Yahoo! Every news broadcast has one (or more) of their reporters in an area that is under mandatory evacuation orders standing in the wind and rain. I don’t need (or want) to see a person standing in an evacuated area to understand that it is dangerous to be there. I suppose putting a person in harm’s way is considered good TV. I change the channel.

Yahoo! When those reporters see someone defying the evacuation order, they stick the microphone and camera in front of them. “Step right up. Get your 15 minutes of fame here!” Hey, positive reinforcement works. Treat them as though it is okay for them to be there; make them local heroes. They’ll keep coming. I change the channel.

Yahoo! After Hurricane Charley, I saw video of people in Tampa. That’s where early forecasts indicated the eye would come ashore. But it took a little sharper turn to the east and hit Punta Gorda, south of Tampa. These people had stayed in their homes defying the evacuation order. They actually said (and the station actually broadcast), “See? We were right. It missed us!” Lucky and right are not the same thing. I change the channel.

Yahoo! Hurricane Frances is hitting us as I write this. Nearly every station has preempted regular broadcasting for hurricane coverage. I watch for a while. Especially now that Frances has slowed so much, the news doesn’t change much hour to hour. Landfall will be later than expected. The winds are weaker than two days ago, but still in the Category 2 stage. Tropical storm force winds extend hundreds of miles. We are likely to get 20 inches or more of rain — the slower she goes, the longer she can dump on us. And then they cut to their reporter, “Standing by in…” somewhere on the coast. I change the channel.

Yahoo! The generally accepted first appearance of the word “yahoo” is in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. It refers to a race of creatures that “are portrayed as being bestial, uncultivated, violent and loutish brutes.” I change the channel….

Posted by tvansant