Take A Fresh Look At TV News

I swore off the “news leader” a while back. When I swear off something, it’s gone. The station was completely banned from my house. I just couldn’t take their arrogance and (in my opinion) lip service towards the community.Well, after enjoying the other news programs for a month, what was it like to check back in for a day?  I found one giant difference and it’s both amazing and disturbing.

So despite my household ‘ban’ on a TV station, the television got let on that channel the other night. I thought, what the hell, I have a computer in my lap, it’s not going to hurt to leave it on.  After watching for a brief spell, the difference between that station and the two I’ve been watching is amazing. It’s pretty simple, the stations I watch are zippy, quick paced and it’s obvious that the folks behind them are busting their rears to put on a big market product.

On the other hand, I found the other station to be slow and apparently targeted to people with less than a high school education. And it’s not just slow, but slow as a turtle in a tar pit slow. 

It’s not unlike the early days of radio, when some morning hosts, mostly on AM talk stations would literally open the paper and just read the paper to their listeners. It was excruciating, but apparently some of the other old folks loved it.  It is just so obvious that the hosts on that channel lost interest many moons ago, and it’s not just them. They’ve infected even the younger reporters with this blasé attitude.

So I guess some people will see this as a ‘hack’ job on one TV station, but it isn’t really.  What it is really is a note to let you know that there are some people out there who really are working hard to put a major market news program on for you and they both deserve a look.

It’s hard to recommend just one; both Bryan Mudd on 28 and Evan Onstot on 13 are pros.  I love the sports guy on 13.  Ron Roberts is a Lubbock institution and Nikki-Dee is a far better meteorologist than she will ever get credit for because she’s just so darn cute.

Try a little challenge for yourself.  Get out of your comfort zone and give yourself credit for having the ability to keep up with a fast paced news program.  Then, go back to the other guys for a night and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.