Remember when talking about the weather was a euphemism for something between being intensely dull to sensibly steering clear of controversial topics? Intersting story in the NYT this morning about the US channel the Weather Network and how the dullest station on the TV is now coping with relevance:
The daily weather forecast is rarely controversial, but the broader topic of climate change has generated no end of debate. As the network has seen its primary subject turn into a hot-button issue, it has had to grapple with how it wants to address it — and has decided not to tread gingerly. The issue started influencing the network’s coverage in a new way after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast in 2005, and has been shaping its programming decisions.Please note: as a founding member of BFR (Bloggers For Reality) I admit and give witness to the fact I know nothing about global warming and have no idea who is right.
Comments
gary - June 4, 2007 9:10 am
There was a New Yorker article a year or two ago about weather channel addicts. Such as my mom.
gorthos - June 4, 2007 10:40 am
I admit it. I am a weather nut. If I have one major career regret,it is that I did not persue my original desire to be a meteorologist. Extreme weather excites me. I go out in insane storms to be a part of the maelstrom. Lightning does freak me out when it is close though after a very close call back in 1994. I have seen two cyclones close by almost touch down, one fly right over my car, was close by as a youth when one flattened part of Brighton Ontario and I have seen up close a north americal waterspout.
It is freakazoids like me that make the weather channel entertainment rather than solely information. Hooray for climate change!