January 19th, 2006

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Politics
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Has the Media Forgotten About the Election?

It’s 6:11pm, and I’m surfing between all the news channels–CBC, City TV, Global et al. None of them has provided any election coverage. What have the covered instead? A paroled prisoner, the one year anniversary of the North Van mudslide, banned hockey moms and local muggings. If it bleeds, it leads indeed.

That’s just shameful. The election is in five days, and every media outlet has consigned it to after the first set of commercials? No wonder we have an apathetic electorate. I wonder, as well, how they all know to delay the election coverage until 6:15pm?

Comments: 4 Responses so far

Jeff
January 19th, 2006
6:54 pm

It seems to me that election fatigue is setting in.

I know it is for me. I actually was able to see the PM speak this week and was inspired.

Now, 2 days later, I find that I could *almost* care less about the whole thing.

I just hope the Conservatives lose.

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Ianiv
January 19th, 2006
8:17 pm

I can’t even bother to watch the news on TV anymore… *sigh*

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Ian King
January 19th, 2006
10:44 pm

Hrrrmph. Seems that the trend amongst local newscasts is to load the front of the program with local stories, with national and international items in the later segments, typically 15 or 20 minutes past six. This may be a case of them adhering too rigidly to a formula. I think it’s the wrong thing to do; surely an extraoridnary event like an election calls for monkeying with the lineup. Printed publications do it all the time; why not broadcasters?

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jd
January 20th, 2006
12:27 am

it might be a case of them trying to do longer pieces for the election, which would require them to push the stories back in the line-up a bit. “the National” does it that way, usually. for example, you’re not likely to see a five-minute-long mini-doc followed by a bunch of short pieces to wrap up the show.

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