In article ,
D Peter Maus wrote:

Phoon Hencman wrote:
On 2007-07-28 00:12:20 -0400, dxAce said:

How frickin stupid can the journalists of California be? Dumber
than a fake Hispanic?

Ya got a bunch of dumbass *******s floating around in helicopters,
trying to get the best shot of another dumbass ******* involved in
a high speed chase and the dumbass *******s in the helicopters all
die?

Best to let the authorities on the ground do their jobs?



Phoenix is a very aggressive market for TV news. Even more so
than
Chicago in many instances. The use of helicopters is likewise very
aggressive. More so than other markets. Because Phoenix is
considered a feeder market for LA, the pilots, reporters, producers
and photographers are all more aggressive than they need to be in
order to get the attention the LA market for the move up, the higher
salaries, yada yada yada.

The huge number of Californians living full or part time in
Phoenix
has made it easy for LA media to consider Phoenix a suburb of LA.
Which exacerbates the problem. And most of the media coverage of this
event began with LA stations, not Phoenix stations. LA had video on
the air before Phoenix did. Albeit, not by much.

So, Pheonix is an atypical market for TV news coverage. More
aggressive that most markets of it's size, often more aggressive than
top 5 markets, with personal agendae often driving much of what gets
to air.

FAA reps interviewed by LA CBS 2 said that Phoenix' use of
helicopters is also unique. And where the collision occurred was
Class Bravo Surface Area. That means, literally, right off the end of
a Class B airport runway system. Once cleared into the area by ATC,
the pilots were on their own to manage safety, intervals and spacing.
And FAA regs under those conditions are 'see and avoid,' with the
ultimate responsibility for the safety of each aircraft resting with
the Pilot in Command.

What happened here was a tragedy. And it was wholly avoidable.



They do it for ratings. It all about ratings for the media. A great
car chase brings people in. They should have an all car chase
channel. How the **** they can have an all golf channel is beyond
me....



It's not just about ratings. It's also about getting personal credit
for the shot that puts the station over the top, to get attention of
those who would lure the winner away with offers in markets like,
especially like, LA.

The stations are aggressive, to be sure. But the pilots,
photographers, producers and reporters add their own extra level of
aggression for personal benefits.

I'd say about 50% of the people in California are in the dumb-ass class.
People will stop on the opposite side of a divided highway (with a wide
green median) to gawk at a crash on the other side. Sometimes it creates
another car crash.

One time I had this ditz in front of me in left lane of a 3 lane highway
come to a complete stop because a CHP had someone pulled over on the
right shoulder.

Any time their is an "event" like a car chase that starts dome in LA and
makes its way up here you can easily have a half dozen news choppers in
the air following along. It's a wonder to me that they don't crash into
each other more often.

The coppers will come up from LA for fire, flood, landslide or anything
deemed exciting. Idiots.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California