9 Feb 2014

And Then, Please Take A Break….

Surely I’m not alone, when watching any news on any TV channel, in feeling it’s time all those presenters and reporters were put back in their respective boxes and stopped trying to look all frontier-like, reporting the obvious, in the rain, head to wind standing in three feet of water?

It’s obvious they’ve been doing this reporting mainly on the hoof without their tablets or autocues. As time’s passed these folk have really started to struggle to find something new and dramatic to say about wind, rain and three feet of water and have had to resort to saying the same thing over and over in subtly differing ways. Sadly, it’s got to the stage that they’re starting to sound like English isn’t their first language.

This coupled with stunning ace reporting such as, “As the river gets higher the water’s getting closer to the top.” and  “If the river had been dredged the bottom would’ve been lower down and more water would’ve fit in it.”  I’m what? No I’m not; come on! You’ve all heard ‘em - and many other little beauties over the past many days!

And how about the people they find who are happy to be filmed in their wiped-out homes, knee-deep in filthy water answering banal questions such as, “Do you think they should’ve dredged the river or wot?”  and  “Looking at your home now, how does it make you feel then?” What do they expect the answer to be? ‘To us, it’s just one really big exciting adventure!’ or, ‘We planned on decorating this spring, so no big deal.’ or, ‘What’s a dredger then?’ What they do get of course is  a tearful outpouring to the effect they’re devastated and heart-broken. They all have my sympathy of course, but the private casualties get a tad more than the celeb seeking casualties.

I’d like to see these clowns questioning ‘real’ people who’ve possibly lost everything. Goofy question asked but no verbal answer forthcoming – just a huge right hook to the question askers jaw instantly putting their lights right out. From there the camera can zoom down on the intrepid Inept reporter and capture the moment they drown in their own ludicrous questions.

Quote;  Ambrose Bierce.

“Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.”

2 comments:

A K Haart said...

I agree. It would be better if they just reported the facts without intruding into people's lives.

Mac said...

And this very moment on the radio news, "If I step over there where it looks deep..." pause while lady reporter presumably steps over there, "...the water comes above my knees!"
I guess that's what passes for reporting the facts.
You get the feeling they’re slowly but surely blurring the line between what they present as news and what they present as light entertainment?