I'm not sure how I feel now about this grumpy blog post, originally written on December 23, 2003:
I have a question, Virginia. How does Santa belong on the news? Last week, one of the local stations set up their web reporter next to a man dressed as Santa and invited children to email their questions to the "jolly old elf."
I've seen teases on local TV newscasts in Memphis (all of them, mine included) that refer to postal workers, Fedex and UPS deliverers as "Santa's elves." And the two networks that WMC pays for news material are currently offering live shots from the North Pole and opportunities to "track Santa" via high tech radar from the Air Force.
I know, I know, don't fight the day.
Don't get me wrong, this didn't start out to be the blog of a Scroogy news director. I love Christmas! I love the shopping in crowded malls, I love the food, I love the parties, I love seeing the faces of my friends and family when they open a thoughtful gift. Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah... are celebrations with religious or cultural roots, deserving of news coverage.
Our job is to provide timely and urgent information, investigative reports and tell our viewers what's happening now. It just seems wierd to me as I read and hear so much about the Orange Terror Alerts, with soldiers and civilians dying in Iraq, the flu, the economy, etc etc etc that a serious TV news department might confuse its customers.
A faux "Santa Tracker" via radar just seems sorta frivolous to me, right now.
OK, my bah humbug moment is over.
Happy Holidays y'all.
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Back to 2009. Isn't it amazing that the top issues of 2003 are still valid six years later?
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