My mother served in a large newspaper newsroom for a quarter-century and was an award winning religion writer as well as having to do much other news writing. It was she who once pointed out to me that, at least at the local level, ignorance explains as much incomplete or bad reporting as anything. I’ve found her suggestion to be true at all levels, especially in local markets and dealing with politics.
While there are a few newsmedia folk who work to make themselves knowledgeable on local issues, most are simply dispatched by their bosses to cover one story after another with little to no background information. For example, most TV reporters come through a market on a short contract and are often from another state and culture. They may look great on camera but most often have zero knowledge of local issues and people. Stations usually try to counter this by having a news director behind the scenes who does have local knowledge.
What I’m building up to is a sad but equally hilarious story out of Lubbock related to the primary election runoffs. It seems that the two Nextar stations, KAMC and KLBK, had in their election results graphics a photo not of Senator Dan Patrick versus David Dewhurst but of the well known sports talk show host of the same name.
One local email circulating read: ” It makes you wonder … how many people thought Dan Patrick of Texas was Dan Patrick of ESPN and NBC fame? Two TV stations in Lubbock got it wrong?!?”
My guess is that almost none of those voting got it confused. The fact that TV folk got it wrong makes a statement in and of itself which really needs no further comment.
2 Lubbock TV stations have the wrong Dan Patrick winning the GOP runoff
Robert Pratt
My mother served in a large newspaper newsroom for a quarter-century and was an award winning religion writer as well as having to do much other news writing. It was she who once pointed out to me that, at least at the local level, ignorance explains as much incomplete or bad reporting as anything. I’ve found her suggestion to be true at all levels, especially in local markets and dealing with politics.
While there are a few newsmedia folk who work to make themselves knowledgeable on local issues, most are simply dispatched by their bosses to cover one story after another with little to no background information. For example, most TV reporters come through a market on a short contract and are often from another state and culture. They may look great on camera but most often have zero knowledge of local issues and people. Stations usually try to counter this by having a news director behind the scenes who does have local knowledge.
What I’m building up to is a sad but equally hilarious story out of Lubbock related to the primary election runoffs. It seems that the two Nextar stations, KAMC and KLBK, had in their election results graphics a photo not of Senator Dan Patrick versus David Dewhurst but of the well known sports talk show host of the same name.
See the graphics here. Hear Senator Dan Patrick on the other Dan Patrick’s show! Apparently a Houston TV station, Patrick’s home market, got it wrong too!
One local email circulating read: ” It makes you wonder … how many people thought Dan Patrick of Texas was Dan Patrick of ESPN and NBC fame? Two TV stations in Lubbock got it wrong?!?”
My guess is that almost none of those voting got it confused. The fact that TV folk got it wrong makes a statement in and of itself which really needs no further comment.