The Newsroom

International Weather Coverage

Split from The Weather Thread (May 2014)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
EL
elmarko
That's quite a commitment but there must be so many ties between Miami and the region that it makes it worth doing
MO
Mouseboy33
Yeah there are is a large Haitian, Cuban, (naturally), Jamaican, and most of the Miami stations can be seen by viewers in the Bahamas and they have a large viewership there. So it makes sense. Plus it shows the commitment of the station to bring the news from back home to Miami. Naturally most of the Miami stations are gonna pull them (if they havent started already) once the storm passes and re-deploy their reporters up and down the eastern Florida coast.
MO
Mouseboy33
TVSPY has a nice rundown how the Florida stations are covering this major story.
http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/florida-stations-brace-for-hurricane-matthew/179346

Florida Stations Brace for Hurricane Matthew
With with latest forecast track putting Hurricane Matthew skating the Florida coast at category 4 strength Thursday, stations from Miami to Jacksonville are in full storm mode, deploying crews to Home Depots, emergency operations centers and the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

“The strongest hurricane to hit Brevard and Volusia counties on record IF it comes ashore,” said Eric Burris, meteorologist at Orlando NBC affiliate WESH. “Just a few miles here or there along our coast makes a big difference.”

At 8 a.m. ET, Miami NBC-owned station WTVJ began continuous coverage of the storm. ABC affiliate WPLG also opted for the storm over Good Morning America, while CBS-owned WFOR aired CBS This Morning. Fox affiliate WSVN aired its usual newscast, with a near total concentration on the hurricane.

Further up the coast in West Palm Beach, CBS affiliate WPEC was in continuing coverage at 8 a.m., with a report from the Bahamas and a focus on storm preps ahead of the storm. ABC affiliate WPBF was also in full storm mode, while NBC affiliate WPTV, meanwhile, aired NBC’s Today. Fox affiliate WFLX devoted its regular newscast exclusively to the storm.

Amy Kaufeldt, an anchor at Fox-owned WOFL in Orlando, in addition to passing along the latest on gas lines and sandbag distribution in Central Florida, has been using Twitter to calm the nerves of scared viewers, including one woman who confessed to being “terrified.” Kaufeldt told the teacher “if you’re prepared, you will ride the storm out just fine. And we’ll be with you!”

For crews at stations and in the field, it’s going to be a long week.
MO
Mouseboy33
Here is an article on how hard the local tv stations are preparing to cover Matthew. This goes to show the value of local tv in situations like this.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/161006161453-hurricane-matthew-bedroom-780x439.jpg
Bed set up in an office at a news room
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/06/media/local-tv-florida-hurricane-matthew/index.html
CNN MONEY
Quote:
Television reporters in parts of Florida about to be hit by Hurricane Matthew are working to get the best possible information to the communities they serve. And then they're heeding their own advice and getting off the beach.

Wind-whipped live shots are a staple of hurricane coverage, but some TV crews will be vacating vulnerable barrier islands as the storm approaches. That is a rarity in hurricane coverage, and a testament to the expected severity of Matthew.

"We don't want to have our crews trapped," said Alan Mason, the VP in charge of two 24-hour news channels in Florida. "No story is worth getting hurt."

Related: What it's like in Hurricane Matthew's path

But Florida's media outlets are still working furiously to ensure that they can get vital information to viewers in danger for as long as the storm lasts. Station managers expect widespread power outages. So broadcasters from Miami to Jacksonville are arranging for local radio stations to simulcast their coverage.

Local meteorologists are also harnessing Facebook and Twitter to reach people who may not be able to tune in. In many cases, the experts are answering specific questions from viewers about expected conditions.

On Wednesday and Thursday local stations deployed dozens of crews up and down the East Coast of Florida. Virtually all of the major stations in the affected area are now broadcasting news 24/7.

"We're not trying to scare people, but we're letting them know that this is the real deal," said Glenn Richards, chief meteorologist at WOFL, Fox's station in Orlando.

Richards emphasized that his part of Florida has not seen a Category 4 hurricane in many decades. That means his viewers literally do not know what to expect.

The nonstop live coverage highlights the enduring importance of local media. If overreactive, obsessive weather coverage is a symbol of local TV at its worst, coverage of a legitimately serious storm like Matthew is local TV at its best.

"This is why local TV will be alive forever and ever — because this is how the information has to get out," Richards said.

At stations like WOFL, staffers are working in 12-hour shifts. Offices are being converted to makeshift bedrooms. Food, water and batteries are being stockpiled.

Ryan Phillips, the morning meteorologist at WTVJ, NBC's station in Miami, said he has slept just 11 hours in the past three days. Thankfully, he said, "there's been plenty of lead time" for Matthew, and a "consistent message across the board" about the potential dangers.

Further north in Orlando, the Sentinel's TV critic Hal Boedeker said the stations "are stressing how dire this could be -- hurricane winds in downtown Orlando." With several days of coverage ahead of time, "no one could say they weren't warned," Boedeker said.

"There's a special bond that develops, a special trust that develops between the meteorologist and the viewer," said Mike Clay, the chief meteorologist at Bay News 9, a local news channel based in Tampa.

Bay News 9 and its sister channel in Orlando, News 13, have 17 crews deployed to cover the storm. Clay said some of them will pull back from barrier islands -- which are especially vulnerable to storm surge -- before the height of the storm.

"We don't want water keeping any of our crews from having an escape route," Clay said.

Plans are always subject to change, but other stations are taking similar approaches. If journalists are at undue risk, "they don't do anybody any good at that point," Richards, of WOFL in Orlando, said.

Lloyd Bucher, the general manager of WPTV in West Palm Beach, said the station has roughly 20 crews deployed, most of them working 12 hours on, 12 hours off. "We're putting them up in safe hotels or evacuation centers," Bucher said.

While "we're news junkies by nature" and "we have an obligation to the market" to cover the hurricane, Bucher said, "our crews out in the field must counterbalance that with their own safety."
RK
Rkolsen
MSNBC is making good use of their video walls:

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Some of the video tiles on the first picture showing different cities are b-roll. A few of them are live video,
Last edited by Rkolsen on 7 October 2016 5:10am - 2 times in total
MO
Mouseboy33
WTOC 11 Savannah, GA boarded up the doors ahead of Matthew's arrival.
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[tweet https://twitter.com/Brosner85/status/784395570794364928]
EL
elmarko
Been streaming WFTV all morning, their two meteorologists giving updates on the path and damage. Right now the eye is exactly east of Daytona Beach and looks to have grown a bit, meaning the power will drop. Cat 3 still right now. Still not sure where this will make landfall, if at all.
MO
Mouseboy33
Florida's east coast stations have been phenomenal. They have been on air non stop no adverts for the most part. I have been really impressed with WFTV 9 Orlando. They have a great team and the meteorologists are calm and steady as are their lead presenting team. No yelling and scaremongering (like that stupid Shepherd Smith at Fox News, fool) When i went to bed last night their were on. Flip on using my Roku this morning and they are still there, freshly scrubbed. You tell the weather team is weary, but they are still on it. The coverage will now continue for the stations in Jacksonville in northeast Florida and then up to Savannah Georgia and then over to Charleston South Carolina.

WFTV 9 Orlando
Their set looks great on air as well. The entire back wall are screens. They have an image of grey stormy clouds and palm trees. Its an impressive look. WFTV have a flat graphics package, so its clean and simple and nice presentation.
http://www.newscaststudio.com/wp-content/gallery/wftv-tv/ncs_wftv_zspacecreative_09.JPG
And they are using this nice big monitor right in the weather center and it looks great on air. Nice and bright and its lit well so you dont get studio light reflection.
http://www.newscaststudio.com/wp-content/gallery/wftv-tv/ncs_wftv_zspacecreative_05.JPG
They have a 3rd meterologist at the video wall to give 2 other meterologists a chance to do research or have a break. and again it looks great on tv.
http://www.newscaststudio.com/wp-content/gallery/wftv-tv/ncs_wftv_zspacecreative_07.JPG
setstudio

Here is the open and an example of their nice clean graphics used during their coverage.
Last edited by Mouseboy33 on 7 October 2016 3:40pm - 2 times in total
MA
mark Founding member
Yep, WFTV's coverage has been great, and they definitely have the best presentation in the Orlando market. One of my favourite sets in US TV, in fact.

I've also been really impressed by some of the stations in the smaller West Palm Beach market. I've mostly been watching ABC affiliate WPBF, which has been doing a great job mounting the same 24-hour, commercial-free coverage as the big boys in Orlando and Miami.
MO
Mouseboy33
Switching to Jacksonville tv market as Hurricane Matthew has moved north of the Orlando market.
Currently on WJAX/WFOX The CBS and FOX duopoly. The storm seems a bit more intense as St Augustine, the oldest city in US (est 1565) is flooding. They have the biggest mic flags ever! Gotta be dangerous to use in such high winds. (geez)
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/s/livestream
Last edited by Mouseboy33 on 7 October 2016 6:42pm
SC
scottishtv Founding member
I'm glad some of the local stations are doing well.

I was watching some cable news (CNN) and despite them doing okay for a national coverage, they were typically over-the-top with the radar on-screen in four places simultaneously at times. The cap above of MSNBC looks similar. Surely in emergency times, the more concise and clear the info the better - why show all this superflous crap on screen constantly? "Action center","Storm control", "Weather alert", "Pinpoint predictions", "Hurricane hunters" - the hype is too much, when calm serious tone is called for.

Finally, don't tell people that the warnings are "life or death" and "you will die" if you go outdoors, then do stuff like this:


Is anyone impressed by this BS any more?

In the UK of course, people would turn to local radio as their main source of info during emergencies, and regional TV news for localised emergencies as well. Anything bigger, and it would be national news - so yet again, proves we don't have a gap that needs filled by ultra-local TV.
MO
Mouseboy33
I wouldnt refer to providing life saving information BS...no matter what marketing names they use for their coverage. Its still commercial tv, that will always be a part of what you see. Most people could careless what its called along as they provide good coverage.

Hurricane Hunters is actually the title given the governmental aviation crew that flies into the hurricane and supplies data to all the US and other countries that might be affected.

http://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/aircraft-operations/about/hurricane-hunters
http://www.omao.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/960_wide/public/media/NOAA%20Hurricane%20Hunters_Photo%20NOAA.jpg?itok=l_pZ1yWC

As far as the networks are concerned. Most people that are under the hurricane or big disaster wouldn't be watching those channels anyway. Most people would be watching the local stations for a variety of reasons. First of all their operations are based in the region. They are actually dispensing real information. CNN, MSNBC, FNC are just dispensing general information for a national audience. (its windy and rainy). The are all sat in NYC. The local stations are telling what shelters a full or street closures or routes and other information that can only be known by people that live there. This building is flooding. This part of the city normally floods. Stuff national correspondents would never know.

But then you have Atlanta-based The WEATHER CHANNEL, which operates in a completely different sphere from the national information networks

As far as radio is concerned most of the stations in a disaster area partner with the local tv station. So they will carry the audio of the tv station so if you loose power and have a radio you still get great coverage. On tv and radio.

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/158364/radio-prepares-for-hurricane-matthew
Last edited by Mouseboy33 on 7 October 2016 8:11pm - 7 times in total

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