Friday, July 26, 2013

how to over-report an earthquake, and things generally

We have commented before on the way TVNZ turns trivia in major news stories - although of course it's only one of many news organisations worldwide which does that - but here's another example from this evening from its website: "Number of quake injuries much higher than first thought" - a reference to the 6.5 magnitude Wellington earthquake on Sunday evening.

Wow - how many are we talking about?  Hundreds?  Nope, the reporter tells us the number has gone from 4 to 25.  And some of these were from people who fell over!  Others were from people who had objects hit them - but, one of the first reports was of somebody who had a TV set above him fall off the shelf and knock him out.   Did the reporter miss something important here?  Why didn't this person have that TV secured to the wall with a bracket like the Civil Defense authorities have been telling people to do for years ?

Is it not common sense in an earthquake zone to ensure heavy objects - such as water cylinders, bookcases, free standing cabinets etc - that can move from where they are, be secured to the wall behind them?  It only needs an L bracket and a few screws.

On the one year since the demise of TVNZ 7 post (see earlier), the writer lamented the loss of an in-depth local news program and we concur completely.  Sky subscribers have more choice - Sky News, CNN, BBC, Russia Today, Deutsche Welle, France 24, China TV News, even the notorious Fox News (which Sky has fittingly made channel 88 - code for Heil Hitler).  But none of these cover local stories.  One of the major losses that went with the Government's axing of TVNZ 7.

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