarah Palin's brilliant! They're not even WATCHING the news!

Although, to be fair, news coverage isn't entirely without its faults. Check out this awkwardly-worded headline from the Boston Herald website this week:



Wait, did the ax attack cause the son to "split"? I have a very bizarre mental image in my head.

I'll toss in one more and end my rant...for now. This is video of a Seattle TV station doing its early morning "stormcam" coverage of a winter storm. Traffic's light this time of morning...which is probably a good thing, considering the traffic sign that shows up when the truck turns onto a side street at about the :24 mark:



Did you see it? Here's what that sign says:



I'd use the word "fail" if it hadn't been banished.

-B-