Article on new BBC Weather graphics

Hooray!

*snogs MrTomS by way of thanks and runs away giggling*

I would go out and buy you flowers but I'm too busy playing with my new broadband connection. woo

Indeed, Dan is going to have a great time - his bubbly showers are finally going to come to life!

I’m a new member and would to chime in on this matter. Undoubtedly, Chiguy33’s behavior was unacceptable. I also understand that many of you are angered by the “America-is-best-so-why-even-discuss-anything-else” attitude that is, unfortunately, all too common nowadays. As a European-American, I am frequently frustrated and offended by it. Ultimately, it hurts America and America’s reputation most of all.

Having said that, America does not hold a monopoly on arrogance. Some members of this board, unfortunately, exhibit a similar type of attitude: “British-TV-is-the-best-in-the-world-so-let’s-not-learn-from-others.” This approach can be as arrogant and ignorant as Chiguy33’s rantings. Most importantly, it is often very inaccurate and does no-one any good. Make no mistake; British television has made huge contributions to the world, far out of proportion to the country’s size. However, it, as a system, has as much to learn from the experiences of others as American TV. In other words, even its brightest successes do not make it “the best television in the world.” Instead, they make it one way of doing television. An admirable way in many respects, but definitely not the only way.

As far as the subject at hand, I’ve seen weather forecasts around the world and I like the American style the best… by far. This is not a statement of arrogance and certainly not one of ignorance. It is based on my familiarity with television as it is done in different countries, which makes it an informed opinion. In other words, I have come to that conclusion just as I’ve come to the conclusion that Britain leads the world in, say, historical and nature documentaries. Both are perfectly valid opinions and, dare I say it, would probably be met with a broad agreement among unbiased observers.

Now, I’m not referring to CNNI’s weather forecasts. Trying to cover the entire world, or even large portions thereof, cannot result in what I consider a good weather forecast. The same also applies to most US national forecasts, albeit to a lesser degree. However, some local stations in the US do a spectacular job of covering the weather. Granted, they may frustrate the viewers who only want to know tomorrow’s high temperature, but there are plenty of other media outlets available with that kind of information. However, for those trying to understand the weather, no one else in the world does it better than some of these local weatherpeople. I wish some of you would have the chance to watch Tom Skilling on Chicago’s WGN. His legendary weather forecasts include everything from computer animations of how the sky will look at certain hours to all the forecast wind-shifts in the next 24 hours, an important factor considering the city’s lakeside location. I can’t find any clips on the web, but his forecast is simply breathtaking. Several other stations do similarly magnificent jobs. In a country where severe weather is important, these meteorologist can track individual storm cells to a few hundred meters, resulting in good television and a great public service. Europe in general and Britain in particular, where severe weather is also becoming an increasingly important fact of life, could learn a lot from them. You may not end up preferring American weather after watching these weather forecasts, but I have a feeling you would probably have more respect for it.

British weather forecasts leave me decidely underwhelmed. *braces* . BBC’s symbols may have some nostalgic value, but they do not do their job effectively -- they are simply not accurate enough. I’ve even heard my relatives – the ones who live in Europe -- complain about the BBC’s outdated and often pedestrian presentation when watching BBC World forecasts. These comments did not come from some arrogant Americans. (And to avoid any misunderstandings, let me repeat that what I’m expressing here is an informed value judgement – a perfectly valid opinion on weather forecasts -- and should not be construed as British-bashing.)

Finally, I’ve seen plenty of newscasts in emerging television markets – places where fully competitive television is often a relatively new phenomenon. Television stations there can borrow from any approach that suits them best, but when it comes to weather, it is the American style and not the BBC one that they overwhelmingly adopt, at least when it comes to graphics. That fact alone speaks volumes to me.

[quote="WorldTVNews"]
Europe in general and Britain in particular, where severe weather is also becoming an increasingly important fact of life, could learn a lot from them. You may not end up preferring American weather after watching these weather forecasts, but I have a feeling you would probably have more respect for it.

I'm not going to attack you, so you can relax. I do however, beg to differ. I am also American, though I am trying to change that , and have seen telly in many different countries. Also, I am from the US south and know severe weather all too well. I get very frustrated with US weather barbies and kens mainly because they give far too much irrelevent information that very few people understand or care about. The maps are a foreign language to the average viewer who only wants to know if they'll get wet or blown away any time soon. Being accurate is also not always their forte either, weather forecasting is not an exact science after all. How many times did I watch the doppler radar telling me it was raining on me, when the view out my window said it wasn't. I'm not saying there's no room for improvement in the British way, but they do a good job and don't treat us like idiots. As for the rest of the telly, well, I'll watch British every time.