TV station website news (Huntsville, Decatur: home, school, income)

[harry chickpea]

Just to indicate how bad (and lazy) our local stations are in updating their news on the websites, I have an example:

Well before 7 PM last night, the AL - TN football game concluded. The game is a major rivalry (duh!) and the upset of Alabama was probably the biggest local news story that there was yesterday. One might think that television stations that pride themselves with nonsense such as calling themselves "the news station" and winner of the self-aggrandizement award of the year would make it a point to at least have a quick immediate headline on their websites for the few who live in caves or out of state and didn't get to see the game.

WAFF - not a mention until around noon today
WHNT - similar
WAAY actually had a blurb at just after midnight

These are NEWS websites??? Are you KIDDING me? Stale football news from Friday made the headlines.

Every blessed news progam on air these days leads with a story "Breaking News! This just in!" The idea of breaking news becoming immediately available on the web is also a thing. Apparently the news directors and staff at our local stations never got the memo, or were too busy drowning their sorrows to do their job.

In the larger scope of things, it might not matter, but it does bring up the question:

What will the coverage be if a nuke (G*d forbid) ever lands on Huntsville on a Saturday night after the news staff is home watching a game and drinking? Will coverage at the most on-the-ball station wait until midnight as well? Will the news directors collectively go "Well everybody knows about it anyway, and coverage can wait"?

Go back close to a hundred years and a print newspaper would be running an extra edition after the game that would be on the street within a couple of hours. There is no excuse for lazy cheap news reporting when the tools only need to be used. Instead we apparently have some different tools...


The game debacle aside, there was ample news program coverage of outrage at the Decatur police station where one kid who shot another was arrested (no police involved in the shooting) and somehow the police were blamed and the on camera claim made that "if this was a ***** kid he would be released" and the police were again vilified.

I understand distraught mothers making claims in the heat of the moment that are nonsensical. They have that right and it is part of being human. I do NOT understand the motives of tv stations covering such events in detail just because they were tipped by some activist with a hate agenda and financial support from questionable sources. I've known grade-school kids with better moral judgment.


It is beginning to seem like Facebook has better news coverage from subscribers than these television stations. That is sad, to say the least. I nominate all of our local stations for an award in crapitude, with a follow-up nomination for TV station Darwin award in incompetence.

[pathrunner]

This is not about a tv station, but about a former news anchor. I started following Shevaun Bryan after she left WHNT for Charlotte. Suddenly she's posting a lot of really racy stuff on her Instagram. A bit strange and over the top IMO. I liked her as an anchor but I wonder what the deal is in Charlotte. Testing the waters? Giving free rein?

And yes, it is super lame that the news stations don't update their websites timely. I suspect it is because they don't see a lot of traffic on their websites.

[harry chickpea]

The web presence of the TV personalities is becoming a requirement if they want to advance in markets or even keep their jobs. Even the old-timers are getting into it.

TV stations want to push their aps, which can generate more income. The websites are fast becoming graveyards of weeks-old stories, and merely a cursory tag. Don't put fresh news on your website, look at the SEO figures and cut update attention to it even more? Gee, I wonder what might happen? Screw the reputation, ignore those who use the websites, and wait for the next corporate takeover while keeping costs down. Shrinkflation in news.

A possible silver lining is that there may again be a market for a real local news source on the web.

[pathrunner]

The good news is that Danielle Dozier manages to be really attractive and even slightly sexy and so do some of the other women without showing a whole bunch of skin or tight clothing. I figure it's the conservative Alabama market. The way Los Angeles news stations have been dressing an hairstyling their women for decades is really over the top. Especially the weather women. It was a relief to move to Portland and then Phoenix and see more modest styles being worn.

Anyway, is there a rumor that there may again be a market for a real local news source on the web?

[RocketDawg]

Agree that the TV stations' websites should be kept up to date, but it's sorta sad when the top news story is the score of a football game. That's entertainment, not news.

[MinivanDriver]

TV news isn't news. It's entertainment. The sooner you know this, the better you'll be.

[pathrunner]

Yeah, that's why I can only stomach it here and there. Huntsville does a better job than other parts of the country, though.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

TV news isn't news. It's entertainment. The sooner you know this, the better you'll be.

Good point ....

I don't watch a lot of local news (just in the mornings), and always thought the Huntsville market could do better. Maybe it's because it's not huge as far as TV markets go? So, when we visited my son in the Atlanta area, I tried the local news there - large city, large market. They're no better. Must just be a sign of the times.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

TV news isn't news. It's entertainment. The sooner you know this, the better you'll be.

I've heard that before and accepted it at face value.

Upon consideration that the AL-TN game was MAJOR entertainment in the area, and was not reported properly, I am faced again with the idea of incompetent entertainment attempts that are half-hearted and subject to bias, or a case of simple and utter incompetence at a profession.

I would appreciate your considering carefully before using your platitude again, as it allows an easy out for a highly paid group of individuals in control of those outlets, outlets that our constitution and amendments demand be held to highest standards in return for great latitude.

The free press has been a source of much change in our country, true journalism used to be an honored profession among those with functional brains and the ability to discern pap from real investigative work.

If, as you say, this "news" or lack of same is now entertainment only, those rights need to be stripped, else we sully real free speech that must not be infringed upon.

[nalabama]

Thank you harry for highlighting the issue of our local tv stations’ ineptness in providing us local news online. Hope it makes a difference.