Posts tagged news
Teasers are STUPID
Feb 4th
I’m watching last night’s Ugly Betty and doing crap on my laptop and as usual I forget it’s recorded so I can skip commercials. Duh-me. Anyway, towards the end of the program there’s a teaser for the news.
There’s been the sweat lodge story in the news for WEEKS. People died… more got really sick… you all know that, right?
And the teaser?
Self-help guru James Ray, the man at the center of the sweat lodge tragedy, taken in and we have the charges.
Wait, wait, wait, lemme guess! Burglary? False Advertising? No stupid, it’s probably manslaughter or maybe negligent homicide. Like whatever the charges are it will be a surprise and only THAT news station could possibly know the answer. C’mon. Why do news people talk to us like we’re idiots? Every news station and every newspaper and every online news site will have the charges! And if I were sitting on pins and needles wondering what they could possibly be, I certainly wouldn’t wait for the news to come on in two more hours. It’s frakking 2010! I’d Google it!
Whew, rant over.
More Bull Under the Guise of News
Dec 23rd
The last few mornings I’ve been watching the Today show. And no, I don’t think the Today show is news. It’s infotainment. What I do expect to be news is the short bursts of time they send the show back to the local affiliates. I expect local weather updates – which I usually get – and local traffic updates – which I also usually get. What I don’t expect or appreciate is the so-called serious interview with the local security expert outright selling his alarm system while the blond chickie earnestly asks pertinent questions with just the right amount of serious reporter intent.
It’s bullcrap. Magazines put a disclaimer at the top of advertisements because so many are designed to look like actual articles. If the local affiliates are using this as advertising revenue they should say so, not put it out there like it’s an actual interview. And yes, there’s a difference between this staged serious interview and the happy on-air reporter guy hanging out at the bakery because they’re giving out discounted cookies today.
Tiger?
Nov 28th
So yesterday twitter went nuts with the Tiger Woods serious accident!!!!!OMGELEventY!!! I didn’t bother to click on anything, cuz there are more important things in my life than the OMG about some golf dude. After the bullshit over the balloon boy, I stopped jumping on anything trendy.
Someone posted a link last night to an article praising twitter for having the headline/story out HOURS before CNN! OMG CNN dropped the ball! We’re all smart and superior for knowing half a story before actual reporters you know, report!
I love that regular twitter users get the first heads up about important events like plane crashes and earthquakes, but I think the gossip factor about other “news stories” is out of control. It’s almost as bad as junior high girls trashing each other.
Don’t believe it just because everyone is talking about it on twitter.
This morning the story is a little more fleshed out. Apparently Tiger was fucking around on his wife which may/may not have anything to do with his accident. He somehow crashed into a fire hydrant in front of his house and his wife busted the SUV’s back window open with a golf club and dragged his sorry ass out. I’d have let him sit there for a while. That is, if I gave a shit at all about his private life. Why do you?
My point is SHUT UP TWITTER. Calm the fuck down. Don’t haphazardly retweet headlines of unproven gossip. Let’s try to be better than TMZ or FOX News.