WHO DO YOU FEEL SORRY FOR?

WHO DO YOU FEEL SORRY FOR?

There are a lot of people who we can legitimately feel sorry for. For example, children in war zones, people without daily food and water, or victims of natural disaster or violent crime. There is no shortage of people whose lot in life is very sad and painful. There are also individuals that I feel sorry for because of their circumstances: Sarah Sanders, press secretary for Trump, or Rachel Notley, Alberta Premier, or even Pope Francis, for all of the issues that he must face. But at the very top of my sympathy totem pole is Mark Villani! I feel sorry for him everyday!

Mark is a television news reporter for CTV News in Calgary. Every day, he is sent out into the city to report on some local news event. For example, if there is a major court decision that is featured on the telecast, the news director will send Mark out into the streets and we get to watch Mark’s live report. Regardless of the weather, Mark will be standing on the courthouse steps telling us about the verdict. It does not include any new information that the anchor has not already referenced, nor does it involve interviews or live action shots. It is basically just Mark standing in the freezing cold telling the viewer what we already know. If it is a hockey report, Mark stands in front of the Saddledome. If it is a City Council story, Mark is stationed in front of City Hall. Some producer believes that if the viewer can actually see the yellow police tape around the site of a suspected homicide, that it makes the story more meaningful or real. Humbug!

I feel so sorry for him. Why does he always have to be standing outside facing wind, rain or freezing temperatures, in front of some building, to make his report? He could have made the same report inside the warm CTV studio at a different news desk instead of a windswept street corner looking frozen and uncomfortable. What does the news director have against poor Mark? He looks like a really nice guy!

On the international news scene the same kind of unnecessary remote news reporting exists. For example, there is often a breaking news story about some political opponent of the government being detained by  Turkish officials. The Canadian newscast will send us across the Atlantic to an update on the story from a Canadian reporter stationed in London. What the hell does the London reporter know about the details of a story a thousand miles away? This “closer to the action” insight does not really enhance the story in any way, when “closer” is miles away and the reporter is not reporting from the actual news location.

These  remote “on-location” reports do little to add to the news story. They are simply a means of breaking up the monotony of watching one or two reporters reading the news. It is kind of like a commercial break, without the clever graphics and the musical jingle! So, I implore CTV to please let   Mark come in from the cold! I really feel sorry for him and he looks like such a nice guy!