I've been watching some of the coverage of Frances on the Weather
Channel and I have to ask are these guys for real?

First they tell me that the Bahamas have lost power and now their on
the scene reporter is having to call in via satellite phone. Next
they cut to FULL VIDEO and SOUND of HER holding a sat-phone up to her
head while talking into her standard microphone. Geesch! What is
wrong with this picture?

It's fairly obvious that they have a full satellite link that either
has power or a generator. Why the fraud?

Stunts like this really make me wonder about the credibility of the
Weather Channel

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 11:17:59 -0400, "
wrote:

I've been watching some of the coverage of Frances on the Weather
Channel and I have to ask are these guys for real?

First they tell me that the Bahamas have lost power and now their on
the scene reporter is having to call in via satellite phone. Next
they cut to FULL VIDEO and SOUND of HER holding a sat-phone up to her
head while talking into her standard microphone. Geesch! What is
wrong with this picture?

It's fairly obvious that they have a full satellite link that either
has power or a generator. Why the fraud?


They run their own generator.



Stunts like this really make me wonder about the credibility of the
Weather Channel


Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.

Oh they had power, my issue is that the Anchors said she was
"reporting via sat-phone" and then I see full motion video and sound
of her talking on the phone. Obviously the report was coming via an
uplink from the truck rather than the phone in her hand.





On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 14:59:50 -0400, The Artist Formerly Known As Your
Highness BurnTheAstroCharts wrote:

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 11:17:59 -0400, "
wrote:

I've been watching some of the coverage of Frances on the Weather
Channel and I have to ask are these guys for real?

First they tell me that the Bahamas have lost power and now their on
the scene reporter is having to call in via satellite phone. Next
they cut to FULL VIDEO and SOUND of HER holding a sat-phone up to her
head while talking into her standard microphone. Geesch! What is
wrong with this picture?

It's fairly obvious that they have a full satellite link that either
has power or a generator. Why the fraud?


They run their own generator.



Stunts like this really make me wonder about the credibility of the
Weather Channel


Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 14:59:50 -0400, The Artist Formerly Known As Your
Highness BurnTheAstroCharts wrote:

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 11:17:59 -0400, "
wrote:


Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.

Err, just curious... Where do you get your news from since all the
outlets I can think of accet paid avertising (cnn, abc, nbc, papers,
radio, etc...)

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 16:24:32 -0400, "
wrote:

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 14:59:50 -0400, The Artist Formerly Known As Your
Highness BurnTheAstroCharts wrote:

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 11:17:59 -0400, "
wrote:


Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.

Err, just curious... Where do you get your news from since all the
outlets I can think of accet paid avertising (cnn, abc, nbc, papers,
radio, etc...)


From the OT threads on Usenet's rec.gambling.poker. Isn't that where
everyone gets their news?

In my mind (what's left of it) there is no such thing as news anymore.
It's all filtered, pre-packaged infotainment. NPR, McNeil-Lehrer, and
CSPAN probably come closest to reporting non-commercialized news. As
I inexorably matriculate to geezer status, "news" becomes less and
less relevant to my life.

At least with weather, I can get the analyzed data, if not the raw
data, from the internet without commercial interruption (or even
banner advertising!). For instance, with Hurricane Frances, I'm very
proud of myself that I've resisted any temptation to flip the switch
over to TWC. They'd simply bombard me with Billy Mays/Miss Cleo every
30 seconds, not to mention hype the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th coming of
Armageddon. Fortunately, there are lots of great internet weather
sites out there.

As an aside, ESPN is sorta following TWC's path with all of its
pre-scripted, slickly-packaged puffery of ubiquitous
self-aggrandizement. I can put up with it though since sports is more
or less the male oriented version of a soap opera ("gee, did you see
Pedro's WWF takedown of Don Zimmer the other day, blah blah blah...").
YMMV.

Considering how often they stand *right in front of* the tropical system
they're talking about, I'd call it "cock-tease theater".

--
Reply to sans two @@, or your reply won't reach me.

Twin City Strategy Gamer: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TC_Strategy/

Drug smugglers and gun-runners are heroes of American capitalism.
-- Jeffrey Quick

The Artist Formerly Known As Your Highness BurnTheAstroCharts wrote:

Stunts like this really make me wonder about the credibility of the
Weather Channel

Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.


Really?

I had no idea that advertizing could influence the weather.

(AFAIC, TWC lost its credibility when it started hiring what I will
bluntly call "affirmative-action idiots" instead of ugly old geezers who
knew what the hell they were talking about.)

--
Reply to sans two @@, or your reply won't reach me.

Twin City Strategy Gamer: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TC_Strategy/

Drug smugglers and gun-runners are heroes of American capitalism.
-- Jeffrey Quick

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 20:24:43 -0500, Mike1
wrote:

The Artist Formerly Known As Your Highness BurnTheAstroCharts wrote:

Stunts like this really make me wonder about the credibility of the
Weather Channel

Their credibility was shot when they started accepting paid
advertisements circa 1985.


Really?

I had no idea that advertizing could influence the weather.

Advertising doesn't influence the weather; it influences the reporting
of it, often to the detriment of the viewing audience as we both have
observed. Without that cash, there'd be no gratuitous P. Allen Smith
puke-inducing play-with-your-garden pieces. With the plethora of
pregnancies at TWC, I wouldn't be surprised if Viagra/Lavitra/Cialis
et al were bankrolling the behind-the-scenes operations.


(AFAIC, TWC lost its credibility when it started hiring what I will
bluntly call "affirmative-action idiots" instead of ugly old geezers who
knew what the hell they were talking about.)