Here’s Something I’ve Never Understood
The item to which the title speaks of is this: Withholding weather information. It happens every day on the teasers for the evening and nightly news. You’ve heard it before. The lead anchor gets a 6 second spot where he blurts out something along the lines of, “What’s the chance of rain tomorrow? Find out tonight at 9.” And then you’re back to your show. Why not just tell me in that 6 seconds what the chance is, and spare me the trouble of waiting. The local news should not be competing with other programs in its timeslot for viewers. That’s insane. The news should be a daily staple of American life, regardless of viewership. But this is what their tactics suggest they are doing. If the local television news is competing with anyone, it should be the internet, especially for a topic such as the weather. When I want to know the weather, I want to know it now, not later. By reminding me that I don’t know the chance of rain tomorrow only sends me to the internet for the answer. I don’t wait around for the 9 o’clock news to get my weather fix. It’s counterintuitive, if you ask me, and I just don’t understand.