Now they’ve picked up another in an endless stream of cliches: the desolate prairie states. You can read this tripe by clicking here. It’s got the usual ingredients: we’re all but driven mad by the incessant wind; people here have always committed suicide because it’s so bleak; and we’re trying to change the name to Dakota to shake the state’s image.

While I have probably taken far more “fallen farm” photos than these jokers have, I’ve never done it to fit an agenda. I’m pretty sure they came out here simply to portray North Dakota the way they see it, and quite frankly I believe they’re wrong. Heck, they couldn’t even remember Minot in their list of cities…how much attention could they have paid to writing an objective piece?

I won’t even go into a lengthy rant about their attempted hit job on our state. No, I think Julie Neidlinger has done a far better job than anyone else could. I encourage you to read her take on the matter. In my opinion, she carries a lot more weight as a writer than any National Geographic hack ever could.

How would you feel if that was your son? Your brother? Your boyfriend or husband? Pretty bad, I’m sure…especially if you found out by watching it on the 6 o’clock news.

I prefer KXMB’s newscasts…I don’t watch much local TV, but if I do it’s KX news. The reason is that I like their coverage of local issues compared to KFYR’s, who has to focus more regionally. But when I saw this story air tonight, they still didn’t have any details of the kid’s health! They even said so. Wouldn’t you want to find out if a guy is dead before you show video of someone pulling him from the snow and starting CPR on him? Apparently not at Reiten Television.

I don’t know what’s going on over there. I wish the sensationalism would simply stop. Hey, you KX folks: show a little restraint. Edit out the footage of the body, at least. Act with a little bit of professionalism, please. Heaven forbid you should rush to air footage of someone you care about some day. Is that what it would take for you to stop and think for a minute?

How’s that for journalistic responsibility?

Shots included in this story are of a stretcher with someone’s foot protruding from under a blanket, and the front of the “mangled” (in the words of Ms. Preskey) SUV. While she goes on to say that “initial information” is that there are no life-threatening injuries. Way to wait for solid information, folks.

If I sound pretty ticked about this, it’s because this isn’t the first time I’ve witnessed this kind of irresponsibility by KXMB (or posted about it). My last post on the matter got me threats of a lawsuit from Darrell Dorgan last year, by the way. Regardless, I stand firm in my stance that this kind of reporting is unnecessary and unprofessional.

How would you like to catch a news story about one of your loved ones on TV like this? Since my original post I’ve been contacted by others with similar horror stories of seeing loved ones in media. It isn’t a trivial matter.

While turning on my TV just now I caught the tail end of a KFYR-TV story on this same accident. Apparently their cameras were there, too. But did they run to get it on the air before details were known? I see their website has a story on this (with a shot taken from a distance) with a timestamp of 4:35pm. That means KFYR probably had their story on their 5 o’clock news. The KFYR story has details including the speed of both vehicles, the extent of injuries, and the fact that the payloader involved was travelling legally. In other words, they WAITED.

By the way, I’m not railing on KXMB because I worked for KFYR-TV for all those years. When I watch local news, I watch KXMB. The nature of KFYR’s four-station setup means they have to focus on regional news and don’t go into much detail on local Bismarck-Mandan stories. I love Kevin and LT, tho. I will say that when I was at KFYR, we had written policy against sensationalism. Maybe I can find my old employee manual and send that page to KXMB for inspiration.

Look, folks…we’re in DMA number 158…that’s pretty much the hind end of television. There’s no need to rush to sensationalism just to say “we’re first!” Show a little responsibility. Dashing from accident scene to air doesn’t do your stations or your viewers any favors. Think of the victims’ families…please?