Saturday, December 07, 2013
Kudos to KREM
Broadcasters have to follow the format, have to turn everything into a big scary horribleness, and they also have to read "warnings" when the Weather Bureau gives "warnings", even though the "warning" is silly.
We've got one of those silly "warnings" today, a Wind Chill Warning. In other words, it's winter.
Fortunately, KREM went beyond the format. They provided the requisite scary horribleness in the headline, then went on to show the real story.
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Scary horribleness headline: "Frostbite could set in quickly during Spokane’s sub-zero temperatures!" Oh no! Look at what happened to the pig's ear! It got all crispy and blue, just like you will!
Actual story: Yeah, it's cold. We're still out walking around, doing our chores, enjoying life.
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Scary horribleness headline: "Dropping Temperatures push power usage up!" Oh no! We're out of electricity! We'll all die!
Actual story: Power usage is up about 13% from average December, but not putting any strain on Avista. We've seen worse. Nicely shows the benefits of good insulation and sensible use of heat. Put on an extra blanket.
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Kudos to KREM for doing the required "I love lamp" stuff, then devoting most of the story to the sheer normalcy of the situation.
People are different. People are adaptable. People can find ways to enjoy life if they haven't been trained to fear life. That's the truly exciting story every time, even if it doesn't love lamp.
¶ 3:05 AM 
