TV Channels Criticized As Weather Takes No Holiday

Michael Hedges July 19, 2021 Follow on Twitter

Broadcast news has - and continues to have - astounding moments. And that is the defining characteristic: moments, often live. Newspapers never had that, just part of the reason publishers always hated broadcasting. Now publishers have their own Tik-Kok feeds, perhaps leveling the field a bit. Expectations remain, however, that broadcast news brings immediacy to news the public wants and needs.

Floods waters have now receded in western Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, even parts of Switzerland. The wet, deadly rampage followed by scenes of floating furniture and sunken automobiles filled the news media for days, Tic-Tok not so much. Expectations for TV news broadcasters was high. Every editor knows wild weather makes for great TV, particularly from a distance. But these weather events, which continue, have not been seen in centuries.

Rainfall of historic proportions arrived Wednesday evening (July 14) and continued through the next morning. The earth was saturated, rivers quickly swollen. Professional weather watchers didn’t know the water would so rapidly rise until their streets and basements were filled. German regional public broadcaster WDR, the country’s largest, continued normal radio and television news programs Wednesday evening (July 15) “as if nothing had happened,” noted daily Der Tagesspiegel (July 16). The next day WDR, based in Cologne serving North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate federal states, offered a bit more while challenged by staff unable to travel to broadcast centers, some of which were flooded.

Critics, ever attentive to public broadcasting’s perceived shortcomings, erupted. "If the generously financed and equipped public service broadcaster, as here in the case of WDR, does not succeed in providing a reliable information offer for the broadcasting area in acute crisis situations, which is probably undisputedly part of the core task, then in all the savings efforts of the houses, savings are made in the wrong places,” wrote media portal WDWL founder/editor Thomas Lückerath (July 15). “What good are great innovation labs, dialogues on the future and other frills if it fails because of the basics of a reliable program? Well, the justifications will again be as eloquent as the insight sparse.” As expected he praised the efforts of private-sector broadcasters.

For its part WDR completely mobilized its public relations campaign. “The situation in different parts of the country shocked and affected us all,” said General Director Tom Buhrow. “The desire to help is all the more urgent. With the campaign 'The West Sticks Together', WDR would like to make its contribution to supporting the people in North Rhine-Westphalia in this dramatic situation."

Dutch regional public broadcaster L1 was criticized by local newspaper De Limburger (July 15) for “failing” to take the disaster seriously. South Limburg was inundated. Critics howled that the L1 TV channel didn’t go wall-to-wall with emergency coverage and, instead, broadcast the Tour de France. “It’s unjustified,” said L1 chief editor Leo Hauben, quoted by Dutch media portal Villamedia (July 16). “We've done everything we can. The focus is on radio. Radio's faster. In addition, you still have the radio in case of power failure.” Other critics noted that major Dutch national newspapers paid little notice to the flooding around Limburg while national TV channels broadcast live.

News outlets have moved forward since the days when the “weather girls” appeared topless on Italian channels owned by Silvio Berlusconi. Award-winning US comedian George Carlin got his start as the “Hippy Dippy Weatherman.” Big broadcasters now employ professional meteorologists, university-trained, calculus required, to monitor and report weather and related events. While most viewers are content with weather reporting to satisfy immediate needs - what to wear in the morning - broadcast meteorologists are the go-to reporters on climate change and the effects.

The US-based The Weather Channel (TWC) was the first all-weather all the time pay-TV channel. It arrived in 1982. TWC has streaming apps. It also features sports commentary and weather-related entertainment programs. The chief focus seems to be hurricanes.

TWC and other stand-alone weather channels and apps (AccuWeather, Weather Underground, et.al.) will have a new competitor. Fox News, subsidiary of Fox Corporation, principally owned by the Murdoch family, will launch Fox Weather this fall, “potentially a power new player,” said the New York Times (July 7). It will be a 24/7 streaming channel. Several TV meteorologists have been hired from local US broadcasters. Fox News is the market leader in climate change denialism and there is no expectation the dedicated weather offering will differ. “If it opts to perpetuate misinformation to advance political goals, it will be a huge disservice to all Americans,” said George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication director Edward Maibach, quoted by The Guardian (July 10).

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