Going in to get my driver’s license today (which I finly got around to getting), the parking lot of the local DMV (Division of Motor Vehicles) was swarming with news trucks, from several stations. Inside a news reporter was briefing a employee on where to stand in front of a camera. As soon as the camera person from one station left the building, a camera person from another station came in and began recording. As we went through the inevitable lines, I was wondering,”What is going on here?”. After more waiting in line, taking my road test, and getting the final paper work done, it was time for me to get my picture taken. Even 45 minutes after we pulled up there was still a camera person in there. I may be on the news tonight, because he was looking for pictures of me getting my picture taken.

So after he’d stop recording, I asked him, “What is this all about?” “Oh”, he said, “Someone tried to steal the camera and the computer attached to it. Now we’re doing a follow-up story about how the DMV is back in operation now.” There are many DMV offices in the area, so it’s not like the entire state of South Carolina can’t get driver’s licenses. The only thing I can conclude from this is the Charlotte must be really bored for news today.

Broadcast news outlets - indeed probably any news company that depends on advertising for their money - has to have news to put on. That means that they’re sort of more like entertainment than real news. If you have a lot of important news on one day, some of it may be bumped aside. If they have no important news, well, they will go find something and make it look important! It’s not terribly good system for finding things to think about.