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Murphy Martin Commentary
May 10, 2007
"It's Called Infotainment"
We were glad to learn this week that we were not the only people
concerned about the deluge of weather reports we see and hear on
radio and television these days.
There can be something seven-hundred-miles off the California coast
and these people who take six or seven minutes to report what they
should in only three-minutes will start saying what that thing off
the coast is going to do in Texas next weekend.
Better cancel that
weekend trip to Grandma's place, or, the lake, or that Rangers game.
Weather is going to be a problem IF that stuff off the California
coast stays on it's present path.
Our friend Steve Blow, in his Dallas Morning news Column, said:
"This is Spring. Springtime in Texas means we are going to have some
bodacious thunderstorms. Is all this breathless, nonstop weather
coverage really warranted?" We agree with Blow, and several others
with whom we visited on this matter. Save the drama and stop scaring
the BeJesus out of your listeners and viewers.
There was a time when a lot of people looked into a Farmer's Almanac
to see what the weather would be in the coming MONTHS! Not today.
There is so much technology, some with names like Viper, they can
tell us when the disturbance will reach Palo Pinto and each wide
spot in the road between there and here and the exact minute you
should take cover.
Some stations have TWO weather people on the air at the same time,
and it isn't even cloudy outside.
Harold Taft spoiled us
all. Cut away the chaff, brief, succinct, to-the-point without all
the moving color graphics that even show the hook that denotes a
possible tornado.
They will break into regular programming and do a two-minute cut-in
and sign-off saying :we'll have details at ten!" And it's now just
eight minutes until ten!
If one station does something new, or different, other stations in
the market will follow. It is all a part of becoming Infotainers
during news programs. Every newscast on every television station in
town will have about eight-to-ten minutes of hard news of the day,
the rest of the half hour will be magazine pieces prepared earlier,
or entertainment news. And each half -hour of news will also have
close to nine minutes of commercials, running as many as seven
back-to-back in a single break. The bean-counters are in control and
if stormy weather seven-hundred miles off the California coast has
even the slightest chance of coming within two-hundred miles of DFW
we will hear about it for four or five days. Keep them scared, keep
them tuned in, help the ratings picture any way you can, even if it
means putting two weather people on the air at the same time, or
using seven or eight minutes for weather when Harold Taft could have
done it in three.
As we read Steve Blow's column questioning the scary, breathless
over abundance of weather reports, we recalled a story that happened
back when we were anchoring the news on Channel Eight. Dale Milford,
who would later serve in Congress, was our weatherman and he was a
good one. Then, and now, no one could always be right in forecasting
the weather. Sometimes people would call Milford and gripe about his
missing a forecast. Dale would hear them out and then tell them:
"You know, you just can't tell about the weather any more since they
took it out of the hands of the Man upstairs and gave it to the
radio and television people!"
We doubt seriously if Dale would have approved of Infotainment in
Television news either!
That's our time and we do thank you for yours!
Murphy Martin
Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website will be
appreciated.
e-mail
murphy@murphymartin.com
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