A critical look at the Wichita TV news

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Winter Weather Woody Coverage Notes

-Leading up to the storm it bugged me that KAKE didn't really have a clear forecast accumulation map like the other stations did. On Friday morning, I remember morning meteorologist Ben Pringle showed something that looked like one, but then for Wichita he said we would get a different amount then what showed on the map. It was too confusing. Once you get past his delivery, I thought KSN's Dave Freeman's map was easiest to see how much he thought everyone would get.
-Kudos for KWCH for expanding their Saturday morning show to 4 hours, but apparently they were so busy putting that together it interfered with them making beat calls and getting new info out. They had a live shot from Kim Hynes on Rock road and it was good because as it got light out, it showed me people were out and about and even had an interview with someone who got stuck. However, it appeared KWCH didn't do their homework on other counties' conditions compared to KAKE. KWCH clearly didn't make use of the resources they had. In the 4th hour of their show, they went to a phoner from Jim Grawae who was in Pratt! He got stranded overnight there and had to stay in a motel. Why wasn't he used earlier, because he gave firsthand information? I don't understand. Poor execution all the way around. More airtime sometimes isn't always better. They should have used him more often. It should work out well for KWCH as the day progesses.
-I generally am critical of KAKE's Abby Barnett, but her live shots the last couple of days have been better compared to her normal work. Not much her fault, but a live shot outside in the station's parking lot doesn't show me much, however Abby more than made up for that with information regarding people being trapped in cars in Pratt county for several hours and the Sheriff's department and Emergency management being immobile. Not that I am a huge fan of getting interviews from people basically saying its bad out but, KAKE didn't have any fresh sound, and KWCH did. In the grand scheme of things, I'd rather have information like KAKE did about Pratt County rather than an interview with a lady who lost her bumper on KWCH. -Hal

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unless you were there, you don't know what happened with Grawe in Pratt. Quit talking like you know everything when you still refuse to tell us what your qualifications are.

Anonymous said...

Again, Anon 1123

I underscore the fact that when Hal gives 12 praise or trashes 3 or 10, you are his biggest champion..

Yet any little criticism of 12 is met with scorn.

You are an immature hypocrite.

But I love this!

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:23

It's amazing that people like you expect Hal to have a journalism degree to be "qualified" to provide constructive criticism of local news coverage. He seems to be at the least, smarter than the average viewer and has some knowledge as to what works and what doesn't. You don't need a journaliam/communications degree to determine when a station's coverage has problems.

Anonymous said...

No I just don't believe people with no qualifications should be judging other people's work. He's not in TV, has never been, so what does he know? Nothing.

Anonymous said...

1123,
The majority of your viewers do not have journalism degrees. Its this arrogance you show that further accelerates the eventual end of TV news as we know it.

Anonymous said...

Not everyone can do what we do, just as we could not do the jobs others do. It takes training and experience and an education. You call it arrogance. The rest of us call it knowing what we are doing.

Anonymous said...

Please. How many Beauty Queens become anchors? How many producers sit in your newsroom right now, having been hired straight out of school, with no training or real world experience? How many of your former co-workers now do something in PR, or sales, or education?

You fool yourself if you think no one else can do what we do. A lot of people can do what we do. Not a lot of people can do a successful brain surgery.

So keep your mouth shut, and get better at every job fast. Or you'll be the first one to pack your desk when sales doesn't make budget.

And then you can write your own "qualified" blog.

Anonymous said...

More calls to dumb down the news. To employ more citizens journalists. BS. We are smarter than 90 percent of the people out there. It's just fact.

Anonymous said...

sounds like we struck a nerve on 11:23 and he sounds insecure..wwaaaaahhhh