1 of 1- RadioActive
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CityNews 680 Has Learned...
I can't say for certain that the folks at 680 didn't do their own investigation and came up with the same result as others, but I find it hard to believe.
I'm talking about a Richard Southern report on Wednesday morning about the potential changes of the mayor's power at Toronto City Hall. During a report on CityNews 680 Wednesday, Southern came on with the report about this story, noting "CityNews has learned Queen's Park will create a strong mayor system."
Where exactly did they "learn" this? I'm betting it was reading the pages of the Toronto Star, which had the Robert Benzie exclusive up on its website the night before. Look, I get not wanting to mention any other news organization on your airwaves (although they never seem to mind when it comes from the CBC.) And on the odd occasion that the competition breaks a story, I can see why they can't say "CFRB is reporting..."
But at least phrase it as "we've confirmed reports about..." or "reports indicate..." instead of taking a story from someone else and then taking credit for it on air.
I've seen CTV News do this as well, introducing a story with "CTV News has learned..." and then essentially repeating details that were in one of the Toronto newspapers.
It drives me crazy and it hurts their credibility. Many listeners know where you got it from. Stop taking credit for somebody else's work.
- Tomas Barlow
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Re: CityNews 680 Has Learned...
RadioActive wrote:
I can't say for certain that the folks at 680 didn't do their own investigation and came up with the same result as others, but I find it hard to believe.
I'm talking about a Richard Southern report on Wednesday morning about the potential changes of the mayor's power at Toronto City Hall. During a report on CityNews 680 Wednesday, Southern came on with the report about this story, noting "CityNews has learned Queen's Park will create a strong mayor system."
Where exactly did they "learn" this? I'm betting it was reading the pages of the Toronto Star, which had the Robert Benzie exclusive up on its website the night before. Look, I get not wanting to mention any other news organization on your airwaves (although they never seem to mind when it comes from the CBC.) And on the odd occasion that the competition breaks a story, I can see why they can't say "CFRB is reporting..."
But at least phrase it as "we've confirmed reports about..." or "reports indicate..." instead of taking a story from someone else and then taking credit for it on air.
I've seen CTV News do this as well, introducing a story with "CTV News has learned..." and then essentially repeating details that were in one of the Toronto newspapers.
It drives me crazy and it hurts their credibility. Many listeners know where you got it from. Stop taking credit for somebody else's work.
"Has learned" is the vague way they acknowledge that they didn't break the story, otherwise it would be breaking news or an exclusive. It's pretty sketchy. It's like when Q107 "presents" an artist and the Oshawa station says they "welcome" the same artist to the Budweiser stage despite having no connection to the show whatsoever. Smoke and mirrors.
- Tomas Barlow
- Banned
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Re: CityNews 680 Has Learned...
I've seen CTV News do this as well, introducing a story with "CTV News has learned..." and then essentially repeating details that were in one of the Toronto newspapers.
It drives me crazy and it hurts their credibility. Many listeners know where you got it from. Stop taking credit for somebody else's work.The bar for credibility is slowing lowered by these types of behavior. A station with a large cume that repeats errors or missteps facilitates a fast shift.
The common error that bugs me is the use of singular vs plural. Example "Toronto Police says their investigation is ongoing" vs "Toronto Police says its investigation is ongoing".
Please correct me if I am wrong or looking at it a wrong way. Toronto Police is singular, therefore, it is the appropriate term. I realize that over time language changes. Maybe this is a shift that's inevitable. That's my two cents.
You are correct. I knew a sports reader who would say "The Leafs are playing the Bruins" which was fine because they're both plural but then he'd also say "Toronto are playing Boston" which drove me nuts because they're both singular.