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Wednesday, November 8, 2006

On Local News

posted by on November 8 at 11:53 AM

Last night, those of us who don’t buy into cable turned on regular TV to see some amazing results. And what did we find on the boob tube, on the most important political night of the decade, of the new century, of even the millennium? Nothing but news about floods: “It hasn’t rained so much in so many years”; “Dear lordy, them floods don’t stop”; “The rain, the rain, the rain is just too much”; “The farmer lost his farm to the river”—that was it from local news. (If there had been no internet then there would’ve been no visual updates on crucial losses and victories.) What the hell was that all about? Did the local networks do this deliberately? Was it a desperate political maneuver? It was certainly idiotic. It was certainly heavy with that kind of avoidance of realty, of truth, that marked the era that today has finally come to an end—the Bush regime of the unreal.

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1

KCTS ran political coverage. And KING 5 ran a scroll all night.

Brian Williams and Tim Russert's Bloated Head went live on the West Coast at 10pm PST and informed us yokels of all we'd been missing nationally, as if we didn't have internet or radio access.

Posted by DOUG. | November 8, 2006 12:24 PM
2

I'm always so distracted by the shiny graphics slowly sweeping across the screen in six directions at once that I can't concentrate on what's happening. Every time Stewart or Colbert parody them, they come back and outdo the parody...

Posted by Fnarf | November 8, 2006 12:32 PM
3

People without internet at home don't care about such trivial things as elections.

Posted by monkey | November 8, 2006 12:35 PM
4

I listen to KOMO radio every weekday morning as my alarm... and they are a very materialistic, suburban, Republican bunch.

Posted by Gomez | November 8, 2006 12:41 PM
5

Rain Watch 2006!

Seriously, they act as if people are drowning and houses are being swept away ...

There's a reason I watch the PBS Newshour on On Demand - I don't have to watch the lame ambulance/storm/snow chasing antics - and can fast forward past the Bush lies.

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 8, 2006 12:45 PM
6

One guy did drown, and quite a few houses have in fact been swept away. It's pretty big news if you live near one of the rivers into the Sound.

Posted by Fnarf | November 8, 2006 12:49 PM
7

Embarrassing that KOMO couldn't skip one night of Dancing with the Stars. We also watched goofy NWCN for local action.

About CNN/FUX coverage, we made Colbert's God Machine bloop bloop beep sounds every time Wolf Blitzer pushed his little interactive Super Mario touchscreen icons.

Posted by J | November 8, 2006 12:56 PM
8

I realize that the hipsters weren't very much affected by the rain and flooding: Capitol Hill is, after all, a hill, with an excellent drainage system, and fashionable vintage clothing doesn't show dampness as much as what the others wear.

But for those idiots who don't live on the hill, the flooding was somewhat big news. But I agree - they don't matter, and it should have been hipster-to-hipster coverage. Coverage for hipsters by hipsters.

Posted by Hipsters Unite!!! Take Back the Night!! | November 8, 2006 12:59 PM
9

actually Q13 FOX started the 10 pm news with election coverage, while KING5 (on KONG 6 at 10) started with floods.

Posted by Q | November 8, 2006 1:00 PM
10

Fnarf - it's called sarcasm.

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 8, 2006 2:44 PM

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