I broke my first rule of viewer opinions, which is never respond to viewer opinions beyond a thank you.

A viewer e-mailed the 6:30 last night in response to our In Depth look at Afghanistan.  While sharing about his sun just returning from a tour there, he basically accused us of being irresponsible by talking only to the heads of the military and not the soldiers who’ve served there.  He also said we have no right to ask viewers for their opinions, unless the viewer is a soldier who’s served in Afghanistan.

I often disagree with the opinions shared with the 6:30.  While I respect an individual’s right to an opinion, I do not respect an opinion that’s not grounded in facts, but is based on misinformation or blatantly ignoring the facts.  It is my job to provide the facts on which an opinion can be made.  It bothers me greatly when someone sees a show I’ve produced and then e-mails us with thoughts that directly contradict the facts included in the show.  However, I do not respond to opinions.  I read them, acknowledge that it’s merely someone’s opinion and I move on.  As a rule, I do not respond with my own thoughts as it only stirs up trouble.  I respect that a viewer has an opinion and value that he or she has shared it with us regardless of whether or not I agree with the opinion.

Accusations, however, are another story.  I have trouble letting pointed accusations slide.  Despite my better judgment, I respond to them and point out the errors made within the statements of blame.  It rarely goes well, as it didn’t with the viewer saying we are irresponsible in our coverage of Afghanistan.  It inevitably gets personal.  I do, however, end the back and forth in the same way, with self deprecation and apology regardless of whether or not I’m right.  But, it would be better if I simply didn’t reply in the first place.  :-(  Live and learn.

Posted: June 30th, 2010 under Viewer Response.
Comments: none

Today was one of those days where it’s tough to pick an In Depth topic.  There’s not much going on that can be broken into finer points to cover more completely.  There’s the oil spill, of course, but not much that’s new.  There’s enough to warrant a package, giving it extra attention, but it would be tough to fill and entire segment with it and make it interesting without mere updates.  That’s not to say it’s not important and that it won’t get an In Depth look sometime this week.  That’s just to say I try to keep things interesting, avoiding being repetative as much as possible.

So, today’s topic is Afghanistan.  Admittedly, it was tough to create an entire segment on the situation there, given the resources provided to me.  Today marked the 3ooth British soldier killed there and the Special Envoy to Afghanistan was attacked during his visit, so there’s at least a reason to focus on Afghanistan.  I ended up filling it out with political ideas, both from the U.S. and from Afghanistan, on how to “fix” the situation there.  I hope it’s at least informative.

Posted: June 21st, 2010 under In Depth Topic.
Comments: none

Today’s In Depth topic is same sex marriage, tied to the closing arguments in the Prop 8 trial in California.  It’s an easy choice, since it’s such a polarizing issue.  And, regardless of which side of the issue you fall, you should want to know the outcome since it sets a precedence for the legality of same sex marriage across the nation.

What was tough was finding a balance.  Admittedly, ABC and CNN  sent more sound bites from those for same sex marriage than those against.  In fact, I could only find one bite from those against, that being from the lawyer for the defendants in the trial.  It’s a great bite, filled with more substance than any of the for same sex marriage bites, to be honest.  However, it’s only one sound bite.  I ended up pulling a bite from yesterday to help balance the viewpoints on tonight’s show.

Posted: June 16th, 2010 under In Depth Topic.
Comments: none

The 6:30 just went through a significant change this week.  Actually, much of News 8 did, too.

Jason Fechner is no longer the 6:30 anchor.  While we’re sad to see him go, he’s not going far.  Jason now co-anchors News 8 at 5, 6 and 10 with Rae Chelle Davis.

Matt Hammill now has the honor of sharing the 6:30 with you each night.  Matt brings a very different style, but also a strong news telling nature that we hope you’ll like.

We are also pleased to say that Storm Team 8 Chief Meteorologist James Zahara is still the 6:30’s meteorologist!

Posted: June 16th, 2010 under Behind the Scenes.
Comments: 3