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The reporter who's sick of snow
By adamg on Mon, 02/02/2015 - 7:16pm
Grizzled WCVB reporter Jack Harper has been covering snowstorms since probably before some of his younger colleagues - the ones who don ski goggles and shoot snowball crossbows and pretend to shovel snow - were even born.
And Harper is nearing his breaking point. At one point last week, after his roughly 87th hour reporting live from in front of the same snow plow going back and forth behind him on the same street in Milford, Harper asked if he could come in now. Told no, he answered something like "Sure, why the hell not?" and yelled something about staying outside for another 7 or 8 inches of the stuff.
Tonight, he summed up his experience doing the same exact sort of report over and over from some similarly godforsaken place, live, on air: "You know, I have a colonoscopy later in the week, and I'm actually looking forward to it, this could be the highlight of my week the way it's going on."
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Comments
not sure why the news
not sure why the news stations think we need continuous coverage of the storm, regurgitating the same information again and again. WCVB even preempted the ABC news, for what (though it did air at 7pm)?
this is the age of the internet Boston media! if we need more information, we're happy to watch the noon, 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, and 11 newcasts
Nor why
Nor why they think we need to see miserably frozen reporters outdoors in the weather. Just show pictures from strategically placed cameras and let the reporters stay nice and warm - no need for them to get pneumonia.
Shelby Scott
All this nonsense started with Shelby Scott back in the day. People took some kind of pleasure seeing that poor women battered by storms and it became a thing and grew from there until it got to today's intolerable levels. No wonder people have abandoned TV news in droves and now get their news online.
The irony is that most of the
The irony is that most of the information an on-scene reporter gives on air is given to them through an earpiece from people in the studio. They could be warm in front of a green screen, really.
I agree, but
Completely agree, but I suspect that everyone who'd normally have a dumb sitcom, or Headline News, or something else 'mindless' on their television, puts on these weather-blabbers during a storm, figuring at least you'll know when it's about to end, or catch any drama (sea-wall collapsing).
I'm often guilty of watching for some period of time until I realize how dumb it is, then I dig into my music collection for stuff I haven't played in a long time. But it takes me some time to get to that point. Silly me....
SR
PS- Always heard Weather Channel makes their money during storms, so it follows that local news does well, too.
Figuring wrong
Hah. Yesterday, I watched one of the weathermouths tell me that the snow was all finished in my area. Then I watched heavy snow falling for another two hours.
All my long working life, I wished I had that kind of job -- work two hours a day regurgitating stuff the government provides for free, get big bucks, wardrobe donated by some clothing store, and get away with being wrong a huge amount of the time.
well
first off, all their programming wasn't pre-empted, it was just on their digital sub. (i.e. 5.2)
but I agree.. the hour after hour of storm coverage is a bit much. However, the point being is to be able to catch everyone, no matter when they flip the tv on, the news is on. I usually will turn it on and keep it on mute (with CC on) for a few hours and flip channels when I get sick of one station.
But then again, if they didnt show storm coverage.. what they show during the day isn't much better. I mean, come on.. The View? General Hospital? The Chew? Jerry Springer? Divorce Court? Dr Phil?
If it was any normal day and I was at home (i.e. sick) I would be streaming and not watching OTA TV.. Sad to say that about the only time I use my antenna anymore is to watch local news during a storm. The rest is streaming. (We dumped crapcast cable tv a while back)
There are elderly people most
There are elderly people most of them in hospital beds and nursing homes, they are watching local coverage of the weather, these people are not internet savvy, therefore their only source is the tv news, these old people in hospital beds and nursing homes still own property, they call home to their relatives and they know exactly what needs to be plowed or shoveled, and what amount they should be paying the shoveling contractor. So this is a prime example why they have Jack Harper out there.
As a semi-old person, I can
As a semi-old person, I can tell you that back in the old days before chap technology allowed wall-to-wall live coverage, newscasters - both on TV and Radio - were perfectly able to convey the progress of a storm without the sillyness of having adults standing by the roadside for hours at a time.
I can guarantee that the old people in the nursing home, don't need to have Jack Harper standing curbside in Worcester to better manager their snow removal needs.
I don't see
why having reporters standing out in whipping winds and snowbanks helps make the storm any better. I believe the weather people. How about changing up the local news and reporting on some real issues, like schools, racism, and why our house speaker just removed term limits for himself.
Couldn't resist.
"Jack Harper, Tech 49."
Harper's Harping
I have to say, Jack Harper's reporting was the brightest part of tonight's news. Thanks Jack for the chuckle!
the reporter who's sick of snow
Shades of then channel 7 anchor Jack Cole and his famous - I paraphrase - " We'll be back with more alleged news after this...", following a puff piece on chimney sweeps. Late 70s, perhaps ? Any older media watchers out there ?
Jack Harper/Herb Welch
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/herb-welch-falling-ice/n12936
Here is the Video (Or Vine I should say)
https://vine.co/v/OFzUbU73Vrv
Harper
These "live shots" are totally insane. It's really bizarre to put a reporter out somewhere in a storm when there are warnings to stay away.This is a very poor use of on-air talent and a clear indication that the news director is nuts.
Only 2 months shy of anniversary of ch. 7's Blue Hill volcano!
One can only imagine the boredom, frustration and confusion for the local news presenters, one minute being ordered to report on
Global Warming"Climate Change" and the next minute being told to report on record breaking, sub-zero wind chills and that this is the most snow that Boston has ever received in a one week period. You try to cover it with a straight face.Looking back, who can blame the 7 News crowd for faking a volcano in Milton 35 years ago when things were similar, except instead of "warming," Time Magazine in that era (June 24, 1974) was fretting over "Another Ice Age." Today, most local "reporters" just read the tel-e-prompter, at least Jack Harper, in the twilight of a great career, has the integrity to let us know that it's still all a farce. Thanks Jack!
Uh...
I'm confused as to how you can dismiss climate change in the same sentence as mentioning record-breaking wind chills and snow totals. Seems like you're proving it exists.
Stunningly ignorant
I find it hard to believe that anyone is still spouting this "it's snowing, so global warming is fake" nonsense. Because you haven't noticed, I will point out that the climate scientists have been predicting more extreme weather for years. Sometimes, that's going to mean bigger snowstorms and colder winters in NE. Those weather events do not mean that the earth is not warming up.
I find it hard to believe
Because you don't have cable or internet in the cave you've apparently been living in? Right-wing morons will still be spouting that shit even as the ocean waters engulf Miami, New York and Boston.
You have to admit, though, Fish's argument is a useful
one for spotting people who clearly flunked eighth-grade science and just gave up on learning at that point. It's like a big, blinking neon sign attached to their head that says, "Gullible, undereducated putz."
Unfortunately, those gullible
Unfortunately, those gullible, undereducated putzes also get elected to Congress (or worse), and affect all of our lives. The GOP has already put two anti-science deniers on the Senate's science committee. And since the GOP has firmly staked out their position as the "anti-science" party, watch for the anti-vaccination movement to be the next area where teabaggers and other assorted morons claim their "FREEDOM FROM THE NANNY STATE!!!1!1!1111eleven". Rand Paul has gotten the ball rolling, and I have no doubt that this will be one of the major issues of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Chris Christie is on the anti-vax idiot bandwagon,
too. I suppose if the country has become this stupid, we deserve to die drowning in glacier-melt and from easily-preventable diseases.
Mr. Ebola Creosote?
Yeah, totally fucking stupid about Ebola, why not measles, too?
Oh, I get it - disease isn't about science, it is about command and control and bullying!
The services in my cave ...
generally filter out the sorts of sources where the anti-science crowd hang out. I thought most of the truly thick chose to live in places with chiggers and poisonous snakes, so was surprised to find someone ignorant of the difference between climate and weather here.
Global Warming explanations much like Bingo "coverall"
Those "weather events" may not mean it, but the two decade pause in "warming" might. Feel free to pick one of the 52 "explanations" for the hiatus.
Back before the CT casinos, when Bingo was popular, I would often work the police detail at the churches, temples and social clubs that held the games. Global Warming hadn't arrived yet and the winters could be cold and snowy, so it was nice to work inside. Aside from the occasional CPR on an elderly bingo player, it was boring. One game did catch my attention. The Coverall: A pattern that requires the whole card to be covered in order to win. Very similar to
Global WarmingClimate Change. When it's cold it's warming, when it's hot it's warming, when it's snowy it's warming, when it's dry it's warming. Bingo!Facts are stubborn things
Yeah, funny how the overwhelming scientific consensus remains the same, regardless of the weather on any given day. But you obviously know much more about climate science than those stupid pinheads, right?
You fail again at basic chart-reading again, Fish
The so-called pause isn't a decline, but a slowdown in the rate of increase; the net is still increasing average global temperature, hence 2014 still being the warmest year on record.
But I always say, arguing with climate-change deniers is like trying to play Yahtzee with a dog. The concepts aren't difficult, but some creatures don't have the basic wherewithal, like the ability to count to six. In the case of climate change, the equivalent of being smart enough to count to six is the ability to distinguish between weather and climate.
I've known lots of dogs smarter....
... than your run-of-the-mill science deniers.
This "denier" will stick with the founder of Greenpeace
Well said, Dr. Moore. At least somebody has integrity.
I don't think there's any need for quotes around
denier, in your case, Fish. Also, there are a thousand opinions on climate change from people who are very successful in their respective fields, but whose fields are not the scientific study of climate: right-wing pundits, astronauts, weathermen, US senators, ecologists, on and on and on.
Too bad none of them are qualified to make meaningful comments on the subject. It's like getting surgical advice from an auto mechanic because, hey, you know, sometimes a mechanic replaces parts, too.
To paraphrase Moynihan, you are welcome to your own opinions, but not your own science.
Thanks MC Slim JB. Pass the suncreen and rock salt!
n/t
Oh, well, if he's got a PhD
Oh, well, if he's got a PhD in "Ecology", I guess that settles it.
Moore is not even any good at climate change denial,
gutting any claim to credibility as a scientist by saying harebrained things like "there is no scientific proof that mankind is the cause of global warming", as though the goal of science is "proving" things.
Check his asshole, not his name tag
You'll find 6 of the world's worst polluters with their hands up there pulling on his mouth strings to make him say what they want.
Moore sold out his education and stances as soon as he realized someone would pay him a lot to say anything they wanted.
His "facts" backing his statements have been thoroughly debunked. However, none of that matters to you, so I don't know why you even need to invoke him as an expert since you don't care what experts have to say on the matter.
Oh, you're such a kidder
The Daily Caller? Howie Carr? Really?
If multisyllabic words trouble you, there's always National Geographic to explain it.
"I get my science lessons from Tucker Carlson, who
might just be the smarmiest weasel in the world of professional right-wing liars. Or is it biggest douchebag? I forget: one of those honors. Anyway, he wears a very professorial bowtie sometimes, so who are you going to believe? Him, or a bunch of eggheads who have studied climate science their whole lives and published an Antarctica-sized body of peer-reviewed research? QED."
Simply put...
He's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore!
The Network explanation
He just ran out of bullshit.
Guess what, I know how to
Guess what, I know how to read the colors on the radar map, snow report totals from NWS, and the Google traffic map. Haven't had cable in a long time and I don't miss the silly weather reports.