In general, I get my news from newspapers, which are still the most reliable and comprehensive sources around. Those who denigrate newspapers and praise the Internet are generally just getting stories online that originated with a traditional news service. In times of crisis, social networking platforms sometimes provide information unavailable to regular journalists, but at their best, these sources tend to be unreliable and intensely subjective.
Television news shows, on the other hand, appear to be almost irrelevant. Although programs that provide in-depth news coverage, such as 60 Minutes and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer consistently garner excellent ratings, with Nightlineregularly beating out the David Letterman show last year, the typical network news program seems bent on providing nothing but shallow coverage and second-hand information.
On August 12, 2009, I sat down to watch CityTV’s 6:00 news report. Here’s a breakdown of the hour-long broadcast (all times are rounded, and some of the shorter, promotional spots are not included.)
Main Story: Lightning strikes children in Brampton (8:00 minutes)
The breaking story was a lightning strike at Centennial Park in Brampton that seriously injured several people, including two children. There was no information about the condition of the victims, no names had been released, and family members were unavailable for comment. Nevertheless, the CityTV news team managed to milk the incident for over eight minutes. Four minutes were spent on the actual event, although most of the coverage consisted of an “on the scene” news reporter standing in front of the field, talking to an eyewitness, and directing the camera’s attention to a small spot on the ground that someone had said was the point of impact for the lightning bolt. This was followed by another reporter standing in front of the hospital reiterating that there was still no word about the condition of those injured.
On the heels of this information-packed report, meteorologist Michael Kuss proceeded to talk about lightning, citing statistics on the number of lightning strikes per year in Canada (over two million), the average number of deaths (about six), and distance away as revealed by the length of time between seeing a flash and hearing the thunder (3 seconds equals 1 kilometer). He followed this with a series of safety tips, including the rather impossible recommendation to stay away from electrical appliances during a thunderstorm.
Local News (1:30 minutes)
With the breaking news out of the way, next came the rest of the local news: a multi-vehicle crash and a man in Durham severely beaten. In total — roughly 90 seconds.
Potholes and Worst Street Contest (4:30 minutes)
Next up was the Worst Streets contest, in which the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) was asking Torontonians to vote for the street they thought deserved the title of Worst Street in Toronto. This covered close to four and a half minutes; more than half the length of the report on the lightning strike.
National News (4:00 minutes)
During the four minutes of national news (30 seconds shorter than the Worst Streets contest), we learned that tax dollars were being spent for Bill Clinton to speak at the Canadian national Exhibition, that the Ontario premiere was angry at the feds, and that a federal minister was angry at the premiere.
Fruit Flies in Toronto (1:40 minutes)
Next up was the crucial investigation into a perceived increase in the number of fruit flies in Toronto (most likely caused by the garbage strike, according to the ever-authoritative person-on-the-street). This took care of another minute and forty seconds.
Sports (7:00 minutes)
With the inessential stuff out of the way, the next seven minutes were spent on coverage of grown men playing games, some of whom lost their games while others won. This took us to commercial break.
World news (1:50 minutes)
Returning from the break we went to world news: the rescue of 1,000 people following a typhoon in Taiwan, a Brazilian TV crime show host accused of arranging for murders to boost ratings, clashes in the Middle East, and a major jewellery heist in London. Time: one minute, 50 seconds.
Plumbing Tips (2:00 minutes)
The next two minutes were spent learning about plumbing tips to help cut down on water bills and (of course) to “do our part for the environment.” (Fix your leaking faucets — there, that’s the sum total of their message.)
What’s Coming Up — And What We’ve Already Covered (4:50 seconds)
Next came the portion of the program in which they tell us what they’re going to tell us as well as reminding us of what we’ve already been told: weather was coming up, we should send in any videos of news stories we happened to have, six people had been struck by lightning, the CAA was looking for people to vote on the Worst Streets in Toronto, and Bill Clinton was coming to the CNE.
Weather (4:50 minutes)
The next four minutes and 50 seconds were spent on weather.
Four minutes.
Fifty seconds.
On the weather.
Human Interest (1:00 minute)
Next came a one minute human interest piece on the one millionth visitor to the Toronto Zoo, a few more “what’s coming up” bits, and commercials.
Sports Redux (6:30 minutes)
Having not had a report on which ball player was doing what to whom for several minutes, it was once again time to check out the sports scene — for six and a half minutes. Followed by commercials.
Connected (1:20 minutes)
Following the commercial break was a segment called “Connections,” which directed viewers to the CityTV website where they could see photos of the lightning storm, vote for the Worst Street in Toronto, and check out the movie reviews.
Quentin Tarantino Comes to Toronto (1:40 minutes)
Next was one and a half minutes on Quentin Tarantino’s visit to Toronto.
More Weather (1:30 minutes)
At this point it was time for another weather report, this one only lasting a minute and a half.
Final Human Interest Story (1:20 minutes)
To round off the show we were treated to a spot on a charity bicycle ride from Toronto to Montreal to raise funds for the Sick Kid’s Hospital.
And that, folks, is what passes for a news report on CityTV, August 12, 2009.
Now excuse me while I go back to my newspaper.
