Why News Puts Reporters Out in Storms
Also, Spotify adds audiobooks and apps that are helping trading cards make a comeback
THE LEDE
Many of you have written me about the coverage TV gave to Hurricane Ian last week. There was a lot of attention given to the reporters who were out in Ian, and that made a lot of people wonder why journalists needed to stand out in the storm. I think the coverage was in keeping with the size of the storm, and that reporters did an excellent job demonstrating just how bad things got during the hurricane.
IMAGE: Hurricane Ian with lightning strikes (in purple) as it looked at its peak. (NOAA)
There were some scary moments. The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore was hit by a branch while doing a live shot:
And then there was this incident when lightning struck near Cantore’s live shot:
Moments like that set Twitter afire. Overwhelmingly, people say they want the reporters to be safe, and that’s encouraging.
So, in my role as a former local TV producer, I thought I’d do a Q&A with myself to explain why we put reporters out in storms.
Why put reporters out in storms? Can’t TV show us enough of the event?
Live reporters give a sense of scale to a weather event. I was watching a shot from Venice, Florida, and it showed water flowing in the roads. But you couldn’t tell if it was a few inches of water, or several feet. Many people still go out in storms, especially in their cars, and it’s our hope they’ll think twice when they see reporters up to their hips in snow or water. When Ian first struck, CNN showed the relative strength of the storm:
Doesn’t news put reporters in danger with these storms?
Unquestionably, there is a danger. But there are lots of professions where people risk themselves for people’s safety. Journalists see storm coverage as just another aspect of the job. Any good news organization has its staff undergo safety training; truck operators know the maximum height they can put up their antennae, reporters are given foul weather gear and taught to stay as safe as possible.
Still, there have been tragedies. Two journalists were killed in North Carolina during subtropical storm Alberto in 2018. WYFF (NBC - Greenville S.C.) team Mike McCormick and Aaron Smeltzer died when a tree crashed down on their live truck as they were driving in the storm.
Do reporters actually like going out in storms?
Some love it, many don’t. (Would you?) It depends upon the reporter and the storm. But the audience LOVES its storm reporters. Why do you think The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore is so popular? For years in Boston, it wasn’t a storm until we saw veteran WBZ (CBS) reporter Shelby Scott in the snow. Viewers come to appreciate the hard work they do and often bring hot drinks and food to our crews.
Doesn’t TV just do these live shots as stunts to get higher ratings?
This is probably the most-asked question. Ratings do, indeed, go up during bad storms. But they go up (more or less) equally among stations. During storm coverage, stations will go “wall-to-wall”; that is, they don’t break for commercials. (This makes the sales team crazy…) Big storms can actually be big money losers.
What do you think? Smash that “Email Me” button below and send me your thoughts. I’ll share them (if you permit me) in next week’s newsletter.
NEWS AND NOTES
MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS GET NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA: This one’s a little frightening, If I may editorialize for just a moment. Pew Research reports the result of a study on how we get the news. And this year more than half those polled answered that they get news “sometimes” or “often” from social media:
Translation: in 2022, 50% of those surveyed get news from social media. 41% “never” or “rarely” get news from social media. Given the lack of reliability of sources online, this is a troubling trend. Too many people tend to limit their news intake according to their political/religous/personal tastes, so they get caught in a bubble of self-reinforcing information rather than getting a full picture that may go against their beliefs.
GENESIS & PHIL COLLINS SELL THEIR MUSIC FOR $300 MILLION: In a deal that is becoming common among veteran music acts, Genesis has struck a $300 million deal to sell the rights to its songs and master recordings.
IMAGE: Genesis, from its Instagram page. From Left: Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford (center) and Phil Collins.
The deal includes Phil Collins’ solo work, but none of the Genesis recordings from 1967-1975, when Peter Gabriel was the band’s lead singer. Genesis follows such acts as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen in selling their catalogues.
TOP PODCASTS ON SPOTIFY: A cool feature of Spotify is that it updates its “top podcasts” list regularly. It even has a page dedicated to the charts where you can search by country and category. Here are Spotify’s top five podcasts in the USA as of this writing:
Call Her Daddy | Alex Cooper
The Joe Rogan Experience | Joe Rogan
Huberman Lab | Scicomm Media
Straight Up With Stassi | Stassi Schroeder Clark
Serial Killers | Parcast
LINKS AND LIKES
SPOTIFY ADDS AUDIOBOOKS: Spotify users can now choose from more than 300,000 audiobooks. It is a smart move by Spotify as it continues to add non-music content to its platform.
IMAGE: Headline graphic from Spotify’s Audiobooks page.
Still, the audiobooks will cost extra, even to paid users. And the prices are no bargain. The cost of the audiobook of “Fire and Blood,” for example, George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” prequel, is $29.90. But the ease of use is appealing. Compare this to Audible, which hounds you to sign up for a $14.95/month membership and makes downloading to your mobile device a multi-step process.
TRADING CARDS MAKE COMEBACK THANKS TO APPS: I’m a lifelong collector of baseball cards, but that hobby has faded of late in part because it’s hard to find trading card stores anymore. But new apps are on the scene, and they let you see what a given store has, and you can even watch them open the pack live if you want. It’s fun and even a little exciting. I recommend the Loupe app, although there are many others:
IMAGE: Screengrab from Loupe - Wicked Discounts store owner opening packs live.
A warning for those who are used to 25 cent packs of bubblegum cards — this is serious stuff. Packs can go for $20 or more.
BEYOND THE REMOTE
MAKE YOUR OWN RECORDS: From Teenage Engineering comes this great idea. It’s a record player that also cuts 45s from whatever audio you have. Called Record Factory, it comes with two arms - one for the usual playback and a larger one to cut grooves in blank records.
IMAGE: Teenage Engineering’s Record Factory (From company website.)
It goes for $149, and comes with a bunch of accessories. A 10-pack of blank records costs $20. My birthday is coming up…
BEWARE OF SCAMS: Here’s my PSA for this week. The scammers seem to be out in force of late. One called an older relative of mine, insisting he was his grandson who was in an accident and needed money. Fortunately, that relative knew better. Two days later, a scammer texted me, using the name of a work acquaintance. I’ve never had a text from her, so I was on guard. Here’s how it went down:
*Crickets.* “She” couldn’t answer the simple challenge. And I strongly recommend quick challenges if you’re not sure whether you’re being scammed. It was obvious this was a scam — the real person would never have me purchase gift cards. But if there’s ever any doubt, a challenge like “Remind me when we last met” will tip you off for sure.
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REMOTE NOTES
Newsletter #24
Copyright 2022
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