Monday, April 14, 2008

Caption Police

Posted by Bruce Barry on Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 8:29 AM

click to enlarge cityhall.jpg
It’s old news that shrinking audiences and dwindling budgets make it harder for local news operations to cover their communities with depth and nuance. The rapid comings and goings of newsroom talent inevitably leave us with reporters and producers who know far too little about the city they cover. But c’mon, NewsChannel5, surely it’s not setting the bar too high to expect a major local news operation to know the name of the building where the city’s political business happens. Yes, Nashville does have a City Hall, but unless I’m mistaken, Metro Council meetings are still happening with no band and no cover.

Tags: ,

Comments (6)

Showing 1-6 of 6

Add a comment

Call me dense, but I can't for the life of me understand why Barry has his panties in a wad.

report   
Posted by "John Galt" on April 14, 2008 at 10:08 AM

Seems to me that improper reporting, even in the form of captions, is an okay reason to get one's knickers in a twist. We just spent a bunch of money on the METROPOLITAN COURTHOUSE renovation -- our council meets there -- how about not perpetuating ignorance about local government? The next newcomer that looks up the address for City Hall to go listen to our council meeting will end up way too early at a music venue with locked doors because Channel 5 "said" that meetings are held at Metro City Hall. It seems our local news station could get it right.

report   
Posted by Not a Nashvillian on April 14, 2008 at 3:56 PM

Maybe it's because the reporters fancy themselves as really being Clark Kent. Metropolis had a City Hall...why shouldn't MetroNashville?

report   
Posted by Greg King on April 14, 2008 at 5:09 PM

You might be right, Greg. But I'd sooner think it's because their—both corporate and personal— principal objective is on-screen prettiness. I'll just bet that potential “depth and nuance” in a prospective new local television news maven's on air presentation is way the hell down toward the bottom of the corporate list of prerequisite requirements. Who cares, really, if what is seen is correct as long as it looks good.
Lets face it: perceptive, factually accurate reportage intoned by a talking head with a wart on the end of his nose doesn't portend well in an ever-present contest for ratings.
Go for them dollars, boys.

report   
Posted by W D Humpfree on April 15, 2008 at 7:25 AM

Stop making fun of Joe Piscopo.

report   
Posted by Beer Frame on April 15, 2008 at 2:09 PM

The building is called City Hall as well as the Davidson County Courthouse. Both names appear on the exterior above the entrance on the Union Street side. It goes back to the day when the City had a Council (City Hall) and Mayor and the County had a Court and Judge (Courthouse).

report   
Posted by db on April 15, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Subscribe to this thread:
Showing 1-6 of 6

Add a comment

Top Topics in
Pith in the Wind

Politics (61)


Phillips (42)


Legislature (27)


Arts and Entertainment (19)


Film (19)


Sports (18)


Media (13)


Law and Order (12)


Red State Update (9)


Education (8)


All contents © 1995-2012 City Press LLC, 210 12th Ave. S., Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. (615) 244-7989.
All rights reserved. No part of this service may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of City Press LLC,
except that an individual may download and/or forward articles via email to a reasonable number of recipients for personal, non-commercial purposes.
Powered by Foundation