Non-PARF Media Idiocy
 

Please keep this non-PARF, but what are the most ignorant things you have heard / seen / read ?

I'll start with an example. Yesterday in the car I was listening to the ABC (Australia's version of the BBC). Their news reporter was breathlessly but with great authority talking about the size of Hurricane Irma and twice over a few minutes referred to the the Hurricane rising to an altitude of 220 km (about 722,000 feet or 136 miles). The other reporter responded with suitable awe. And no, the context was such that they were discussing height, not diameter or windspeed, or any other aspect of the storm. This was a prepared interview too, not an off the cuff comment.

A few years ago, we had a reporter come to our facility and take up an hour and a half of my time, as he was preparing to do an article on the tidal power plant. As part of the tour, I took him across the property to the steel sluice gates which allow us to recharge the head pond.
When the article appeared a month later, somehow the gates had become concrete.
I guess I should have told him the fourth time.

Also, there's been a story circulating through the community since the installation was built that the power from the plant is sold outside the province. Yeah, right. Total output is 20 MW. About enough for 4500 homes. Boston would be clamoring for that.

Best
Les

I see stuff all the time. We are still dealing with Hurricane Harvey mistakes.

They opened the flood gates from the Addicks reservoir. They then listed the neighborhoods downstream and upstream that would be flooded. The local news convinced people that somehow opening the controlled spillways was flooding the neighborhoods behind the dam.

Of course the issue was the dam had more flow coming in, than out and the water behind the dam rose. People should be complaining about why development was allowed in areas behind the dam, in the maximum pool height area.

Any "story" which contains any of the following is bound to be garbage:
"X...Shamed"
"clap back"
"perfect response"

Any local story of which I have inside knowledge has details wrong.

I know a local reporter/photographer, and asked him about proofreading. Basically, there is no time. He bangs it out on the laptop and hits Send.
Anything egregious will hopefully be fixed by the editor. Good enough.

If it has to do with guns, they will get it wrong 100% of the time. Remember the "reporter" who saw the orange foam earplugs on the ground and thought they were rubber bullets?

This is known as the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect.

"The Internet is (Breaking, Exploding, Shutting Down) With News That _________ And We Can't Handle It!" is click bait. I fall for it every day.

A female sportscaster (TSN) recently uttered the phrase - "I should have tooken..

Zika
Ebola
H1N1
Bird Flu
Y2K

Are you kidding? 99% of what we see in the media is sensationalism. ZIKA!!!! WE'REALL GONNA DIE!!! :eek:

Getting back to the Hurricane coverage...I told my older brother this morning that we are not waging a battle with the storm. We are waging a psychological battle with the media and the government - both of whom care less about our safety than they do with their job security and making a name for themselves.

Hell.....some of the stuff they spew.....they should be imprisoned for.

You don't yell "Fire!" in a movie theater.

And btw.....material possessions CANNOT be replaced.....dumbasses.

Rant over (for now)....

Baz hit the nail on the head!

Best wishes to you & yours Baz in the middle of all this crap
JB

I worked as a professional news photographer back in the olden days. We had put the 4x5 speed graphics away and started using roll film cameras. Well OK, not quite that far back but cameras all used film and were heavy.

Anyway I went to many many many interviews with a reporter. I would try to shoot photos of the subject and he was there to do the interview and record whatever event it was. Of course at first I eagerly opened the paper to see the photo I shot and read the store. About 90% of the time I thought to myself, I was there, and I don't remember that at all, I remember something entirely different.

Now it is even worse. In those days at least they did the what, where, when, who and why in the first of the story. Now they bury that in the story if they mention it at all.

I remember this reporter "Scott" with our local paper that interviewed me a couple of times. The first time he got it so wrong that when he called the second time I would not speak to him. Well the higher ups changed my mind and I met with "Scott" again, wisely providing him a prepared statement. He got that one wrong again. Not more than a month later "Scott" called again. I told him to f off in no uncertain terms and if he had a problem with that to call my superiors. Never herd from the guy again and he was gone within a few months.

Now, the reporter from the LA Times, though a real pain in the ass: she was outstanding in understanding details. A young reporter with old school mentors. What a pleasure dealing with her.

Today's reporting of Troy Gentry's death en route to a concert his band was headlining tonight.
"That concert has been cancelled."

Years ago I went to the Phoenix PD gun "buyback" event. A few of us were there to outbid the cops and score some good guns that would have otherwise become manhole covers. A local news station sent a "reporter" down there to chat with us. She confessed to having never touched a gun and was terrified of them. Yeah, great person to send to report on a gun story.

I have been to several events at the Nat. Press Club where I later saw them reported on the news and wondered if the reporter had attended the same event.

I know a very intelligent pro-gun guy who has been interviewed several times about gun laws.

The story has been twisted so out of whack so many times that he will no longer consent to an interview unless he is allowed to record it in its entirety.

The request for an interview is often rescinded.

fify

When there's a hurricane, most people run away from it. Storm chasers go towards it and I understand. The media needs to report it and be on site for all the damage. The reporters are crazy! I'm watching Irma coverage on CNN and reporters are on the beach in Miami, Sarasota and in Cuba. You can see the weather coming into Florida and they are still there reporting. Where will they go to be safe?