This will change in a few hours, when Web pages are updated to reflect Wednesday's editions. But at the moment there is little coverage of what could be the worst flooding since Agnes, even though locals and diaspora alike have been aware of the impending doom since late Tuesday afternoon.
Every news site should already be full of reporting, photos, and video clips. Not later this morning, not this Sunday. Now. Here's how things look at 1 a.m.:
Voice: F. Flood? What flood? No mention on its site. Amateur hour.
TL: Lowest possible D-. Nothing on the main page but glee about their new owner. If you drill down to the 'breaking news' section, news of the mandatory evacuation of South Wilkes-Barre is stuck in the police briefs. No photos or video. Only the Voice's low standards saves them from an F.
Scranton Times-Tribune: C-. Two bylined stories, one of which is pretty good. Some links. But no photos (just one thumbnail) or video or audio.
WNEP: C+. They've got a great slideshow (130 pix) of viewer shots. That's what people log on to see. It's inexcusable that the papers don't have the same thing. NEP also has a few stories, including a good roundup.
WBRE: D+. A couple stories stating the obvious (it's flooding!) and that's it. Their grade was improved with the story about two people drowning in Hazleton, a story no one else bothered to report.
WYOU: F. Nothing but a list of evacuated streets. Why bother even having a Web site, fellas?
At least WNEP *finally* had information about I-81 being shut down in Susq County due to flooding, rock & mud slides. It wasn't in their "Flooding Closes Roads" list, but in what appears to be their constantly-updated "Flooding Problems Across The Area" story. I'd have put it, or at least a headline, up higher.
ReplyDeleteYou have WNEP with two scores; I assume the one with a D+ really is for WBRE -- which had the I-81 story shoehorned into their 'cast, possibly because Lyndall or someone got it into her earpiece just as the show was ending. You'd think they would put it on their web site as well but, nahhh.
So much for the vaunted "stormcenter" of YOU. It's a slogan, not coverage.
ReplyDeleteYou need to revisit the TT's website - you're way off on what they offer. It's quite good.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the TT has some good coverage this morning. My point was that the photos and stories should have been on there last night, when traffic was high.
ReplyDeleteThe were very heavy on important info last night, ie: road closings, shelters, weather, radar, river depth, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe photos and videos came later I guess. That stuff seems less important than the info.
So what are the grades for today's coverage?
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't checked the 'common folk' photos sent in to WNEP, it's worth a look.
ReplyDeleteYeah, good stuff, right from the people most affected.
ReplyDeleteI use their site for weather, but for news it's pretty thin. I use the times-Trib for news. They seem to cover everything and break in much faster than any other local site.
The TL loves to shout how great they are about updating the web with great cutting-edge photos and webcasts.
ReplyDeleteWell......the only photos added of today's situation were taken by a reporter.
Nice job! D-
Would have been an 'F' but Konopki has shots of what the Huntsville Dam area looks like.
If that dam goes, God help those down stream.
Given how rapidly things have gone in the shitter, I don't know that letter grades are appropriate. But in this modern era, there is no excuse for 1) jamming your site with content, both user- and staff-generated, and 2) updating instantly through the day. Every NEPA TV station and newspaper should have someone working the Web site exclusively from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Neither is evident at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe Voice got the evacuation online first, but the site is otherwise laughable. TL is OK. T-T is decent. I can no longer find the viewer photos at NEP.
Given how rapidly things have gone in the shitter, I don't know that letter grades are appropriate. But in this modern era, there is no excuse for 1) jamming your site with content, both user- and staff-generated, and 2) updating instantly through the day. Every NEPA TV station and newspaper should have someone working the Web site exclusively from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Neither is evident at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe Voice got the evacuation online first, but the site is otherwise laughable. TL is OK. T-T is decent. I can no longer find the viewer photos at NEP.
You're selling the TT short. Give that coverage another look...extensive and complete in every regard.
ReplyDeleteI agree re: the T-T. Solid. But it shouldn't take 24 hours to get spun up.
ReplyDeleteWBRE and WYOU have given up with the Web, I guess.
You'll love this...the TT already has the evacuation order being lifted online for the past 20 minutes.
ReplyDeleteNEP, The TL, etc. make no mention of it.
It must suck to get routinely beaten by a paper 20 miles away from the story that is in your back yard.