Sunday, May 8, 2011

Blog #200!...Say Hi To Ya Mutha For Me

Woohoo! We've reached the 200th installment of Thinking Hard! If only we had a reason to celebrate... I'll warn you now, this blog's a little video-heavy. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted. I just went with a few..um..."friends" for a...uh..."hunting trip" to Paki...er...Liechtenstein last weekend, then we went...um..."fishing" with the proper "bait," but still didn't catch that swordfish I was hoping for. I had to take a much smaller...um..."trophy" and stuff it and mount it on my wall. And that's why there are no pictures.

Seriously, I can't do this story justice. Jon?



Meanwhile, local news outlets scrambled to get this story on the air. Here was how it looked to (no surprise) a Fox station in Sacramento, CA:


And here's how the brits got it wrong on BBC News's website:


And, yes, even our two local morning anchors here in town did it. The male anchor mixed up "Obama" and "Osama." And the female anchor started talking about "Vice President Bin Laden." So it happens. But when I first saw the breaking news on Sunday night, one of my big thoughts was "FINALLY! An international news story that will WARRANT the attention it's about to get!" Not like that abortion of a social event...the royal (?) wedding of Willie and Kate. And because I'm feeling generous today, here's special, never-before-seen footage from the blessed event:


Now THAT'S the coverage the royal (?) wedding deserved.

Can I officially call coverage of the sneak attack on Osama bin Laden "gotcha" journalism? If not, I'll leave it to Sarah Palin to define it. You might remember her infamous interview with Katie "Kiss My Ass, CBS" Couric before the 2008 election, where Couric asked Palin what magazines and newspapers she reads...and Palin couldn't name anything. So imagine my surprise when THIS clip hit the interwebs this week. MSNBC caught up with Palin at last weekend's White House Correspondents dinner (y'know, the one where Obama basically told Donald Trump to suck it). They asked her (and several other attendees) who she thinks the most influential journalist is. Her response...wait for it:



Seriously, it's a wonder that woman remembers to breathe in the morning.

To be fair, public officials are caught doing some pretty stupid things on camera...but perhaps NONE quite as bad as THIS:



Can you imagine being the guy who suggested THAT story in the morning meeting? "Say, I was just checking a porn sit...I mean, my EMAIL...at my desk and came across...er, no, bad choice of words...FOUND this video clip..."

But then there are people who have opinions about news and really shouldn't. Take KERO in Bakersville, California, for example: the station tried to kick off its May sweeps with a bang by doing a story about how strip clubs are actually faring WELL in this economy (note: check the lottery too. Both cost about a dollar for a much-needed scratch-off.). So the chief meteorologist...you know, the guy whose SOLE JOB is to talk about WEATHER and nothing but WEATHER...says he has a problem with it because of his christian values. He asks for the night off that the story is scheduled to air, but because it's sweeps, no major newscast talent is allowed to take a vacation day. So he sucks it up, does the adult thing...AND DOESN'T SHOW UP TO WORK! Listen, man, I understand the need to take a stand for your religion. Muslims do it all the time when they say "Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida DON'T represent what our religion stands for." So might I suggest your next career be in the clergy...since you've been fired for breach of contract? Also, if you find another job as a meteorologist somewhere, could you PLEASE keep your moral highground to yourself because you are a WEATHERman and not a NEWSman? Seriously, that's as obnoxious as having a traffic reporter who feels the need to act like a news director... In fact, if I might make a suggestion, maybe he should be in charge of all future stories like THIS:



It's a good thing the "crocodilian" didn't get her...she's obviously brilliant and a very integral part of this morning newscast.

Hey, happy mother's day! And happy 200th blog!!! Geronimo!!

-B-
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