On Jul 28, 1:44 am, James Robinson wrote:
"Morgans" wrote:

It is FAR past time for the media to stop covering these chases by
chasing and filming them in their helicopters. The public can do
without it. It does no good to stop the criminal behavior.

The entertainment value seems to be far too great for this to happen. In
this case, the two helicopters involved in the incident were being joined
by three other media helicopters, plus there was reportedly a police
helicopter in the vicinity for a total of six flitting around in the same
airspace.

Entertainment value has nothing to do with it.

The ability to get on top of, and stay on top of a breaking story
insert your own worthy definition here is the coal that fires the
sales department. Wanting to be top dog and be able to proclaim that
"When News Breaks, We Fix It..! *" equates to more advertising
dollars. Cash is King.

Unfortunately, there is a rampant sense of "If It Bleeds, It Leads" in
many newsrooms now days and the Phoenix market (being relatively close
to Los Angeles both physically and in attitude) tends to follow that
trend to a fault.

The thing that gave me chills was that it appears the pilot also provides the commentary, so he not only has to maintain separation and handle the radio, but also has to watch the chase on the ground, glance at the monitors to see what is being videoed, and has to have the presence of mind with all that's going on to make intelligent comments to the viewers all at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking. And they say that cell phones when driving are a distraction.

IMO, in most markets, you can thank the union/management relationship
for this deal. News departments (like any other business) look for
ways to cut costs and the ability to send out a helo with only a pilot/
reporter and one camera operator (either hand held on the shoulder or
if they can afford such a gyro-mount of some kind) means they aren't
paying a big bucks, terrestrial reporter and/or producer to go up as
well.

You'd at least think the various stations could agree to accept feeds from their competitors to keep the number of choppers over a chase to some sane limit.

There isn't a News Director on the planet (who wants to keep his/her
job) that would be willing to do this. The phrase, "Live, Local,
BORROWED" just doesn't have the same catchy ring to it.

(* Personally, I prefer the phrase: If It Happens Around Town, It's
News To Us! This used to be our inside joke back in the day at WDTN
in Dayton, OH.)

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ
("Veteran" of the Broadcast Wars Since 1982)