Investigative news going too far? (Birmingham, Mobile: school, retired, station)

[harry chickpea]

A certain investigative reporter for one of the local tv stations just preened on air like a vulture with a piece of rotten flesh in his beak when he discovered that a magistrate up for review in Huntsville because of drawing a gun in a parking lot had - TWENTY years ago - been part of a drunken debacle with others in his peer group, when police investigation only went back ten years to insure the individual had character.

This station HAD been awarded a commendation. Apparently, wherever that award came from, those responsible must have left.

What I now want to know, as part of MY deep investigation into news media reporting, is if this particular investigative reporter had wet his bed twenty years ago or skipped school.

I understand deep discovery. I understand the idea of making sure relevant stuff doesn't get swept under a carpet. I also understand cub reporters in search of cookies from bosses trying to make a name for themselves by going beyond the pale.

Were I station manager, this cub would be severely cuffed and given a leave of absence to take time to consider the difference between real reporting and sensationalist dredging up of irrelevant BS.

I had previously had hopes the kid would be an asset to the community. I no longer want to even bother with his "reporting," nor am I interested in following the station, since the one weathercaster who had a measured and intelligent forecast has retired.

[GreggT]

Sadly this is what our "so called" news media has become. I was hoping our local outlets would actually stick to just the news!

[dwhisent]

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the "cub reporter". He/she could have been given the assignment from someone in management, and told to research and do a report on it. And someone above them also had to decide that it should be on the air. All the folks up the line can be blamed.

But I agree, newscasting has sadly deteriorated over the years. Even the Hsv Times, which is now digitally The Huntsville Lede instead of a scan of the paper version, is half opinion columns.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by dwhisent

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the "cub reporter". He/she could have been given the assignment from someone in management, and told to research and do a report on it. And someone above them also had to decide that it should be on the air. All the folks up the line can be blamed.

But I agree, newscasting has sadly deteriorated over the years. Even the Hsv Times, which is now digitally The Huntsville Lede instead of a scan of the paper version, is half opinion columns.

One would think a city of this size would have better, more experienced reporters. Normally, reporters start in smaller markets and work their way up. Some of ours are like it's their first job - more like you'd get in Tupelo, MS, a city of under 40K.

Regarding "newspapers", the worst thing that ever happened was when al.com took over the major papers here, Birmingham, and Mobile. It wasn't so bad at first, but now it's degenerated into a Birmingham-centric left-wing opinioin piece with an occasional news piece.

I don't subscribe to the Lede, but it might be worth a trial. The Times was a good paper, and even the News was good with morning coffee. I miss a real paper - a good secondary use was to polish your windshield glass with the B&W paper after reading, not to mention lining bird cages (if you had a bird).

[GreggT]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Regarding "newspapers", the worst thing that ever happened was when al.com took over the major papers here, Birmingham, and Mobile. It wasn't so bad at first, but now it's degenerated into a Birmingham-centric left-wing opinioin piece with an occasional news piece.

Keep in mind Al.com is owned by Advance Publicans out of New York City so it is not really an Alabama publication.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by GreggT

Keep in mind Al.com is owned by Advance Publicans out of New York City so it is not really an Alabama publication.

Well they have to have at least 10 mandatory uat football pieces every day.

[dijkstra]

This sort of stuff is one of the primary reasons I quit watching the so called "news" about 13 years ago. It is just nonsense. Also, almost every single news story that I had first hand actual knowledge of, the local news media got facts wrong or put a little wording twist on it to sensationalize it a little. I decided I didn't need the aggravation anymore and quit watching. Try it, you will find that after a few weeks or a couple of months if you try to watch it, you will find yourself so aggravated within a couple of minutes you will turn it back off.

[chadinhsv]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Well they have to have at least 10 mandatory uat football pieces every day.

Don't worry AU HSV, basketball season will be here before you know it. Since AUau fans call themselves a basketball school now who cares if they're writing about UA football?

Back to the subject at hand. I have noticed the news having a more left leaning slant for almost a decade now. I just don't watch anymore. Concerning AL.com, they don't even act impartial. All their opinion pieces are slanted left. I'm not asking for it to be Breitbart or anything, but I would love for SOMETHING in the media to have opinions and stories on both sides. Guess we will never get that

[GreggT]

Originally Posted by chadinhsv

Don't worry AU HSV, basketball season will be here before you know it. Since AUau fans call themselves a basketball school now who cares if they're writing about UA football?

Back to the subject at hand. I have noticed the news having a more left leaning slant for almost a decade now. I just don't watch anymore. Concerning AL.com, they don't even act impartial. All their opinion pieces are slanted left. I'm not asking for it to be Breitbart or anything, but I would love for SOMETHING in the media to have opinions and stories on both sides. Guess we will never get that

That's because none of our media is locally owned, everything has been bought out!

[inharvest]

Yeah. Did y'all see this one? haha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xGuKSX1UHE