Epiphany – “a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience”. (Webster’s Dictionary)
I had an epiphany last week and it has to do with “Dish It to Downing”. I spend a lot of time trying to explain to people “why” we do what we do or why something looked the way it did on TV. Often, it appears like I am trying to defend our actions by attacking the comments of the viewer. I can assure you that never was my intent and if it came off that way, I owe you an apology. So, if you have ever written to make a comment and I offended you with my answer, I am sorry. You see, during that brief moment of revelation and enlightenment, I realized that most of the time, the viewer is absolutely right.
Take weather cut-ins for example: I recently defended the repeated program interruptions by our meteorologists. I still feel that getting the information out there is important, but it occurred to me that what angers people so much about the interruptions is their frequency and the way we do them. We get on and put the radar up on the screen and spend the next five minutes talking about an event that hasn’t happened yet as if it is a sure thing. Ask any storm chaser worth his stuff and they will tell you that there are no guarantees when it comes to tornadoes forming. In fact, they are so rare that we have a little joke: the best way to keep a tornado from touching down is scan it with a Doppler radar! Tornadoes are what they have always been - a freak occurance of nature.
Since the way we gather information has completely changed (thanks to technology); maybe the way we present the weather should change, too. In an effort to give the viewer as much advance warning as possible, we have inadvertently increased the length and number of program interruptions. It’s like the old days of TV when people use to sit and watch the test pattern for hours, only now they are sitting there looking at a radar screen, watching a storm that may not even be hitting the ground. We are forcing people to become weather zombies instead of informed viewers. I believe the TV viewer has a point -- Maybe we do need to sit down and try to come up with a better, less obtrusive way to alert the public about weather events that are developing, but haven’t happened yet. Maybe a beeper signal on the screen with an alert message that reads: “Developing Tornado: Doppler radar indicating a developing tornado six miles west of Hamlin. Take cover now.” The only way that is going to happen is for those of us in the TV business to start sitting down with those of you who use our services and try to see things from your perspective, instead of getting defensive about what you are saying. I think any intelligent person would be the first to say that sometimes we need to cut-in and stay on. But, not every time. We need to ask our viewers what they think is appropriate advance warning; then listen to what they have to say – not tell them “how” it’s going to be.
I don’t guess we’ll ever know until we try. Who knows, it might just be an epiphany.
Downing Bolls
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DON'T STAND UP FOR THE COMMENTS YOU MADE FOR THE BREAK-INS THE CITIZENS FROM ALL OVER THE BIG COUNTRY NEED TO KNOW IF A STORM IS COMING SO THEY CAN MOVE THEIR CARS IN OR TO A SAFE PLACE
ReplyDeleteI KNOW SOMEONE OUT THERE READING THIS COMMENT WILL SAY "WHY DONT THEY JUST GET AN ALL HAZARDS RADIO" BUT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION SOME PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY FOR ONE SO IF YOU CAN JUST LAY-OFF KRBC & KTAB FOR INTERUPTING TV SHOWS IF YOU DIDN'T LIVE INABILENE BROWNWOOD BREKENRIDGE SNYDER OR EVEN SWEETWATER SAY IF YOU LIVE IN RURAL THROCKMORTON COUNTY WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO BE INFORMED IF THERE WAS GRAPEFRUIT SIZED HAIL COMING AT YOU AND WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT BECAUSE SOMEONE LIKE YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT BREAKINS SO QUIT COMPLAINING AND DOWNING DON'T STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THAT BECAUSE SAVING SOMEONES CAR,LIFE,OR HOUSE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SOMEONE SEEING A TV SHOW
downing,u cant please someof the people any time,i enjoy yuor news cast,and for the life of me can not find any thing wrong with any hing or any person.randy turner is best weather man in area.would u know anything about kira minor at ktab,have not saw her at noon for a while.
ReplyDeletekira is gone she moved to florida
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you comments...
ReplyDeleteYou know, something happened last week that sot of put it all into perspective. I was reading an account of the tornado that hit Cisco back in 1893. It almost wiped the town of Cisco off the map and killed about six percent of that city's population. It hit at night. One family lost five children. the kids had been put to bed in an upstairs bedroom. When the tornado hit, the parents tried to get to the children, but the building collapsed around them. They survived -- the five kids did not. Then I read about a tornado that struck Zephyr in Brown County back in the early 1900s. It too was a killer. I couldn't help but think about the toll of those storms and how they caught people by surprize. They were left scrambling for their lives and many lost their lives. Compare that to today when we can give people 15 to 20 minutes of lead time before they get hit by a tornado. What does that say about us when we have the technology to save lives, but complain about it when its being used. My wife said it really well, "When viewers see a break-in interrutig their favorite show, they should stop thinking about themselves for a moment and remember that someone out there is perhaps in danger of losing their life. Instead of calling, maybe they should thank God it is not them."
Downing