Bad Form

People don't watch TV to be informed. If they did, we'd have a much better society. No, they watch to be entertained! At least that seems to be the philosophy of one local reporter, who took a bad joke one step too far. And then a few more steps. Before he knew it, he was in the middle of a homeless encampment, upsetting thousands of viewers as they watched it on live TV. Before we go to the video, here's a quick recap...

Around the Sacramento area, the homeless are fined for residing anywhere other than at local shelters. However, on a vacant lot near the rail yards, a homeless camp known as "Tent City" arose, and everyone just kinda turned their backs to it. That is, until the railroad company decided they didn't want these folk around, so the police came in and told everyone they had to vacate the area or risk being fined.

I spent my day wandering through Tent City, chatting with folks about their situations. Nobody had anywhere else to go, but they couldn't afford to pay fines, so they had to pick up and wander until they found a new place. Sad story, prime tear-jerker material for the evening news. Then, someone opened up a plot of land to them in a nearby city, allowing them to stay until the shelters opened up.

That brings us to our video. I'll let the rest speak for itself-

Good, quality journalisming.

As I watched this, I was reminded of a similar, though much less offensive, situation from my early days. It was one of those "He's not going to do it... Is he really going to do it?... Oh god, he's doing it" moments. At the county fair, there was a "Dock Dogs" competition, which was basically a long-jump contest for dogs. Fun stuff. Here's how the new guy decided to cover it-

During the live shot, I wondered if maybe I should just shut off the camera. I figured it'd probably do less damage than letting it continue. Alas, I didn't, and it just kept going. That's what I call news!

Now if I could just find someone to bring me McDonald's and a half-rack of bud. Happy Thanksgiving!