Posted by RadioActive on October 22, 2009, 12:44 pm Toronto Star
65.95.143.127 | Message modified by user RadioActive October 22, 2009, 10:52 pm
You had to know this was coming, but after the Balloon Boy escapade of last week, it simply reinforces why so many view the news media in such disdain.
There are a plethora of stories that could have lead the local news today - a protest outside of a local high school over police presence inside the halls; a Toronto storekeeper charged with kidnapping for holding onto a theft suspect is in court; and the Ontario gov't. is about to announce the highest deficit in history, with the possibility of unpaid "Dalton Days" affecting thousands.
So what does CTV lead with on Channel 9 at noon? The Olympic Torch being lit in Greece. It may be worth noting, but the lead story? (By contrast, Citytv led with the high school and put the torch story after its first commercial break.)
My problem with this? It's not news - it's corporate PR. After all, CTV is the network that paid millions for the rights (I thought local TV was going broke?), kicking the hype machine into full gear.
They spent several minutes on this "important" yarn, with a gleaming-eyed Christine Bentley coming back from this report to give it even more hype by asking "did you notice what they were wearing?", only to go back to the viz and show the red Canadian gloves with the Olympic symbol on them.
It was made even more specious by the fact the Games are being held in a province thousands of kilometres away from Toronto. Not to mention the articles in the Star and the Sun that CTV anchors have somehow been awarded the "privilige" of carrying the Torch ahead of more deserving Canadians.
Sun Article
I'm not saying this is a surprise. In fact, I would have been shocked if it had gone any other way because I know the way the game is played.
I worked for one large local news outlet for decades and while no one ever came out and told us what to lead with, there was an unstated sense that a story that benefited the large corporation that owned the station was to be given attention.
But in most cases, we refused to make it the lead unless it truly deserved to be one.
So if you're wondering why journalists rank so low on the yearly listing of credible occupations, look no further than CTV. Over the next few months, it's only going to get worse as the hypemobile revs up to unseen speeds.
Local TV Matters to CTV. But, apparently, not Local News.
-End of Rant-