news broadcast dissection

broadcast watched: KARE 11, 6pm broadcast on 11/22/2010.

I started watching five minutes early, catching the end of the 5.30 national broadcast. this was the day after the large storm front of freezing rain/snow, and the pre-news promo was a blurb about the storm and a man talking about covering a 24-hour shift throughout the holidays to keep up. this was interspersed with pre-morning footage of snowplows and trucks driving down clogged city streets. this went for 30 seconds. it was followed immediately by news that Brad Childress, head coach for the MN vikings, had been fired that morning. A brief excerpt of an interview with the vikings owner was shown, and this lasted another 15 seconds to introduce the show.

the ACTUAL show opened with sports, and Childress being fired. Gotta be honest, it took Jim Hatten and Jack Nilles TELLING me who brad childress was for me to figure this one out. It went directly to the sportscaster offering his opinion on what is apparently the biggest news affecting Minnesotans...he dissected the owner's press conference as well as the players' reactions, in addition to the packers loss that resulted in the firing. then they went to the interim head coach talking about what he'll do to make a difference. this was two minutes.

second was a human interest blurb...on Brad Childress and an interview w/him and his wife. this lasted 45 seconds with one quote from Mrs. Childress, and then went into a whoring for the KARE 11 website, and how we can see the entire interview there as well as a sneak-peek at some grandiose holiday-themed series of interviews the co-anchor is doing.

total time for sports - 2 min 45 seconds.

then weather! it went to weather after a cutesy blurb from the anchors. it was all about fear of reaching holiday destinations and how MNDOT was unprepared for the weekend freeze. a brief statement about the weekend accidents existed, then a further blurb from the MNDOT rep of the promo talking about how they'll keep going.
--- and of course airports and ice, with a brief blurb from a MSP rep about how snow isn't an issue and won't stop them.
--- this was one min 30 sec, and then went to Belinda Jensen, the pretty apple-faced meteorologist dressed immaculately yet cutely in a faux-deerstalker get-up. she went into the fears for the next few days and how it will warm up briefly, for the snow to royally screw us. This went another 1 minute 40 seconds, including a cg map of the state and weather fronts, and pretty belinda's assurances that she'll work hard to find concrete answers to what weather the state will face over the weekend.

Tally, just covering Vikings and weather (are these really the biggest stories, you dunces?), nearly five minutes...

back to the anchors, a MN man who went to jail for pointing a gun at another driver during "road rage gone wrong" in St. Cloud. The anchor made a point of saying the victim had his wife and young children in the car. this went 30 seconds and went to a teaser for the commercial about the gubernatorial recount, and more about heavy snow incoming...

back in - MN supreme court ruling which OK's the recount for the election. this story, which included how ballots are counted and how that plays into the decision for the recount. 1 min 40 seconds.

state canvassing board and recounts, as well as dayton's current lead, 10 sec

twins mgr won an award for manager of the year and a contract extension, this went into "appreciation days" for the manager. 20 sec.

it segued, before i even realized what had happened, into "snowplow driver appreciation day" in WI, 15 sec.

then another commercial and another promo for weather/sports...again upcoming. and a promo for tech gadgets and holiday shopping. "what's new and what you need to know, monday night at 10." - 15 sec.

commercials on how KARE 11 is "walking to end hunger at the MOA nov 25th"

the news is back on - ND and MN and snowfall, low temp, and how the storm system also caused tornadoes in WI. 30 sec.

back to Belinda and weather - and her supposed "expertise" on weather, more about how weather incoming (completely rehashed from a whopping five minutes ago). current weather, road conditions, weather for tomorrow through thursday. more pretty maps. 3 min 50 sec.

back to randy shaver and sports - vikings and no playoff chance, childress fired and the players hated him. another blurb with the vikings coach and the appointment of the interim head coach. some lip service on some player named brett farve being an opening qb and more from the int head coach. 3 min on just pro football...high school football in the state came up next. college ball next. total time on sports, 3 min 55 sec and then more teasers for post-commercial. then commercials, starting with one for the NBC nightly news.

back to the news. anchor intros a story on christmas - the delivery of a 30-ft-tall spruce to the governor's mansion. where it came from, how much it weighs, how pretty it apparently is, and jokes about placing such a large tree. it closes on this. apparently i'm supposed to like them. this final piece, including pedantic joking, 50 sec.

it led into entertainment tonight, where apparently sarah palin's daughter is something worth talking about.

ugh. see my previous post on a news assignment for students.