Newscaster Bravado During Storms
Is it really a hurricane, or even just a “tropical depression,” unless a TV reporter in a hooded windbreaker is flopping around in the wind and rain like a landed flounder?
Is it really a weather story at all unless the TV people can go outside in the storm and, while risking bodily injury, warn viewers that they shouldn’t go outside in the storm and risk bodily injury?
If so, Hurricane Gustav was a real storm: All of the cliches and hyper-theatrical tropes of TV hurricane coverage were at Category 5 yesterday.
TV correspondents bellowing while taking facefuls of driving rain? Got it. Reporters hunched and squinting in the teeth of hurricane-force winds? Got that, too. Reporters dressed in the standard uniform of the intrepid weather correspondent — colorful-but-flimsy network-logo jacket and ball cap — to dramatize the effects of the driving rain and hurricane-force winds? Oh, yeah, got that, too.
It’s not enough to report on a storm by showing TV viewers its impact. Dramatic as it is, the standard B-roll footage of pounding surf, wind-whipped palm trees and mangled power lines serves as a mere palate-cleanser. On storm stories, TV reporters are required to interact with the weather and become, potentially, human sacrifices to it.
This makes weather reporting different than every other kind of breaking TV news story. No one covers a house fire by rushing into the burning building, or reports on a war by doing stand-ups in the middle of a tank battle.
With the weather, however, participation is mandatory.
High Chance of Blowhards – In Storm Reports, Newcasters Exude Bravado – Washington Post; Paul Farhi.
Geraldo saves woman.. er....dog
More?
“I do need to point out that I am in no way trying to understate the seriousness of the hurricane that, at the time I am writing this, still has the potential to do major damage to large portions of the Gulf Coast. I am trying, though, to point out that guys who stand on the roofs of five-story buildings during hurricanes are morons.” – The Joplin (Mo.) Globe
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“Funny, reporters don’t cover fires this way (’as you can see, Bill, the nylon on my Eyewitness News windbreaker is melting, putting the flame’s temperature at 350 degrees Fahrenheit …You can see the hair on my arm now completely singed off; I believe the skin is starting to boil, if you can get a closeup of that’). Nor do they cover traffic accidents this way (’I'm out in the middle of the crash now, you can see how the sheer angle of the metal wrapped around my leg indicates the force of the impact’).” – Hartford Courtant
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“The most memorable interview of all the hurricane coverage occurred when a reporter spoke to a man who had ignored the calls to evacuate and was going to stay in his home that had just been rebuilt from Katrina’s damage. The reporter questioned the man at great length about why he was being so stubborn, concluding that hunkering down was not the smartest thing to do. The hurricane came to the homeowner. The reporter charged into the hurricane. Talk about a leaky bucket. Hurricanes are too dangerous for regular people in boarded-up houses, but not for television teams on street corners? It is live reporting gone bonkers.” – Tulsa World
September 2, 2008 - 05:51 AM on September 2nd, 2008
At least they were covering it. This weekends coverage was more than the Mississippi floods got, but in that case, we weren’t talking about Democratic pawns being displaced. And do we really want to compare a house fire to a hurricane?
Are some of the actions silly? Yes, but it gives those of us all nestled safe in sound, a sense of what is happening.
I noticed that once the levess held and no one died, most of the networks quit covering the storm…isn’t that a big part of this election? Isn’t there a story in the fact that $14 billion has been sent to LA, but only $1.3 billion doled out? Or how about all those poor people getting on buses rather than sitting in a stadium. How about the fact that mistakes were made, but NOLA came a long way in 3 years.
September 2, 2008 - 07:11 AM on September 2nd, 2008
Weather reporters, actually reporters in general who put their lives on the line for a story need their head examined. Honestly just set up a remote camera focus it on the nearest trailer park and haul ass out of there. When one of these heroic reporters gets nailed by a 2×4 please dont expect me to go into mourning, for heroic read dumbass, and thats that.
September 2, 2008 - 08:33 AM on September 2nd, 2008
I actually think its a good thing the media isn’t going too deep into the mistakes of Katrina, three years ago. Like it or not, the Bush administration (thereby, in the minds of Democrats – the McCain campaign) is too tied to the mistakes of that time, rightly or wrongly. You really expect anyone but Fox to point out mistakes made at the local and state level? Noway – you and I both know that according to the majority of MSM, it was all Bush’s fault, and that is how it would be reported. They aren’t exactly interested in little details..like the truth.
It’s not to say the Bush administration wasn’t complicit with some of the failures of Katrina – because they were. It think they learned a lot of hard lessons, as well. But a great many of the tragedies could have been avoided at the state and local level.
Of course, it’s really easy to play Monday morning Quarterback on such things, eh?
I think NOLA has a lot to be proud of with the improvements they’ve made. Quite honestly, a lot of what was done this week could have been done three years ago — and implemented by the LA Governor and NOLA Mayor. Hurricanes are really about the only natural weather disaster we have that knocks on the door and lets you know they’re coming. You just know that Bush got on the phone with that Governor last week and said “You do what needs to be done, or so help me God…” Governors shouldn’t have to be micro-managed by the President of the United States, but Blanco (the Gov. during Katrina) very unfortunately didn’t act in the way she should have, at the time.
In terms of weather reporters – yea, it’s great they’re reporting it, but I absolutely think some of them, like Geraldo, go too far for the sensationalism. I personally don’t want to have to watch one of them get beheaded by flying debris – live, on national TV. They simply don’t have to take such extreme chances by standing in the middle of hurricane force winds. In order to report the story, it’s unnecessary to stand on a rooftop in 130 mph winds just to show us how windy it is.
September 2, 2008 - 09:44 AM on September 2nd, 2008
I disagree Lisa. By not going into what we saw three years ago compared to this past weekend is silly. During the speech, it was brought up about katrina and it was to be a campaign issue. How hard can Obama hit them when we have seen that the local authorities, the State and the Federal government actually turned a promising corner in just 3 years.
Your second paragraph is exactly what we should be talking about and it is the reality of the situation. Let’s not forget that Blanco could have and should have turned the state over to the feds on the Saturday prior to the storm. I believe the time line link in your post goes into detail on that. Had she done that and released the National Guard, the picture may well have been a lot different.
September 2, 2008 - 12:00 PM on September 2nd, 2008
No problems with the fact that the stark contrast should be discussed. I guess my point, and problem, is that during this convention week, I just know the majority of the media will spin it into a Republican failure. They won’t have the reasonable discussion and honest look at the real facts.
September 2, 2008 - 12:31 PM on September 2nd, 2008
This is why i think it really should be discussed:
My left wing bil is very afraid that the Obama camp will open up a can of worms that will backfire…Yes, we too made fun of some of the reporters, what we didn’t expect to do was to agree that all levels of government, from both political parties, did a good job on correcting major problems from 3 years ago. We expected progress, but not at the level that we saw.
Hey,
Did Brian Williams ever figure out why his children should be allowed to attend private schools with all the luxury that $30,000 a year will buy him, when residents of NOLA would be hard pressed to find a passing school? I’d like to see his follow up..you know, 3 years later and his kids attend public schools in NYC
September 2, 2008 - 01:24 PM on September 2nd, 2008
Never blamed Bush for the Katrina issues, the mayor and Gov. were all as much to blame as anyone, but I too think that the changes in attitude and procedure this time showed great improvement, and give hope that come 2011 when the full defences will be complete that NO does have a future to look forward to. The best thing though was the attitude of the people with regard to evacuation, from what I have seen the vast majority of the populas took heed and fled, just the idiot weather men and kite surfers heading the wrong way, and I won’t mourn either!
September 2, 2008 - 03:04 PM on September 2nd, 2008
I saw an interesting interview about the attitudes re: evacuation this time around. They said a big factor was that they allowed pets this time. Seriously!
During Katrina, they apparently did not allow people to bring their pets. When they got to the buses, they told them they’d have to leave their pets. People chose to stay.
Honestly, I would too. We have 6 animals here at home (3 cats, 3 birds) and if I had the choice of evacuating without my pet or staying with them… laugh all you want, but I’d stay.
This time, they were allowed to bring their pets on the bus with them.
That’s not to say this was the only reason the attitude towards evacuation was different, but it is a factor for those with animals – - and I was seeing a lot of people with pets evacuating on the news!
You cannot discount the love people have for their pets, man
September 2, 2008 - 03:51 PM on September 2nd, 2008
I would not leave a pet! They are my kids. In a lot of those cases, a pet was all those people had.
September 2, 2008 - 04:15 PM on September 2nd, 2008
Britt Hume is about to do a report contrasting the differences between the Government response between Katrina and Gustav on Fox.
Leave it to Fox
September 2, 2008 - 04:17 PM on September 2nd, 2008
And same here, Pam – - our pets are like our kids, especially now that my oldest is an adult and out of the house, and my youngest is about to turn 18!
We have three cats and three birds. The birds are a Mackaw, a Lorikeet and a Conure Parrot. People always ask us how we can have cats and birds..worried that the cats will go after the birds.. but I must have the wimpiest cats in the world, because those cats are scared to death of the birds lol Scardy Cats!
September 2, 2008 - 04:40 PM on September 2nd, 2008
I would take my pets… but if it was leave them or stay, then it’s here’s a big bag of food,your are on your own! be sure to bit any looters you see!