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Dirty Laundry: the Naked Curmudgeon blasts TV reporters stupid questions

Dec 28th

Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Uncategorized

No comments

Here’s what gets me.

People have been upset with bearers of bad news at least as far back as the days of Sophocles, Euripedes and Aeschylus, the writers of tragedies in which a messenger could be killed just for bringing the king some bad news.

Nowadays, we don’t kill the journalists for giving us bad news; we seem to thrive on it and demand they give us more.

Oh, every decade or so there will be complaints that newspapers just report bad news and never good news, and some newspaper will be started that proudly proclaims it will print only good news. Then it will lose money and go out of business, because people are more interested in tragic events than in happy events … unless, of course, the events happen to them.

Remember, the Greeks invented tragedies before they invented comedies. Bad news allows us to feel good about ourselves, to feel pity for the sufferers and fear that the events could happen to us and to achieve a catharsis of those emotions.

Comedies, however, make us laugh and allow us to feel smug about our happiness. Greek tragedies were about the nobility, but comedies were about common people. Then the moralists of the 16th and 17th centuries decided that the purpose of comedy was not only to amuse and entertain, but also to instruct.

So, what would you rather read about (or more likely these days, watch on TV), the latest scandals about Washington politicians, foreign nobility and Hollywood stars or the fact that the reported number of crimes went down last month?

Bad news doesn’t usually come with the admonition that we shouldn’t act this way, but have you noticed how popular TV sit-coms usually end with a moral?

When I was young, I wanted to be a newspaper reporter. I was fascinated with the challenge of gathering all the facts about a story and then writing those facts according to journalistic formulas so that the least common denominator, Everyreader, could understand them without difficulty.

However, newspaper reporters didn’t make very much money, Woodward and Bernstein hadn’t made investigative journalism fashionable yet and the epitome of TV journalism was Edward R. Murrow, not some blow-dried performer who just reads the teleprompter.

Later, whenever any argument arose about journalism, I always defended the reporters. They were doing their job. Bad things happen. People would rather hear about bad news than good news.

News reporter messes up, calls herself stupid on… by Christian_Carrion

And yet I have become extremely upset with TV reporters and their stupid questions.

Why ask an accused criminal “Did you do it?” Do you believe a criminal will suddenly confess on national TV instead of to the police? Does another denial give the audience any more insight about the story?

Why ask anyone “How do you feel?” How do you believe anybody feels after tragically losing a loved one, surviving an accident or winning the Super Bowl?

And why do journalists insist on inserting their own opinions? I have a rule of never answering a question beginning with a negative. “Don’t you feel the proposed health plan will cost the taxpayers too much money?” is a weak way to ask for someone’s opinion, because the reporter’s opinion overshadows the question and any answer.

I have always wanted to be part of an important story, just so I could counter reporters’ stupid questions.

“Did I do it? That’s a stupid question.”

“I feel like you have just asked another stupid question.”

“Don’t you feel that by asking your question that way, you are just giving your own opinion instead of asking for mine?”

And speaking of opinions, who cares what the public believes? Why do so many TV and radio shows keep asking for public opinions? A Denver morning TV “news” program once asked, “Does it seem like you have a lot of bad hair days?” Back then people actually paid money to call in their one little vote.

Why are there so many daytime talk shows? In 1961 Jackie Gleason probably started the first prime-time TV talk show when he sat down with just one guest and they simply talked. I believe Phil Donahue established the pattern of involving audiences, taking phone calls and having guests with unusual problems or stories.

Perhaps fascination with dirty laundry is nothing more than wanting to feel fear and pity for the catharsis, being able to feel smug at the absurdity of other people’s lives and watching tragedies about the common folk for a change.

I rest my case.

The Naked Curmudgeon

Dan Culberson

22Boom – Looking back at Boulder 2011 – Episode 47

Dec 28th

Posted by Channel 1 Networks in 22 Boom

No comments

Jann Scott, host, takes you through a TV journey of Boulder over the past year in our Look Back at 2011 on 22 Boom. News, Music, Fireworks, Little League, Big Head Todd at NASA, the Left Hand Canyon Fire, Boulder Creek Flood, Four Mile Mudslides, Homeless Freezing in Boulder, Thursday Night Cruisers, Valmont Bike Park Grand Opening, Airport Day 1940’s WWII Ball, Occupy Boulder, Vintage Bike Swap, CU Football Cheerleaders, Alzheimers Polar Plunge, E.F.A.A., Bag Monster, ACLU of Boulder County, Boulder Jewish Festival, Colorado Cat Fanciers Show and of Course Dogs.

Videos in this Episode


  • 22 Boom Intro

    22 Boom Intro

  • 4th of July Fireworks

    4th of July Fireworks

  • North Boulder Little League, Colorado State Champions 2011

    North Boulder Little League, Colorado State Champions 2011

  • Big Head Todd - Wake Up Call at NASA

    Big Head Todd – Wake Up Call at NASA

  • Left Hand Canyon Fire

    Left Hand Canyon Fire

  • Jann Scott Live - Boulder Creek Overflow

    Jann Scott Live – Boulder Creek Overflow

  • Jann Scott Live - Four Mile Mudslides

    Jann Scott Live – Four Mile Mudslides

  • Jann Scott Live - Homeless Freezing in Boulder

    Jann Scott Live – Homeless Freezing in Boulder

  • Thursday Night Cruisers

    Thursday Night Cruisers

  • Valmont Bike Park Grand Opening Day

    Valmont Bike Park Grand Opening Day

  • Airport Day - 1940's WWII Ball

    Airport Day – 1940’s WWII Ball

  • Jann Scott Live - Occupy Boulder

    Jann Scott Live – Occupy Boulder

  • 14th Annual Vintage Bike Swap

    14th Annual Vintage Bike Swap

  • CU Football Cheerleaders Stampede

    CU Football Cheerleaders Stampede

  • Annual Alzheimers Polar Plunge

    Annual Alzheimers Polar Plunge

  • Emergency Family Assistance Association - E.F.A.A.

    Emergency Family Assistance Association – E.F.A.A.

  • Bag Monster

    Bag Monster

  • ACLU of Boulder County

    ACLU of Boulder County

  • Boulder Jewish Festival

    Boulder Jewish Festival

  • World News 1 - Cybertech

    World News 1 – Cybertech

  • Boulder Channel 1 Social Media

    Boulder Channel 1 Social Media

  • The Cadillacs - Speedoo

    The Cadillacs – Speedoo

  • That 80's band

    That 80’s band

  • Ryan Gosling's GF freaks out

    Ryan Gosling’s GF freaks out

  • 3OH3 - My First Kiss

    3OH3 – My First Kiss

  • Colorado Cat Fanciers Show

    Colorado Cat Fanciers Show

  • Best Coast - Crazy For You

    Best Coast – Crazy For You

  • Dog Cam - How to Be a Dog in Boulder

    Dog Cam – How to Be a Dog in Boulder

  • Outro

    Outro
 

Boulder wavering on unpopular closure rules for public property?

Dec 27th

Posted by Channel 1 Networks in City News

No comments

City to hold public hearing on proposed park closure rule Jan. 3

 

The City of Boulder will hold a public hearing on a proposed rule that would close parks, parkways, recreation areas and open spaces from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly. The hearing will occur during the already scheduled City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012. The meeting is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and will be held in Council Chambers, 1777 Broadway.

 

The public hearing will give community members an additional opportunity to express their views about the proposed rule. The hearing also will provide a forum for council members to ask questions of the city manager and city attorney and provide some direction in light of feedback they have received from their constituents.

 

The city manager proposed the nighttime closure rule on Dec. 16 because of increasing concerns about safety and health risks associated with encampments and other activities that occur in these locations after dark. The rule would not apply to individuals passing through the affected areas on foot or bicycle – or to events that have been approved through the city’s permitting process. Nor would it prohibit lawful activity, including constitutionally protected activity and political protests, during the remaining 18 hours of the day, between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.

 

Unlike most public hearings, council is not currently considering an ordinance related to park closures. The discussion that occurs, however, is likely to shape the city manager’s decision about how to proceed with the rule she has proposed under authority granted to her by Boulder Revised Code.

 

The decision to hold a public hearing was made today during a Council Agenda Committee meeting. The Council Agenda Committee includes city staff and three council members who look ahead to upcoming meeting agendas and determine how to make the sessions as efficient and productive as possible. Committee participants agreed that a public hearing would result in a more focused discussion, allowing for council questions to be informed by public comment and a staff presentation.

 

“We recognize that this is an important decision for our community, and the committee felt that this additional opportunity for public input would be valuable,” City Manager Jane S. Brautigam said. “I am looking forward to hearing the perspectives of community members and City Council as we work together to address important health and safety issues.”

 

In addition to the public hearing, the city has been collecting written comments as part of a 15-day public comment period. Written comments are being accepted by email at parksclosurerule@bouldercolorado.gov or by US mail at Parks Closure Rule, City of Boulder Box 791, Boulder, CO, 80306, until 5 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2012.

 

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