I switched from CNN and The Weather Channel to News 12 New Jersey when the storm neared New Jersey last night and kept it tuned to News 12 all Saturday night and well into Sunday. And I suspect I wasn't the only one.
News 12 New Jersey, which is under new management, seems to have earned some much needed audience trust during this hurricane. I don't think their attempt to imitate national storm coverage was very successful, but they were in their element when they didn't focus on their correspondents out in the elements. I think viewers really liked the participatory aspects of the broadcast. Viewer reports and testimonials were clearly endearing to the audience, based on the unsolicited praise from caller after caller to the show on Sunday.
I'm not convinced that News 12 is a journalistic powerhouse, nor do I think they can claim to represent New Jersey when their weather maps don't even include portions of the state south of Ocean County. But they've gained some audience support these past couple of days. Perhaps this will give them a chance to sort out their mandate and get properly established?
Yeah, I was impressed with the NJ 12 coverage as well. I never really watched it until before the hurricane. I started watching it about 8 PM on Saturday and kept it on until we lost power around 10:30 PM in Aberdeen. I thought the did a really good job considering I had no idea who they were before.
ReplyDeleteA NJ state legislator suggested that NJ 12 provided no coverage of the storm. His comments got prominent coverage in the Asbury Park Press this weekend. What's up with that? Just another example of how Trenton doesn't know what's going on in the state and how bad APP's news machine has gotten lately.
ReplyDeleteToday's Asbury Park Press contains a letter to the editor dealing with this issue. The reader points out that Assemblyman John Burnichelli is from South Jersey, where NJ 12 is not widely available. That fact may explain both the Assemblyman's complaint of no coverage and NJ 12's neglect of the southern portion of the state. The reader suggests that NJ 12 "be made aware that New Jersey does not end at Trenton," but clearly there is no incentive to provide coverage if there is no audience. The population is vastly less in the south anyway, but if cable television doesn't even bring the channel into their homes, what is the Assemblyman complaining about? Just more political nonsense. Maybe NJ ends just outside of Trenton?
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