{"id":847,"date":"2013-12-20T05:30:06","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T15:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=847"},"modified":"2013-12-20T20:10:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-21T06:10:23","slug":"hi-mom-tell-me-whats-happened-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=847","title":{"rendered":"Hi mom, tell me what’s happened today"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing you hear old people grumble about is how things have changed.
\n“When I was 10 years old we walked 50 miles in the snow to get to school.”<\/p>\n

Right.
\nThat was then and this is now so let’s move on.<\/p>\n

Wait a minute…
\nI got something to grumble about first.<\/p>\n

I’ve kinda stopped watching the news over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

That’s quite a statement from someone who has over\u00a010-thousand radio and TV newscasts to my credit and lived and breathed that stuff for 20 years.<\/p>\n

There’s a balance problem and I’m not referring to “both sides of the story” type-of-thing.<\/p>\n

\"the-view\"<\/a>I’m talking about male and female.<\/p>\n

Watching Channel 4 (KITV) is almost like watching The View or wandering into one of the wife’s gatherings with her friends.<\/p>\n

It’s way too female.<\/p>\n

That’s not a sexist BS attitude about ability.
\nIt’s a comment on presentation.<\/p>\n

Channel Two isn’t any better on the weekends.<\/p>\n

It’s about balance.<\/p>\n

Thirty years ago it was all male and that was just as bad.<\/p>\n

On the mainland they carefully staff their anchor desk with people of different races.
\nThe idea is to reflect the community, and that’s the way it should be.<\/p>\n

Using that formula, KITV must think Hawaii is 98-percent female.<\/p>\n

I have a good idea why this is happening but I’m not interested in starting a news director gender war.<\/p>\n

But I know what I’m talking about and those in TV news today will know I’m right if they back up a bit and honestly think about it.<\/p>\n

Women make many of the spending decisions in the home and sponsors like big female rating numbers.<\/p>\n

Plus there’s this idea that some babe on the anchor desk will attract male viewers.
\nNot really.<\/p>\n

None of that should never sway any newsroom decision – but it happens whether anyone will admit it or not.<\/p>\n

Putting guys only on the sports desk is just as biased as keeping women off the anchor desk 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

And to be honest, I’ve never been a fan to dual anchors anyway.<\/p>\n

A person can get whiplash jumping from one anchor to another unless it’s structured carefully, which rarely happens.<\/p>\n

It also serves no useful purpose other than to say “we have two people” telling you what’s going on.<\/p>\n

In case you don’t like one of our anchors, hey, we have another.<\/p>\n

Is this going to change?
\nOf course not – at least not for a while.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot more in play here than I mentioned.
\nAnd that makes me grumpy.<\/p>\n

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