Slow News Day

As usual I flipped the TV to Channel 8 for the news.  The lead story?  It's raining.  I think to myself, "Really guys?"  Here's the thing.  I live in Florida.  It rains 60 inches a year in the Tampa Bay area.  If it's over 80 degrees outside, there's probably a 50/50 chance it's raining.  This is not a story to lead off with.  It's Florida, it rains. 

But then I got to thinking.  You can tell when a news program has an ageing audience when it leads off with weather, instead of waiting until it's usual time slot of 6:12.  The problem is this isn't the first time Channel 8 has done this.  It's kind of becoming a habit.  I'd hate to think what they are going to do once hurricane season comes along.  I'm sure they'll tell us it's raining somewhere.  Then I will yell at the TV, "Yeah, is it a day that ends in Y?"

So you might be thinking, "Well, it's probably a slow news day."  I thought that too.  But you know what the second news story was?  Two men knocked on a teacher's front door, and when he opened it they shot him point blank.  No robbery, no conversation.  They outright killed him, and no one knows why.  That's a lead story, not water coming from the sky.  And the third news story of the night?  That would be Bucs CB Aqib Talib turning himself in on arrest warrants in Texas.  He shot at a guy, and thankfully missed.  That's a big news story.

I know a lot of people would say, "Why don't you change the channel?"  Well, the people at Channel 8 have always been good to the community.  Bob Hite, the former lead anchor, came to my grade school.  He then invited us to take a tour of the Channel 8 studios, and he personally took us on the tour.  He was very good to us.  A lot of the other reporters have also been really nice to me when I have met them.  I also do like their reporting style.  It's just I wish they would get their priorities straight when reporting the news.  In other words, the weather can wait until 6:12.