WSJ: 'Mindless Prattle' on Local TV - Station to Station

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Mike Malone

WSJ: 'Mindless Prattle' on Local TV
November 16, 2007

Wall Street Journal reporter Dorothy Rabinowitz seemed to go out of her way to bash local TV in her joint review of Back to You (hates it) and The Office (loves it) today.

About Fox's newsroom comedy, she writes:

"Viewers who absorb, daily, the mutually affectionate, mindless prattle of real local news anchors and their teams, their endless compliments, ditherings about birthdays and good looking new ties, earnest admonitions to colleagues out reporting the weather--hurry back and get warm, will you please?--won't have an easy time crediting the reality of this newsroom."

Not to say it's not true at many stations, but that characterization of local news is a pretty tired cliche, in my humble opinion.

Posted by Mike Malone on November 16, 2007 | Comments (1)

November 19, 2007
In response to: WSJ: 'Mindless Prattle' on Local TV
invitedmedia commented:

hey, i like reading your writing, but "local" deserves all the kicks to the groin one can deliver (and then some). here i am in the middle of the pacific ocean (island of moloka'i) and the purported "local" news had two stories on last week (last time i actually saw a tv that was ON); one about a postal worker in chicago that was shot for delivering the mail too late for the patron's taste and another about a (new york?) councilman's bill to outlaw feeding pigeons because of the mess they cause (they even focused in on a pile of the mess!!!). can you tell me with a straight face that has anything to do with "local"???