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Comment by deogeo | Hacker News Reader

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So, why are we not closing stations for scheduled code red days on normal weather? They are lying to the public, but it doesn't seem there are any consequences for them, only for the employees that object to the lying.

I think this situation is a lot like the "shouting fire in a crowded theater" example.

Sorry, I was referring to the firing of the reporter, not the initial push for 'code red' reports.

The meteorologist made some very valid points, though. The Sinclair alert system isn’t clear and well-designed, unlike the long-standing NWS alert system.

Indirectly related, but it’s worth reading up on some of the political battles being fought in the US meteorological world at the moment.

An Accuweather executive, Barry Myers, was nominated to head the NOAA, which he’s spent years lobbying against to cut off public access to government weather data[0]. This story was featured in Michael Lewis’ latest book, The Fifth Risk, which documented instances where private companies are trying to block public access to various types of government data.

Private interests are materially altering reporting systems that have worked for years, and many professional meteorologists are becoming more concerned about this influence.

0: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-14/trump-s-p...

Sinclair media owns most local TV stations in the US and uses them to shape public discourse in less-than-ethical ways. I think when local news has gotten as consolidated as it is, it ought to have some kind of obligation to the public, and shouldn't be able to hide behind "it's a private company" to justify bad behavior.

John Oliver did an informative bit on Sinclair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc

Yes, this weather-report manipulation is the tip of the iceberg.

The station managers get frequent directives from corporate management to hype more-or-less fake stories, and suppress other (real) stories, largely for political purposes.

Before the FCC rescinded its balanced-reporting rules this sort of foolishness was contained, at the cost of sometimes requiring airing fringe lunacy. Now fringe lunacy is often the whole story.

Yes - that is why I ended my post with /censorship_apologist - to indicate it was meant to mock common arguments for censorship.

Arguments that are only invoked when the speech being censored is unpopular.

Another candidate for antitrust action?

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