The Night the Lights Went Out at the Big 1-9.
Well, the week is almost over. Fortunately the emails dripping with snake venom have slowed to a trickle. No doubt the conspiracy theorists are off on another adventure. Whomever is at the receiving end of their ones and zeroes, may God have mercy on their souls and exploding email inboxes.
In my eight years at WHNT, (almost 11, if you count my internship), I've never had a more discouraging week. From the moment our receiver failed Sunday night, the blizzard of emails filled with words like, "communists," "fascists," "Soviets," and another word that begins with "F" and ends with "K" have been non-stop.
Last night someone on one of the cable channels did a segment on what happened. I think that's when I hit rock-bottom. The guy they had on there was just so filled with information that seems to have been manufactured at a factory where they use a lot of high fructose corn syrup. He claimed that WHNT is owned by the Bass Family, who are big Bush Backers, contributors to Republican causes, etc, etc, etc. He also said that because of that, "WHNT was well known for being very negative toward Siegelman during his trial."
Well, first of all, I had no idea who the Bass Family is. When we got the first email mentioning the name Bass, I had to ask someone what they meant. No one from the Bass family has ever even set foot in the building. And during the Siegelman trial in 2006, WHNT was owned by The New York Times. Do you see the problem with his statement then?
I guess I take solice in the fact that the vast, vast majority of the emails came from people who've never seen one second of WHNT programming. Our viewers here in North Alabama know that we would never do the things we're accused of doing.
Oh yeah, I'll have to tell you sometime about the night our receiver failed just as Walker: Texas Ranger was starting. Let's just say it lead to about 6 cars in our parking lot being smashed with a baseball bat. Some people love their Chuck Norris.
In fact, I think I will close with the lyrics to Walker: Texas Ranger.
"In the eyes of a ranger, The unsuspected stranger Had better know the truth of wrong from right, Cuz the eyes of a ranger are upon you, Any wrong you do he's gonna see, When youre in Texas look behind you, Cuz that's where the rangers are gonna be."
In my eight years at WHNT, (almost 11, if you count my internship), I've never had a more discouraging week. From the moment our receiver failed Sunday night, the blizzard of emails filled with words like, "communists," "fascists," "Soviets," and another word that begins with "F" and ends with "K" have been non-stop.
Last night someone on one of the cable channels did a segment on what happened. I think that's when I hit rock-bottom. The guy they had on there was just so filled with information that seems to have been manufactured at a factory where they use a lot of high fructose corn syrup. He claimed that WHNT is owned by the Bass Family, who are big Bush Backers, contributors to Republican causes, etc, etc, etc. He also said that because of that, "WHNT was well known for being very negative toward Siegelman during his trial."
Well, first of all, I had no idea who the Bass Family is. When we got the first email mentioning the name Bass, I had to ask someone what they meant. No one from the Bass family has ever even set foot in the building. And during the Siegelman trial in 2006, WHNT was owned by The New York Times. Do you see the problem with his statement then?
I guess I take solice in the fact that the vast, vast majority of the emails came from people who've never seen one second of WHNT programming. Our viewers here in North Alabama know that we would never do the things we're accused of doing.
Oh yeah, I'll have to tell you sometime about the night our receiver failed just as Walker: Texas Ranger was starting. Let's just say it lead to about 6 cars in our parking lot being smashed with a baseball bat. Some people love their Chuck Norris.
In fact, I think I will close with the lyrics to Walker: Texas Ranger.
"In the eyes of a ranger, The unsuspected stranger Had better know the truth of wrong from right, Cuz the eyes of a ranger are upon you, Any wrong you do he's gonna see, When youre in Texas look behind you, Cuz that's where the rangers are gonna be."
posted by Carson Clark @ 9:05 AM
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