NAPERVILLE — [Steve Johnson’s] column on the decisions made by local TV news directors on the importance of certain stories was absolutely right on the money.
Just a week ago, I e-mailed this little news quiz to someone:
From the “embarrassing set of news priorities” department: In what order do you think last night’s Channel 5 news at 10 presented these stories:
– 10-year-old Chicago girl says she’s sexually assaulted at school.
– Umpire working Naperville high school softball game says he was cursed at and pushed by a parent.
– An airplane seemed to fly unusually low over Sox Park but Midway says it was not outside safe altitude standards.
– 10 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
They were presented in just that order. An umpire allegedly pushed by a parent and an apparently low-flying plane are more newsworthy than 10 U.S. soldiers killed? What a complete joke.
Good thing a building hadn’t caught fire or a pavement sinkhole developed that day — there just would have been way too many “top stories” for Channel 5 to choose from.
— David Juhl
