Minor things that bother you

[CoreySamson]

And yet, real news organizations have no replacement.  Social media has no professional standards; they don't care if a story is true or false, the only important thing is that it generate clicks.

I would argue that news organizations in general (on both sides of the political spectrum) have taken a page out of social media's playbook by playing with the emotions of their target audiences to generate bigger ratings. They look like they have objective standards because of their legacy, but in reality, I would say it's all biased now. That's part of why I don't even care about the news anymore.

[roadman65]

Auto correct changed map to pamphlet in FB Messenger. Just now I messaged someone and had to renter the word map.

[zachary_amaryllis]

News sites, especially newspapers, and especially local newspapers, were very slow to adapt to the internet. They seemed to have a belief that the less they provided online, the more likely people would continue to buy newspapers.

They didn't think that online news sites would develop.  And they were grossly behind on how social media would transform news distribution.

They also seemed to drop one of the main reasons of their existence - to gather news of the government, and tell us what was really happening.  Newspaper writers instead jumped in bed with the government, and allowed them to tell the story. 

The public started seeing thru that, and figured, why buy the paper?  Then when people stopped buying the paper, the paper didn't have the money to write their stories, and the papers shrunk. And merged.  And folded. 

Newspapers thought they could fight against the internet.  They were KO'ed, and the ref stands back as the internet continues to punch the newspapers while they lay flattened on the mat.

There was a period, and still sort of is, where newspapers, and TV stations would give part of a story, and "for the rest of the story, visit blablabla.com"

[Scott5114]

Did you guys' local news do the thing where, before every commercial break they'd tease some story (usually of the type we'd call "clickbait" today) coming up after the break, then when they came back, make no acknowledgement of the story until the next commercial break, when they'd repeat the same song and dance all over again? Then the story would finally be discussed right before sports anchor came on, and it'd be a thirty-second story that ended up being a total letdown after all the hype of the preceding thirty minutes.

KFOR was the worst about this. When I was a kid I would get legitimately angry at Linda Cavanaugh over it.

[vdeane]

News sites, especially newspapers, and especially local newspapers, were very slow to adapt to the internet. They seemed to have a belief that the less they provided online, the more likely people would continue to buy newspapers.

They didn't think that online news sites would develop.  And they were grossly behind on how social media would transform news distribution.

They also seemed to drop one of the main reasons of their existence - to gather news of the government, and tell us what was really happening.  Newspaper writers instead jumped in bed with the government, and allowed them to tell the story. 

The public started seeing thru that, and figured, why buy the paper?  Then when people stopped buying the paper, the paper didn't have the money to write their stories, and the papers shrunk. And merged.  And folded. 

Newspapers thought they could fight against the internet.  They were KO'ed, and the ref stands back as the internet continues to punch the newspapers while they lay flattened on the mat.

There was a period, and still sort of is, where newspapers, and TV stations would give part of a story, and "for the rest of the story, visit blablabla.com"

News10 does this sometimes, particularly with their "Off the Beaten Path" features.  It veers into "minor things that bother you" territory (independent of being in this reply) because they tend not to post whatever they're referencing on the site until after the story airs, so for me, sitting at my computer, I can't just go to the site and get whatever they're referencing, because it's not there yet.

[SSOWorld]

You speak of clickbait and sequel hooks, the Madison CBS affiliate would do it like they're still at the top (or bottom of the hour)

at [5|6|10]:15 (or thereabouts) they would say "Next at [5|6|10], ...." (you passed the hour point already, asshats!)

Breaking news!!!!!, the show name is "News 3 now at [5|6|10]" by the way, so they're plugging themselves.

[roadman65]

Did you guys' local news do the thing where, before every commercial break they'd tease some story (usually of the type we'd call "clickbait" today) coming up after the break, then when they came back, make no acknowledgement of the story until the next commercial break, when they'd repeat the same song and dance all over again? Then the story would finally be discussed right before sports anchor came on, and it'd be a thirty-second story that ended up being a total letdown after all the hype of the preceding thirty minutes.

KFOR was the worst about this. When I was a kid I would get legitimately angry at Linda Cavanaugh over it.

I learned in broadcasting school the reasoning behind teasing the audience. We all seem to forget the Neilson ratings.  TV and Radio to stay alive need capital. That comes from the commercials.  Then in order to obtain sponsors for commercials to air, those investing in advertising on the air, have to rely on strong Neilson ratings to be able to shell out money to advertise. After all no audience, then spending tens of thousands on ads would not happen as companies need an audience to pitch to.

Teasers are an indirect way to raise Neilson ratings to create the advertising audience.

[ZLoth]

Live! Local!! Lamebreaking!!!

From my perspective and in my opinion, television news went downhill when it went from a "public service" to "another revenue source". That's when the decisions are made in the placement of the story, the amount of time dedicated to the story, and how much is promoted. Then, pump up an exponential in the months of November, February, and May with all of the "clickbait"-type promotions. The point of view used is to target the key demographics, and a story of a gang bust may be placed higher than a story that isn't visually exciting to present but could be important in your upcoming quality of life.

Same with newspapers. How many column inches are dedicated to the story, how big is the headline, and it is at the top of page 1, or buried on page 20?

Full disclosure: I stopped listening to broadcast news (both radio and television) over twenty years ago, and rely on web news. I stopped getting the newspaper years ago, and even then, it was only the Friday edition for the Fry's Electronics ads. And, my opinion extends to not only to the local news, but also the network national news and the cable broadcast networks. Yes, I rely on the online news and often get it from multiple sources.

[Scott5114]

I learned in broadcasting school the reasoning behind teasing the audience. We all seem to forget the Neilson ratings. 

It's not that I forgot the Nielsen ratings. It's that I don't care about them. I gain no benefit at all from the TV station having higher ratings. It's not like the advertisers are paying me for my time.

Live! Local!! Lamebreaking!!!

My mom used to make fun of KOCO 5 (which used that slogan at the time) by going "Live! Local! Backbreaking!" and then pretending to be in severe back pain.

[Bruce]

It's sad that we don't have a properly powerful public broadcaster for this country. Just taking a bit of inspiration from CBC up north and having a regional network of PBSes that can also air their own local news would be great at making local news a public service. NPR is also a model to copy, but many stations have been cutting back on local content to use syndicated programs.

[kkt]

Calling a business during their business hours, and getting no answer but a recording that announces what their business hours are.

[Scott5114]

Calling a business during their business hours, and getting no answer but a recording that announces what their business hours are.

Most of the time the staff is busy dealing with actual customers that are actually there spending money, as opposed to lookey-loos on the phone who may or may not actually do so at some point.

[roadman65]

Back to what I said, news is a business. They look for sponsors or an audience to fuel the sponsors. That's most likely why Fox News decided to use conservative perspectives and personalities, due to the phallecy ( thank you auto correct for not giving me the correct spelling as I'm sure your programmer would know what letter arrangement I was looking for in my spelling attempt) and beliefs of many who think that CNN is biased toward the Left.  Now with it said I'm not saying that what many believe is true or not true, but the owner of Fox decided to use the many believers or disbelievers as a new audience and make his business prosper.

Now I'm not a Fox watcher or a CNN watcher at all, but just stating how people look for customers based on the p word that spell check won't check. That I learned in college of when people join the bandwagon whether right or wrong is what the p word means.

[1995hoo]

The word you want is "fallacy." Your spelling is more related to the male "member." That's why autocorrect and spellcheck aren't helping you.

[hotdogPi]

I read it first as "thank you auto correct for not giving me the correct spelling because I'm intentionally making a portmanteau". Then I realized it wasn't intentional.

[roadman65]

The word you want is "fallacy." Your spelling is more related to the male "member." That's why autocorrect and spellcheck aren't helping you.

Thank you. I guess I'll give to the algorithm the benefit of the doubt.

I read it first as "thank you auto correct for not giving me the correct spelling because I'm intentionally making a portmanteau". Then I realized it wasn't intentional.

I was being sarcastic.

[Scott5114]

I mean, a common result of people falling for fallacies is that they end up turning into huge dicks, so maybe 'phallacy' is a more accurate spelling...

[roadman65]

I mean, a common result of people falling for fallacies is that they end up turning into huge dicks, so maybe 'phallacy' is a more accurate spelling...

I know.  However, these people falling for things makes an audience for people trying new things though. Not saying I’m liberal and the many believing in the Left control the media are far out, but in general if you want an audience for a business, you find a demo and you cater to them, in what Fox probably did here.

[1995hoo]

I mean, a common result of people falling for fallacies is that they end up turning into huge dicks, so maybe 'phallacy' is a more accurate spelling...

Then there was Verden Allen, the guy who played the organ for Mott the Hoople. His nickname was Phally.

[kkt]

Calling a business during their business hours, and getting no answer but a recording that announces what their business hours are.

Most of the time the staff is busy dealing with actual customers that are actually there spending money, as opposed to lookey-loos on the phone who may or may not actually do so at some point.

Their loss.  I was ready to buy what they sell, and I didn't come in because they're in a distant state.

They do have a webform for contacting them but contacting them Friday has produced no response.

They might have take a message and called me back.

[roadman65]

The word "ill"  is still being changed to the contraction for I will.  I guess autocorrect think that we are all healthy.

[hbelkins]

It's sad that we don't have a properly powerful public broadcaster for this country. Just taking a bit of inspiration from CBC up north and having a regional network of PBSes that can also air their own local news would be great at making local news a public service. NPR is also a model to copy, but many stations have been cutting back on local content to use syndicated programs.

Around here, public radio stations are generally hosted by the regional state universities. They have a loose network of affiliates. If I give an interview to Morehead State's NPR affiliate, it's also liable to be heard on Eastern Kentucky University's station.

[bm7]

In the Central States board, "Iowa Notes" is the only pinned topic with "notes" after the state name.

[Big John]

Mirror images of photos. Mainly when I see a photo of someone wearing a shirt with some writing or other graphic on it and it is backwards.

[roadman65]

Webcams do that. A person with a left arm sleeve tattoo will appear to have that very tattoo on their right arm. ^^^^