Skip to main content

A General Review of WDRB

A General Review of WDRB


From my time watching WDRB while doing this blog, I have mixed reviews. It isn't perfect and doesn't strictly adhere to the somewhat utopian yardsticks and guidelines, but most of its stories are relevant and from looking at the early data our class has gathered, it appears to be the best local news station we've got.

WDRB has a fair mixture of populist and elitist stories. The ever-chastised sports stories are limited to only about three short stories at the last three to four minutes of each half-hour broadcast. While crime stories are sometimes a large part of the show, there are usually important stories mixed in. WDRB always has two weather stories per broadcast, which seems a reasonable number considering that weather directly affects the lives of every viewer, but time is very limited in a thirty minute broadcast with ten or so minutes of ads. I've been impressed by many of WDRB's stories on social issues and government programs such as a story about how an agency tasked with fixing ugly houses isn't doing its job and one on how a program to help homeless foster kids has become extremely underfunded as the number of homeless children in Kentucky has spiked. These stories show how WDRB also has a fair balance between being a watchdog and reporting when agencies aren't doing their jobs, and also fairly reporting when those agencies are incapable of achieving their objectives. WDRB has some good reporting, but it isn't all ideal.

While primarily focusing on local stories can helps keep the stories relevant to local viewers, WDRB has almost exclusively local stories. While we have watched there have been a grand total of zero international stories. There have only been six national stories, many of which have been national in only the most technical of senses, taking place in Indianapolis, Lexington or other parts of Kentucky. Surely there would have been more than zero stories from our wide world more relevant than "Triple A does a free battery check" or "An unknown incident took place in a Newburg apartment building". In a time period in which Jamal Khasshogi was killed, Brazil elected a new president and Angela Merkel announced that she wouldn't run for the German chancellorship again, at least one story from the wide world should have made the cut. I have already detailed my many problems with one incomplete lead story WDRB aired, but that very poor story has thankfully been an outlier.

If I had to choose, I would give WDRB four stars out of five. There is room for improvement with the lack of national and international stories, but most stories aired are relevant and many are investigative and of a high standard or journalism. I can't speak for WDRB's competition, but from my experience watching other local news it is bad. Other local stations have broadcasts dominated by sports and crime stories, unlike WDRB. WDRB isn't the perfect local news station, but it is the best Kentuckiana currently has.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Forward in this Generation Triumphantly

We Forward in this Generation Triumphantly A Response to Isabella Bonilla's  "A Reflection Of the Past 72 Hours" The past few weeks, months and years have looked bleak for the grand arc of human triumph over tribalism. From Brexit to Bolsonaro, rifts between groups of people have become evident if not enlarged.  Isabella responded to  a class discussion on hate crimes committed in recent days with an eloquently worded piece. (Yes I realise I have already responded to one of Isabella's posts, but they are thoughtful and not too many posts for this continuation have been made yet). In it she makes many points about the media's role in covering a tragedy. She also points out that the internet, the modern marvel it is, has a rampant problem with disinformation and promoting radicalizing echo chambers. I agree in many regards that the internet and social media are not beneficial to the state of public discourse. I don't have any social media because I ...
1 comment
Read more

In Defense of WDRB

In Defense of WDRB Local news is inherently flawed. Local news is often incapable of living up to national expectations on a low budget and local audience. Evie published a post  that had some harsh words for WDRB today. In it, she berates the local news station for airing too many stories about social issues or human interest, and for publishing too many sports stories online. The way she sees it, WDRB sacrifices being able to do in depth coverage on specific stories in exchange for more time for populist stories. While I agree with her in some points, I fundamentally disagree with her opinions on what constitutes a relevant and important story.  Evie states that on a recent broadcast "there were nine stories that fit under the category of social issues and human interests, but their were zero stories on politics and government, and only one story on accidents and disasters" to support her point that WDRB is airing too many irrelevant stories. While I do see it as s...
1 comment
Read more

Popcorn: There for the Crowds or the Cash?

Popcorn: There for the Crowds or the Cash? A Response to "Movie Theater Immersion" Marjorie made a post  about how she believes that food common at movie theaters is part of the immersive experience that draws people to the theaters today. While I agree on some points she makes, I would largely disagree in this more lighthearted dispute.  In her post, Marjorie acknowledges that one can get many movie theater snacks at home. She counters that you just can't get the same experience from snacks at home. While it is true that you can't get the exact recipe of popcorn at home, you also have many more options at home. You can go to the grocery and get whatever type of snack you want, whereas you are limited to a select few options at the theater.  The immersive experience of a movie theater refers to how one feels surrounded by a movie and focuses his or her attention exclusively on the film. Snacks do the opposite of that by focusing attention on taste and...
Post a Comment
Read more