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BigBen · 08-03-2005, 07:23 AM

I was watching the coverage on the plane that crashed at Pearson Airport yesterday, and was listening to the "Press Conference" that the head of the airport gave the media a few hours after the accident.

Yes, I have a weird sense of humour, and I ended up laughing at the questions coming from the press gallery:

"Did the plane intentionally run off the runway?"
"Could the pilot have prevented this from happening?"
"Could you tell us more about this 'Ravine' the plane came to rest in?"
"Could vehicle traffic on the 401 contributed to the cause?"

At every answer, the head of the airport stated over and over:
"I can't speculate on that, all I can tell you is what has already been stated."

The journalists simply peppered this guy with stupid questions. They sat in the conference room and brainstormed conspiracy theories, while attempting to find an "Angle" to make the story better (Or dare I say, sexier)

Is this bad journalism? The news stations that run 24 hours a day are now faced with the problem of filling that time. Are these questions simply filler to ensure that there is no 'Dead Air'? Are the reporters simply morons, who when faced with asking questions on their own come up with real stupid ones?

Think about a news event, say in the past 12 months, where it was a breaking story and the news conference was awash with bad questions. Can anyone contribute to the list above of really bad questions reporters ask?

I should post the questions in 'Tilted Humour'.

08-03-2005, 07:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
BigBen Comedian Location: Use the search button	Bad Journalism, Incompetence, or Filler? I was watching the coverage on the plane that crashed at Pearson Airport yesterday, and was listening to the "Press Conference" that the head of the airport gave the media a few hours after the accident. Yes, I have a weird sense of humour, and I ended up laughing at the questions coming from the press gallery: "Did the plane intentionally run off the runway?" "Could the pilot have prevented this from happening?" "Could you tell us more about this 'Ravine' the plane came to rest in?" "Could vehicle traffic on the 401 contributed to the cause?" At every answer, the head of the airport stated over and over: "I can't speculate on that, all I can tell you is what has already been stated." The journalists simply peppered this guy with stupid questions. They sat in the conference room and brainstormed conspiracy theories, while attempting to find an "Angle" to make the story better (Or dare I say, sexier) Is this bad journalism? The news stations that run 24 hours a day are now faced with the problem of filling that time. Are these questions simply filler to ensure that there is no 'Dead Air'? Are the reporters simply morons, who when faced with asking questions on their own come up with real stupid ones? Think about a news event, say in the past 12 months, where it was a breaking story and the news conference was awash with bad questions. Can anyone contribute to the list above of really bad questions reporters ask? I should post the questions in 'Tilted Humour'. __________________ 3.141592654 Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.