Global rant

Last night, I was watching the late night newscast and the second top story was about a lady north of Edmonton whose barn burnt down along with some of her horses and her dog.

Now, I'm not cold-hearted - I feel bad for this lady and I am sad that this tragedy occurred to her, however I definately do not feel that this story should have been played in the first 5 minutes of the news, which to me, should include the more important events of the day in our city and province. As I watched this lady sob and cry on the news (for what seemed like minutes but was probably more like 10 seconds), I started to get really really annoyed - at Global news, not with the horse lady.

What was Global thinking, to put this as their second top story of the night? Even if it was a slow news day, surely SOMETHING that occurred in the ENTIRE world was more important than burnt horses! Why couldn't they have shown some national news? What were they thinking?

It seemed to exemplify the trend that has occured in newscasting in the last decade or so (or perhaps even longer). It seems that the focus of reporting has shifted from informing the public (such as scandals in the government (Watergate!), or dishonesty in government or public bodies) to entertaining the public (including sad horse stories, cute abandoned kitten stories etc). I find it really disappointing that this has occured. When I watch the news, I want to know what is going on out there in the world. If I wanted to watch ponies and kitties and fluffy happiness I'd turn on a cartoon or movie (well, I don't really own a movie with ponies and kitties, but you get the idea). I do not need the news to make me feel good - I need the news to tell me what is going ON out there, so that I can be aware of the important issues in the world that AFFECT me.

As you might be able to tell, I feel quite strongly about this, and impulsively, I wrote Global news to tell them what I thought of their crappy programming. Here is my email:

"Hi there,

I was watching the late night news cast in Edmonton tonight and the second top story was about a woman who lost her horses in a barn fire. Half the story showed this woman crying and discussing how sad she was that she lost her animals. I was wondering how this story is the second most important story in all of Edmonton? It shouldn't even be on the news!! In fact, I changed the channel to CBC news instead of global, in an effort to get some real news. Let's stop putting entertaining stories on and get back to informing the public about what's really important in our city, country and the world.

thanks,
Kim"

I forwarded it to Garrett and he said it seemed pretty mean. I guess it might very well be. I did say that I wrote it impulsively, however I feel that it accurately represents what I feel and feel justified in sending it. I will let you know if they get back to me at all!