Most of the local newscasts have lead their broadcasts with weather stories for the past few days. Is the snow the biggest story in the region?
Or, is weather the greatest common denominator and thus likely to draw in the largest audience?Do you actually want weather information (beyond forecasts) or do newscasts provide that information because weather is an emotional subject?
8 comments:
Weather, of course, was and will remain an important topic in news--it effects our morning commute and basically the lay out of our day and how we will go about carrying it out. However, I'm sure the weather was not the most important news taking place, however; it still seemed to get more air time than the conflict in Egypt. But! It is winter, and the most discussed topic during the season is how much the snow sucks and how we all can't wait for summer--to complain about how hot is it...
Weather, especially snow, will always be a big news topic. But there is no reason to go crazy on the topic. Sure, many Temple students were angry about not getting the day off, but that is to be expected. Honestly, I only watch the weather channel for the forecast.
I think that weather news is important, but only in short blurbs. As Emmie said, less time was spent on discussing what is currently going on in Egypt, which is what I would like to hear more about. Yes, it snowed; it sucked; we hated it; but I think that air time should be used to discuss issues that are have more of an impact on our world and society as a whole.
I agree with the above comments that snow should perhaps be given less time because in the scheme of things it is irrelevant, but the fact of the matter is that it is unifying. It affects everyone and specifically, everyone's safety, which is something that is obviously very important to all people. It's undeniably smart to feature a more local and relevant story that interests and concerns all possible audiences as opposed to other stories that, while important, are much farther off and in the back of people's minds.
Weather was the greatest common denominator for most views. That being said, I don't think that was the only reason behind why it lead broadcasts. The weather would most likely be the story that viewers would be immediately impacted by.
It may have not been the biggest story for the region but if no one were to cover the weather it may have turned into the biggest story. The amount of snow was definitely news worthy and was something that shouldn't have been ignored or pushed to the sidelines. *cough* TEMPLE *cough*
I think you raised the major other factors that make this news. Weather affects EVERYONE in that region so you have people who may not normally watch news but during bad weather may tune in because it affects them directly. And we do love a good tragedy or disaster for many different reasons, to feel that your plight is not so bad, to have something to care about(whatever it is), something to gripe about, something to make a religious correllation to, whatever it is; bad situations attract viewers on an emotional level. And yes i would have to say it is news. It's pertinent information that viewers want to see and know about. It's probably one of the few bits of news that is delivered as truthful as may be possible even if they are incorrect it's a mistake.
Weather is the one factor that the most people from all over the area will be interested in viewing. A fire burning down a building in Kensington is rarely going to affect someone from Downingtown, but extreme weather cases like snow will affect everyone in the whole Delaware Valley. It will affect kids going to school, people going to work, what clothes to wear, it affects many aspects of our daily lives. and will thus draw the biggest audience
Weather is something that affects everyone in some way. It can change people's mood, or just be something to talk about to someone you don't know anything about. Weather is and always will be an important and highly watched part of the news because of these reasons. Something such as sports does not affect everyone because following sports is a hobby while all humans are at some point affected by weather conditions.
I think snow has been a one of the biggest stories recently. Although there are more important stories right now (such as what is going on in Egypt) our area is very often affected by the weather during this time of year. People want to know what to expect and when so I think it is important for the news to focus on the weather to make people aware of the conditions.
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