Friday, June 25, 2010

Hello VOCM and Goodbye CBC

I find myself increasingly frustrated with what passes for journalism in 2010. An article in theatlantic.com caught my eye today – more for this statement than for the content of the story: “The sad truth is that the Washington Post, in its general desperation for page views, now hires people who came up in journalism without much adult supervision, and without the proper amount of toilet-training.” Regrettably, it is reflective of a far broader collection of so-called journalism than just the Washington Post. I’m a long-time radio listener and this week changed radio stations, something that I do not do lightly. I had enough of the crap that passes for morning news on the local CBC St. John’s radio with its very obvious agendas and instead now listen to 590-VOCM. I don’t much care for music in the morning, but do like news and information. I don’t get as much news on VOCM but at least I know I’m not going to hear endless stories of dogs being abused or cats being flown from Afghanistan or whatever else the local PETA chapter deems appropriate news for the week. The VOCM newscasts are much more tightly written with a far better presentation and presented by experienced newscasters who know how to pronounce the word “news”. Once upon a time, the CBC used to pride itself on professional announcers, now professionalism is not apparent, neither is quality content. Peter Gzowski must be turning over in his grave. So, Hello VOCM and Goodbye CBC.

No comments: