Sunday, August 13, 2017

Our News Consumption is Alive and Well; We Crave Information; Too Bad Our Local 'News and Talk' Station is Bereft of News; Sunday Rituals

Image result for Morning ritual  SUNDAY 

We are now, more than ever, better informed than ever. One can find fault; many faults actually; with the outlets that deliver the news to us, but with the Internet, cable, local TV and radio, streaming devices, we get our news almost instantaneously --take a look at the awful events in Charlottesville --we saw and heard the beginning, the terrible middle and end. It was both tragic, haunting, and disturbing --but there it was on an otherwise normal mid-Summer Saturday. 

I bring all this up because we all have rituals; we are a very ritual-oriented society with a deep interest in news. Look at all the cable shows and Sunday shows. Observe how much time we spend on the Internet, on Twitter, on blogs like this one--we DEVOUR News. We're not a very expansive audience --we tend to want information these days as fast as possible, even if all the facts are not in, hell, facts be damned in some cases.

All that said, we love our news consumption even if the news, like Saturday's sundry, is awful. One MAJOR outlet we all call on, even in this Internet age, is radio, more specifically, "News-Talk" Radio, remember that age-old relic? We used to have a great station here, KGO, that was the gold standard for such formats and now, (yes, you've heard my bitching many times, but it's important) it's basically been erased into a vast radio wasteland with a ridiculous, foolish, hideous BS format based on an incompetent PD's lazy attempt to cave to PPM (Personal People Meter) models that haven't worked here and are an assault on people who want to be informed and not considered dim bulbs like the dim bulbs that currently run KGO.

My ritual--I don't know about yours--is immediate look at the Internet (I have no life); the on-line Chronicle; SF Gate; NY Times print and even though I hate to admit, Drudge Report and WashPost. There's others but I won't bore you. I'll then tune into the radio and hit KGO, (still, out of habit) and KCBS. I'll check KNBR if there's a game on to hear who's on assignment (smart ass, I know) and quickly, KQED, and when I'm exhausted or depressed, KCSM to relax and at least neutralize my misery. 

But I'm a news whore. Radio was my natural destination because it was immediate and concise --and KGO had the immediacy advent to both "hear about it and 'talk about it." It was a winning formula that got KGO 30+ years of #1 ratings and universal envy from the industry and praise from the LOCAL community at large. Don't give me BS about how the world has changed and yada yada yada. GOOD Radio doesn't have to cater to modern-day BS, the "7F" Bullshit that has kidnapped KGO and made it a local laughingstock --GOOD CARS sell. GOOD food sells. It's THE PRODUCT, STUPID! This isn't brain surgery --(shit, I could run KGO and know better than anyone what I'm doing, but that's another posting for later.)

We are news connoisseurs and large in numbers; the Bay Area deserves all the very best outlets to bring to us our information cravings. Too bad the box on radio consumption is still left alone.

13 comments:

  1. The real media has abandon the BA. There is NO money left to earn. You lose money investing in local media.

    You say "local Media"...
    The media has lower approval rating than the Prez....much lower.
    I say "Run".

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  2. There's no there, there with Bay Area media. So sad because this post is �� percent accurate

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  3. It could be that people are looking to online media rather than local TV for their news.

    Speaking of online media, what do you make of "The Athletic"? Does it stand a chance of surviving with its business model?

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    1. Breitbart is a good place to go.

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  4. Do commentators ever learn reading comprehension? Is that an oxymoron? I assume they read Rich's original posts. But their comments have no relation to what he actually wrote about. In this case regarding radio and Kgo and how important they are, should be, were, in cases of big breaking news where people would, did, will, go to for the immediacy of information and assurance of connection with host, station, community. It worked for years, in spades, and will again. If...if...

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    1. Well, this is the Age if Twitter, and as far as I can recall, all of Rich's postings are way more than 140 characters - except for the music, of course - and chances are they glean what they can from the first couple of sentences and then go on the Tweetpath...

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  5. In the Stan "I told you so- I was right" Radnich now doing commercials for anybody who will pay him. He couldn't make it more obvious when he flubs whats written for him too..how degraded he feels.
    He did used to laugh at people who stooped to that.

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    1. In this commenters "I told you so moment", no comment by Stan on the "Woof Dog"'s antics. A better username would be Stan TheHypocrite.

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    2. Well if Rich would post what I have said twice and now a third time.
      I haven't seen KRON mornings. Or any of Wofford.Yet.

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  6. Why waste your time tuning in to ANY local talk radio station today...when we all have smartphones/tablets/computers which can actually SHOW us what's happening???

    I'd rather see it myself...rather than have someone describe it to me. Besides--you can have someone (reporter/anchor/eyewitness) describe it WHILE TV is showing actual video.

    News/Talks Radio is dead.

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    1. It sounds like you prefer it dead Ben. How sad. The truth is it isn't dead. Oh we've seen the demise of Kgo specifically, but even Ronnnnnnn has news-talk still. People do watch TV for live coverage, but radio is a powerful and strong medium. People still tune in, or would, for local talk. It's at a low ebb now, thanks to corporate mismanagement. But it will return. Count on it.

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  7. Dr. Wilson Herminger, CalAugust 14, 2017 at 7:56 PM

    I hit Breitbart (home page), then off to Drudge, Gateway Pundit, InfoWars, whatfinger.com, and Daily Caller for my daily news.

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    1. @756...you're joking, right? That's an alt-right hatefest of propaganda right there.

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