It's a Blizzaster!

It's days like this that I am especially glad I gave up on my radio career. Normally, I would have been in my driveway digging out at 4 a.m. from the foot-high drifts in order to drive like a maniac through the snow to tell people they need to stay off the roads. Never mind the constant ringing of the telephone from parents and kids calling in to find out if they have school at the same time I'm on the air reading the school closings.

But as I watched news coverage of the "Blizzard of Twenty Eleven" this morning, I was more than just amused at the coverage. I was appalled, even embarrassed by the sheer idiocy of the reporting. Here are just a few examples:

Reporter: "It's a blizzaster!"

Reporter: "AAA says that everyone should stay off the roads today." 15 seconds later, the camera cut to a shot of the same reporter driving down the road with someone from AAA in the passenger seat describing how bad the roads are.

Reporter to driver: "How's the roads?"
Driver to reporter: "Slippery"
Reporter: "There you have it!"

Reporter to caller: We have a Mrs. Bugg on the phone, who tried to get out this morning. Mrs. Bugg, are you there? Mrs. Bugg? (Silence) Well, Mrs. Bugg was telling me earlier that she got stuck. If Mrs. Bugg is staying home, you should too.

And my personal favorite of the day (I swear this is true). Posted as a crawl along the bottom of the screen: "This just in to the newsroom: roads are slippery!"