Do you watch local TV broadcast news? (Phoenix: house, neighborhood)

[Voebe]

I don't usually, but I was zipping through the channels a few times lately - and I can't believe how bad the newscasts are.


They most often seem to start off with some kind of minor irrelevant disaster or crime, like a house fire or a shooting. There are a handful of mayors they could do local stories on, or state stories, or stories that are about serious issues like the environment or immigration. But they tend toward stories that are useless and do nothing to inform us generally. There was just a major piece on a possible dog poisoning. Now, really.

[Colt AZ]

I stopped watching all local "newscasts" about a year ago.

I'll just say that they've deteriorated into everything but what they are supposed to be.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I don't usually, but I was zipping through the channels a few times lately - and I can't believe how bad the newscasts are.


They most often seem to start off with some kind of minor irrelevant disaster or crime, like a house fire or a shooting. There are a handful of mayors they could do local stories on, or state stories, or stories that are about serious issues like the environment or immigration. But they tend toward stories that are useless and do nothing to inform us generally. There was just a major piece on a possible dog poisoning. Now, really.

If you lived near the shooting, crime, or dog poisoning you would want to be informed. You do understand the definition of news don't you? Things that have happened lately if not live.

The environment would belong in commentary not on the news unless something earth shattering happens to the environment. Same with the mayors, if nothing happened last night or today it doesn't belong on the news.

[Pretzelogik]

No...if it bleeds it leads in my area.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Voebe

I don't usually, but I was zipping through the channels a few times lately - and I can't believe how bad the newscasts are.


They most often seem to start off with some kind of minor irrelevant disaster or crime, like a house fire or a shooting. There are a handful of mayors they could do local stories on, or state stories, or stories that are about serious issues like the environment or immigration. But they tend toward stories that are useless and do nothing to inform us generally. There was just a major piece on a possible dog poisoning. Now, really.

Well, to be fair about the dog poisoning, it's not "possible" but confirmed, and quite possibly a continuation of a series of pet poisonings in the same neighborhood not long ago. (that info is not from local news) Perhaps you don't care about the issue, but it is of interest to people with pets, and certainly in that geographic area.


I don't find local news as objectionable as you do, but then I do not watch regularly, either. That said, half hour local news/weather/sports programs are just not designed for in depth stories on a nightly basis. Some channels do a series of short reports over several days on larger issues, but not frequently/regularly. I think that most people get their hard news from other sources any more, and the local stations know that.

[take57]

Originally Posted by Colt AZ

I stopped watching all local "newscasts" about a year ago.

I'll just say that they've deteriorated into everything but what they are supposed to be.

Agreed. I've lived all over the country and, by a significant margin, the television news product offered in Phoenix is abysmal.

I will give props to the kids doing the Cronkite broadcast at ASU on PBS if you can swallow the cable TV public-access channel production values. At least they seem to care about not being deliberately shallow.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

If you lived near the shooting, crime, or dog poisoning you would want to be informed. You do understand the definition of news don't you? Things that have happened lately if not live.

The environment would belong in commentary not on the news unless something earth shattering happens to the environment. Same with the mayors, if nothing happened last night or today it doesn't belong on the news.

This. I don’t think you (OP) understands what news is. Why would some psycho poisoning dogs not be newsworthy?

[pbenjamin]

It's mostly trashy tabloid stuff and promotion of the station's entertainment programming. (No, I don't give a damn about the contestants on Dancing With the Stars.) There is very little coverage of actual relevant news. "reporters" are quite often hired for their looks and often know little about Phoenix, its issues or history. The most laughable part of the whole scene is when they try to "cover" national issues. Brahm Resnik on 12 is one of the exceptions, does a good job of following state and local issues and takes the time to know that he is talking about.

[new2colo]

No. The news stations in Phoenix are completely unwatchable. The reporting style in most major cities is one of professionalism. Reporters and anchors tend to be well researched, have an inviting but not overly informal demeanor, and have a good mix of relevant local and national stories. Here, anchors often just stop reading off the teleprompter to have side conversations with each other (FOX 10 is the absolute worst) and to inject their personal views into the story, as though we care. Other times, they try to fake concern in serious stories (ABC 15 is the worst in this regard), by orchestrating concerned or dumbfounded looks on their faces. Important details are just glossed over, if not completely left out. If you’re going to cut into the newscast to report on a major freeway crash, it might be important to let people know minor details like where the crash has occurred and in what direction, for example. These stations devote entirely too much time to the weather segments, with the weather readers often sounding like they’re on a 3 day bender telling us about a ten degree weather change or a five percent chance of rain. The only person who seems to be able to report the weather in a calm manner is Royal Norman. Dave Munsey seemed pretty levelheaded too. All the others love to harp on how far from “normal” our temperatures and precipitation are.

Unfortunately since all the stations here compete for our viewership, they’ve all gone down the drain. CBS 5/Channel 3 is the least unwatchable with ABC 15 and FOX 10 being the worst. You would think that the quality of the newscasts would go up as the region grows in population. However, it seems to be a race to the bottom. Watching clips of older Phoenix newscasts from as recently as the 1990s shows how far the quality of “journalism” here has slipped.

[take57]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Other times, they try to fake concern in serious stories (ABC 15 is the worst in this regard), by orchestrating concerned or dumbfounded looks on their faces.

Actually Kris Pickle is a master of that with the added skill of busting out an icy smug look of disgust when reporting the troubles of some hapless unfortunate that only someone drawing a makeup/hair/clothing allowance that would feed several families on top of a six figure salary reading a TelePrompTer can truly conjure.

Get bent lady.