Here's my exchange with WKOW news director on this subject. You'll need to read from bottom to top to get the context.
--- George Perkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > You misunderstood my comment, no I wasn't joking. > > The feel-good story of a couple having a healthy birth in an unusual > circumstance, in > unfortunate circumstances simply missed an opportunity to bring the real > issues of > their trying moment to light. > > The real issue is that they got stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital. > Why? > Not because they were hurrying to get to the hospital in their vehicle! And > don't > insult my intelligence assuming I was advocating a trip to the hospital on a > bicycle. > The issue is that there are far too many other people driving for > non-essential reasons. > Dane County's sprawl, our society's addiction to oil and big cars, and > cognitive > dissonance as to the consequences are the issues. WKOW would serve its > viewers if > the implications of these issues were fully explored. The human interest > story (which I understand is part of the news business) of this birth in > traffic presented WKOW with a real opportunity to bring the other "big > issues" to > light in a human-scaled manner. That was my point. This is why the FCC > gives WKOW > the right to the airwaves - supposedly educate and inform, not only to > entertain. > You have a limited time and budget compared to the entertainment portion of > your broadcast. I was trying to offer an observation about a missed > opportunity. > > George Perkins > > > --- Al Zobel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I'm not sure if you're joking or not. Are you suggesting that the couple > > should have hopped on a bike and ridden to the hospital? Or that perhaps > > they just should have stayed home and had the child there? > > > > Al Zobel > > News Director > > WKOW-TV > > 608-661-2710 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: George Perkins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:40 AM > > To: Al Zobel > > Cc: wkow-receptionist > > Subject: WKOW NEWS: Father Delivers Son on John Nolen Drive > > > > RE: http://wkow.madison.com/News/index.php?ID=16521 > > > > Hmmm. "swerving onto the bike path" - can't say if the reporter took > > liberties with reality, or if > > anyone on a bicycle just got plowed down...? I'd say the unspoken real > > problem in this news > > story is that on their way to the hospital the car got stuck in grid > > lock traffic. This means we > > have too many cars and not enough people using alternatives like bikes, > > walking, buses, car > > pooling, van pools, etc.!! Not to mention that newborn is subject to > > increased risk of > > respiratory disease due to the increasing levels of motor vehicle air > > pollution in Dane County > > because of all of this unnecessary driving! > > > > Everyone likes a cute personality feature news story, but as a public > > duty to its viewers, the > > news staff should dig a little deeper to help us all understand the root > > cause, implications, > > solutions, etc., to social problems. > > > > > > George Perkins > > 442 Toepfer Avenue > > Madison WI 53711 > > > > > --- rick opel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://wkow.madison.com/News/index.php?ID=16521 > > Anyone else see the problem with this "feel good" piece ? > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
