Less Casey and idealists, more hard news = higher ratings
Chronicle metro/state editorialist and gossip columnist Rick Casey unsurprisingly misses the obvious in these observations about a recent poll on attitudes and Hurricane Rita:
Just over half (52 percent) declared media coverage of Rita to be "excellent." Another 30 percent called us "good."
Only 15 percent said we were "fair" or "poor," and a minuscule 2.6 percent expressed no opinion.
[snip]
It's one thing to praise politicians who take charge, but an 80 percent favorable rating toward the media is almost un-American these days.
Especially when you consider that Republicans, for many of whom "liberal media" is one word, made up the largest portion (34 percent) of those polled. 27 percent were Democrats, and 19 percent independents.
[snip]
Maybe the stellar ratings of the media can be explained by the fact that covering the advance of a swirling hurricane truly is, unlike the self-advertised television show, a no-spin zone.
Here's a simple (and obvious) explanation: The high ratings are likely a result of the fact that during Rita, most of the local media focused on reporting facts (even though some people contend some facts were hyped), and there was really little time for or attention devoted to such questionable journalistic fare as Rick Casey's gossip columns or ripping off the work of real reporters without proper attribution, or Chron Eyes for the Death Row Killer Guy, or Chronicle editorial nonsense.
Before Rick Casey is injured patting himself and his colleagues on the back, though, it's worth keeping in mind that the local media were hardly perfect in their hurricane coverage, as illustrated by Kristin Finan's impersonation of an evacuee at the George R. Brown following Katrina, a stupid stunt from the features STAR crew that reflected poorly and unfairly on Chronicle news reporters, who did a good job gathering hard news during both hurricanes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/09/05 06:39 PM | Print |
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