Journalism

Armchair Weathermen

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Last Updated on August 26, 2017

It’s a gorgeous Monday in Charleston. There are few clouds in the sky, and the sunshine is bright as it peers around the edges of a window shade, lighting my table at a local soup restaurant that has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat.

Today’s pleasant weather is quite a departure from Saturday night’s, during which at least 18 tornadoes ravaged the Palmetto state. I note that the 18 figure is only the number that the National Weather Service has been able to confirm so far; it could go up.

Every time there is severe weather, local television stations’ weather teams go on alert. When there is the threat of severe weather, they will often interrupt programming to let viewers know. That’s part of their responsibility to keep the public aware of emergency situations.&nbsp  It is both a legal and moral requirement.

But don’t tell that to the army of armchair weathermen who call television stations while severe weather is in the area to bitch about missing their favorite television program.

Yes, those of us who work in television do get it: if you’ve made the time to actually tune in and watch our station, you want to see what you want to see, not some special report about bad weather. You want us to tell you about the bad weather quickly, during a commercial break, (because you don’t give a hoot about whether the station loses money on the deal), and not during any part of your show.

Don’t get me wrong:&nbsp  no television station, and no one who works for one, wants to alienate viewers.&nbsp  We appreciate people who do want to watch a show on our channel.&nbsp  We’re grateful for their time and attention.&nbsp  But there comes a point at which viewers need to understand that some things are indeed more important than what TV Guide says is supposed to be on the air.

“The storms aren’t even here, yet,” some of you might have said when you called local stations on Saturday night to complain.&nbsp  Any of the local stations which, at various points over the course of the evening, went “wall-to-wall” with continuous live coverage of the storm.

“But they’re on the way,” might have been a response from the beleaguered newsroom employee who tried to offer something in the way of an explanation.&nbsp  After all, we knew that that was true, because the same line of storms had caused major damage across the southeast and across South Carolina.

For some reason, that explanation never seems to satisfy the complaints.

Viewers who get that response then try to tell us where the storm is headed, despite what high-dollar weather equipment (and the National Weather Service) happens to say.&nbsp  But when our area is under a tornado warning…

Wait a second…there’s an important distinction to be made here:

A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for the formation of a tornado. It’s the classic, “Be ready because it could happen” scenario. Anything could happen, of course, but when it’s a tornado that could happen, that’s enough to get at least some reasonably-minded people to think about what they’d do if the could becomes a does.

A tornado warning, on the other hand, eliminates the possibility and room for doubt: a tornado warning means that an actual tornado — the real thing, not some nasty looking clouds that might be a problem, but a bona fide tornado — has been spotted. It’s on the ground. It’s likely doing damage, because, well, that’s what tornadoes do. Not that they’re bad people, you understand; they don’t really get that they’re hurting anyone because in that mass of 100-or-so-mile-per-hour winds that uproot trees, sling cars and boats around and destroy homes, there’s no brain operating that might steer the monster clear of populated areas.

So back to my earlier sentence:

When our area is under a tornado warning, we are going to interrupt programming to let viewers know that. If we don’t, there’s a major problem. If we don’t, in fact, just as many of you will then bitch about us being “asleep at the switch” and not warning you about the potential danger. And at least then, you have a valid reason to complain.

I wonder about all of the people who were so rude on Saturday to employees of the various local stations who felt put upon by having their evening’s television plans interrupted.&nbsp  I wonder what they’d say about the “threat” not being “serious enough,” or that all of the local meteorologists were “exaggerating” how serious conditions were to people who actually lost their home.

Especially after looking at damage from around the state and right here in the Lowcountry. There were 10 tornadoes (again, that is the number confirmed so far) that hit here.&nbsp  Not somewhere else.&nbsp  Not in some other station’s coverage area.

Right here.

I wonder what these armchair weathermen who are so quick to spew hatred into the telephone of any hapless television newsroom employ unlucky enough to have to answer their call think has to happen before a local weather team actually has a reason to interrupt their favorite show.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.

2 Comments

  • I think the alert and the broadcast from the NWS is enough, add a the crawl if you must but 3 hours of non stop coverage (read babble) is insane.

    Channel 2 ran out of storms in Charleston but stayed on the air to cover Savannah, Beaufort and Hilton Head! UGH!

    Personally I’ll take my weather directly from the USN and NWS give me a computer and I can stay on top of all the bad weather even in Savannah and not get a headache.

  • Chad Watson in Live 5 took a few minutes Saturday night to explain why they weren’t showing the college basketball games. I’ll tell you what, too…he was struggling to keep it in. I’m sure it blew his mind that he had to explain that a dangerous, life threatening situation is more important than a basketball game. He about let it out when he said “If you want to watch basketball, go somewhere else.” Pretty much said it all. He’s trying to do his duty to serve the public interest. Blows my mind that people don’t understand that.

    I monitored all three networks Saturday; they did a terrific job relaying the severity of the threat and the important information necessary for protecting life and property. Hats off to all of them.

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