Of course this morning we are now being bombarded with the outright glee of the TV folks reporting on the snow.
Residents are being urged to stick rulers in the snow to measure the snowfall and report in. And people are being urged to send in photographs. Some stations even give them cute names such as “snowtographs.” We’re doing the same thing. We are posting updates on the snow as well as readers’ pictures on our Web site.
Here’s what I’m not hearing.
Oops, sorry about that. Sorry we didn’t see this one coming. Sorry we are preoccupied with the weather, constantly crying wolf about the possibility of snow, but punting the forecast when we actually get hit.
I know. We didn’t see it coming either. But we don’t devote most of the newspaper each day to the weather. It’s not the “big story” for us.
Not so for TV stations. They know that bad weather, particularly snow, means ratings gold.
The least they could do is admit it when they don’t get it right. Which recently seems to be just about every storm.
We make corrections in the newspaper every day. When we get something wrong, we say so.
Not so in the weather forecasting business. Why don’t they just admit that even with all their Doppler radar and other fancy devices, forecasting remains an inexact science at best. At worst, some of the things TV stations do with the weather borders on public disservice.
There, I’ve vented. I feel better now. So how many days until spring, anyhow?
Residents are being urged to stick rulers in the snow to measure the snowfall and report in. And people are being urged to send in photographs. Some stations even give them cute names such as “snowtographs.” We’re doing the same thing. We are posting updates on the snow as well as readers’ pictures on our Web site.
Here’s what I’m not hearing.
Oops, sorry about that. Sorry we didn’t see this one coming. Sorry we are preoccupied with the weather, constantly crying wolf about the possibility of snow, but punting the forecast when we actually get hit.
I know. We didn’t see it coming either. But we don’t devote most of the newspaper each day to the weather. It’s not the “big story” for us.
Not so for TV stations. They know that bad weather, particularly snow, means ratings gold.
The least they could do is admit it when they don’t get it right. Which recently seems to be just about every storm.
We make corrections in the newspaper every day. When we get something wrong, we say so.
Not so in the weather forecasting business. Why don’t they just admit that even with all their Doppler radar and other fancy devices, forecasting remains an inexact science at best. At worst, some of the things TV stations do with the weather borders on public disservice.
There, I’ve vented. I feel better now. So how many days until spring, anyhow?
Comments
I understand the rant. But I've got to tell you....Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz actually apologized on a video blog on NBC10.
Go check it out.
Gina
Collingdale