I received a detailed response from WSAV’s Vice-President and General Manager David Hart to my post about their severe weather graphics and reports Thursday. I’m impressed he reached out; in the past when I have tried to contact media companies about these issues I’ve been either dismissed or ignored, which is why I stopped bothering and just directly post what I think most of the time.
Mr. Hart and his Chief Meteorologist (Scott Roberts) raised a number of interesting points, some I agree with, some not, but over all I think it deserves a broader and more detailed discussion, which they suggested. A key aspect they pushed back on was my characterization of their report as “irresponsible.” I think that’s a fair objection given I don’t know the details of how their report was created, although I think there are some highly problematic aspects that need to be discussed. They are understandably quite sensitive to the allegation they are hyping severe weather to boost their ratings. To be clear, while many of you have that perception, and I know there are stations that do it, that’s not what I was directly alleging here even though on the surface it looked like it – in my post I speculated this was a graphics/data vendor or internal interpretation issue. Rather than start a public debate on the blog or elsewhere, we’re going to try to meet soon to discuss the way they are presenting severe weather. I’m looking forward to hearing their side of the story in more detail.
About 15 years ago I worked on a NOAA grant through the University of Central Florida on better ways of communicating storm risk to the public. It is a complicated subject, and there are differences of opinion on the best way to do it. So this is an area I know something about. It should be interesting to talk to the WSAV staff directly, and hopefully I will be able to follow up here with some further insight in to their thinking (and of course I’ll let you know if I think it’s valid or not). Mr. Hart also seemed open to discussing some improvements in their system, so we’ll see how it goes.
Again, I give credit to Mr. Hart for reaching out, and I look forward to our discussions. They at least deserve credit for taunting the dynamite monkey 😛
And also, when the threat of a storm appears enhanced, schools respond by closing (I don’t know how much “e-learning” is going on in higher grades but for those of us with pre-k students and work from home jobs, it means 6 hours of paw patrol) and people who don’t have the ability to work from home are scrambling.
I applaud them. But mainly thank you for your lead on all reasonableness in weather accuracy and reporting. We easily get spun up on these things and I for one, spend my time seeking your scientific as well as practical perspectives. I also voiced my compliant to this TV station as it is most disconcerting to be alarmed without reason for profitability’s sake.
Waiting anxiously to hear the results
Great that they are ready to talk and hopefully improve their reports as well… I appreciate Mr. Hart’s and your willingness to help make things better! ♥️♥️♥️
Well, I’m shocked. Overall, sounds encouraging. Communication is always a positive step. Thanks for all you do to keep us nervous Nellie’s grounded! 😉
David Hart is a first rate GM. I have heard from many WSAV staff that he’s the best boss they’ve had there. Good on him and you for both having dialogue on the matter!
No matter what, this is where I come for the no-spin report and updates
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This could be interesting… I look forward to hearing the results of the discussion.
Mr Hart is fully aware that sensational weather reports means more viewers to his TV advertising sponsors and higher ratings. The sky is falling reporting by most networks have been suspect by me for years now. Since we do get some extreme weather events, drama for a line of thunderstorms is totally unnecessary. It’s the South it has “normal afternoon thunderstorms”! HOWEVER I do believe to keep children safe when their travel to and from school is affected is a main priority.