Got a haircut this afternoon to neaten up, long before I decided to make a rare (on purpose) visit to Bend craigslist (already have a nibble on my free still-working fax machine – then I remembered KTVZ.COM’s Mark It Place, ugh!) and of course HAD to go read rants and raves where one of the major Abusers of Anonymity (calls itself “the TRUTH TELLER”) said I “could possibly be the MOST UNATTRACTIVE MAN ALIVE!!!”
Owwwww. I’m sure whoever posted THAT is a stunner of gorgeousness;-)
Anyhoo, back to my haircut, a fine job by a young gal named Kelsey. Had a pleasant chat, learned she’s born and raised in Bend. Asked if she ever watches the news. Said no, “it’s too depressing.”
Well, that depressed ME. I mean, we don’t WANT to depress people. Or bore them. Or anything more than enlighten, engage and sometimes entertain, when it’s in the proper context. (Some say we want to “scare” them, but it’s more a matter of what surveys find – people want to know about things that threaten their or their families’ safety, for example.)
I’m sure many people out there feel that way about the news, to avoid it because it’s depressing, be it TV or other medium. I told her of the rash of tragedy of late, and she knew nothing of it, but said if it was someone she knew, she’d no doubt have found out another way, not needing the news to learn more about it.
True.
And of course, if someone gets, say, stuck in traffic behind a wreck, or hears sirens in their area, many of them will watch the news to learn what happened. (Some even call us, which is fine – we appreciate the tips. But you should know, anyone can call 911 non-emergency in Deschutes County, 693-6911, then hit 5. That’s often what we need to do, when we get a tip or hear things on scanners. We do try to not pester them too much.)
For a while, we offered a “good news story of the day.” But that seemed, well, artificial. I’ve said it many a time – it’s not news when 1,000 people cross the street safely – it is when one doesn’t.
Tonight, we had what I call bittersweet-good/bad news stories. Take Heaven Can Wait, for example, a very successful ninth annual fund-raiser for the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Project. Bummer topic, but upbeat story about 3,300 folks gathering for the 5K run/walk. I’m glad we led with it. It’s also a people story, not an issue story (or worse yet, a “government meeting” story, bleh.)
Too much “good news” sounds like fluff (or free ads, which of course everything we do is, in a way) only of vital interest to the program, organization, people (or their families) involved.
I LOVE dramatic good news stories – the rescue of a child, for example. But those don’t happen every day, of course.
So the Ugliest Man on Local TV (hey, I said I have a face for radio;-) is quite interested in your thoughts on whether you watch or skip the news because it’s too depressing – and what might get you to tune in.
By the way, The Associated Press tonight reported the results of a study that found young people suffering “news fatigue,” as they get bombarded with snippets of breaking news, repetitively. (http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=8409270).
It said “that participants yearned for quality and in-depth reporting but had difficulty immediately accessing such content because they were bombarded by facts and updates in headlines and snippets of news.”
As Linda Ellerbee said, “And so it goes…” 😉
Leave it to Barney 
“could possibly be the MOST UNATTRACTIVE MAN ALIVE!!!”
What a horrible thing to say! That comment just shows how “unattractive” that person is with trash coming out of his mouth.
“…quite interested in your thoughts on whether you watch or skip the news because it’s too depressing – and what might get you to tune in.”
The news may be depressing with all the troubled kids in the news lately. It’s hard to watch about some kid breaking the law then dying or commiting suicide or lying because he didn’t want to go to jail. This may seem a little heartless, but when I see news like that, I thank God that I have great kids on the right track. That makes the depressing news go away. It’s hard to be a parent, but harder when your kids have gotten off track. When there is depressing news about a hold up at an ATM then I think about how safe it is here compared to Los Angeles, then I’m happy. In my opinion, people let themselves get depressed by the news. But that’s just what I think.
I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that will get me to tune in to a news report. I’m no help with that question Barney. =(
Well, Kristina, sounds like you watch the news, guess I meant what might convice those who DON’T watch the news. But hey, only so much one can do in that regard.
Bad news does seem to come in ‘streaks,’ or as some say, in threes. It is hard to watch, but as you obviously know, important to watch -at least for some of us.
Thanks!