Dirty Laundry

What's Playing in my Head: "Burning Love", by Elvis Presley

Quote of the Day: "The Pain Train Iz Comin'! Woo woo!!!" - Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

I was lucky enough to have taken Journalism in high school in the mid-90's with an excellent teacher who showed me the right way to do things and the wrong way to do things. That's the class where I first heard the phrase, "If it bleeds, it leads."

After watching the news last night, I noticed that Cowtown is pretty good about having responsible, almost wussy journalism. Here's an example of the news teasers you're likely to see down here:

ANCHOR: "Tonight on NBC29 News, an incidence of E. coli is found near University Grounds. You might want to see this. The news is next."

or

ANCHOR: "Next on CBS 19 News at 11: A tractor overturns on I-64, causing delays south of Charlottesville. We'll bring you the details next."

This is the total opposite of where I'm from, which is the yellow journalism capital of the Mid-Atlantic. Our news stations bring television journalism to entirely new lows, which is probably what you'd expect out of the Nation's Capital. As an example, here's these same stories as they'd be seen on DC stations:

AIRHEAD ANCHOR: "BREAKING NEWS now on FOX5...An E. coli scare is terrorizing thousands of innocent young students at a major university...in your backyard!! SKYFOX will bring you live coverage from the air!! FOX5 News at 10 starts after this message..."

AIRHEAD ANCHOR 2 (aka Peggy Fox): "Next on Nine News: A tractor-trailer explodes into an inferno of flames on I-66, snarling traffic for miles and leaving one man DEAD! Will this impact YOUR evening commute? Can this happen to YOUR VEHICLE? And are YOUR CHILDREN SAFE? We'll bring you all the answers after this on NINE NEWS NOW, NOW, NOW!!!!"

Like yesterday, I wish I was joking. I am not. I promise.