The International Weather Forum (en Francais: Forum International de la Météo) is an event that is held each year (mostly) in Paris. It is a great place for forecasters and television weather presenters from different countries to come together and discuss the weather profession. This podcast shows a few scenes from the 2009 edition.
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Television meteorologists who make school visits inevitably get the same question from youngsters: “How much money do you make?” When speaking to adult groups there is another, equally uncomfortable question that comes up: “What do you think about global warming?”
We do our best to answer, as we are members of the scientific community and expected to give guidance on such matters. But it is hard to find the upside of giving an answer that, according to statistics, puts any television meteorologist (on either side of the issue) at odds with approximately 50% of their viewers.
Take the case of two excellent TV meteorologists who work in adjoining markets in Alabama: Dan Satterfield from Huntsville, and James Spann from Birmingham. Both are among the very best at what they do. Each is considered the dean of weathercasters in their markets; both are very smart guys and fine gentlemen. They both study climate science and talk with experts in the field. But they have come to an honest, carefully considered difference of opinion. Dan Satterfield believes in manmade global warming. James Spann does not.
James has received the greater attention. He was interviewed on national television for criticizing former Weather Channel climatologist Dr. Heidi Cullen, after she suggested that weathercasters who deny manmade global warming should not be certified by the American Meteorological Society. (The AMS has issued public statements about climate change.) Dan has long written about climate issues, and two years ago proved his sincere interest by paying his own way to the Arctic to report on the effects of warmer climate there.
Both James and Dan have received substantial ridicule and abuse for taking their thoughtful positions. James was blamed for creating a “cyber storm.” Dan has been accused of joining “with other recent frustrated ‘believers’ in man-made climate fears.” An emailer said Dan seemed to “prefer the practices of the inquisition.”
Most of the angry rhetoric has come from outside of Alabama, from critics who don’t know either man or how seriously they do their jobs. Just as with national opinion polls, the feedback about climate change tends to break along party lines. In advising fellow broadcasters who might be tempted to take a stand on climate change, James Spann cautions:
I would warn anybody that dives into this issue (they) will pay the price with a pile of hate coming from one political party or another.
As we make our way through the middle of July, with kids wasting away the days counting down to next month’s new school term, I am reminded of the circumstances under which I began spending my childhood summers outdoors rather than in front of the TV set. Not that my brothers and I were couch potatoes… but Saturday morning cartoons and afternoon comedy reruns (The Monkees, Gilligan’s Island, The Munsters, etc) had been the focus of our non-school recreation time.
I can’t remember what year it was, but I do remember the May afternoon of my youth on which it happened. I came home from school and turned on our black and white television. But rather than a favorite program growing from the single dot in the middle of the screen as the picture tube warmed up – my siblings and I were horrified to see nothing but snow.
When my father got home from work, we pleaded with him to call the repairman to come and fix the family TV. My dad said he couldn’t afford it at the time, so we would have to find something else to do. Rather than watching television, we were forced to spend the rest of the spring and summer months playing outside – stuff like pick-up baseball games, bike hikes, and the swimming pool.
In autumn, after school resumed, we came home one day to find mother watching TV. Apparently dad had been able to get the television fixed, and we went back to our viewing routine through the fall and winter months.
The following year, as the weather warmed up, the TV ironically went on the blink again. Once more we exchanged TV time for outdoor activities.
It seems like the yearly cycle occurred a couple more times, as I grew out of childhood into a young teenager who developed an interest in tinkering with things. Eventually, I turned my attention to the broken TV set. I was a little afraid as I ignored the stern safety warnings on the pasteboard rear panel of the set, opening it up to reveal a maze of wires and tubes. I noticed there was one small tube laying at the bottom of the TV box, and realized its array of pins fit perfectly into an empty socket below the picture tube. I plugged in the tube, powered up the TV, and was overjoyed when the disabled set glowed to life.
When dad got home that day I met him excitedly at the door, and explained how a tube had somehow worked itself loose, and that I had just saved him a big repair bill by fixing the television set myself. Curiously, there were no congratulations coming my way. Dad just walked upstairs to the dinner table.
I wasn’t the stupidest kid on the block, but it actually took a fair bit of thinking before I realized dad had been chasing us outdoors for the past few summers by sabotaging the TV. As I look back in hindsight, I realize what a great idea it was. My brothers and I actually developed fair skill sets in various sports, and my sisters enjoyed playtime outside with their friends. I am certain many of our active hours would have been wasted vegetating had it not been for the untimely breakdown of our only TV set.
My own kids aren’t so gullible, so I have to be straightforward in my insistence that TV time be limited in favor of summertime exercise, be it swimming or biking or walking the dog. Getting the kids outdoors could be a lot easier for me – except that I have no idea how to loosen a chip on an integrated circuit board in a color TV set.
Journalists tend to rate the state of journalism based upon the number of media jobs that have been slashed during the current cycle. Let us rate the state of journalism on a different measure, whether journalists are meeting Webster’s definition of “gathering, writing, editing, and publishing or disseminating news.”
Scripted press conference
But for what an old-fashioned journalist used to call “the rest of the story,” we need to read a “break from the pack” account from reporter Dana Milbank of the Washington Post:
White House aides had called Pitney the day before to invite him, and they had escorted him into the room. They told him the president was likely to call on him, with the understanding that he would ask a question about Iran that had been submitted online by an Iranian. “I know that there may actually be questions from people inIran who are communicating through the Internet,” Obama went on. “Do you have a question?” Pitney recognized his prompt. “That’s right,” he said, standing in the aisle and wearing a temporary White House press pass. “I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian.” Pitney asked his arranged question.
Reporters looked at one another in amazement at the stagecraft they were witnessing. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel grinned at the surprised TV correspondents in the first row.
One would suspect that the lord correspondents from the networks would have been more than amazed. Surely this bit of information, that there had been a planted question at a White House news conference, would have been included in the network news reports. “Full disclosure,” as they say.
But who was going to call the all-powerful president on this bit of media manipulation? A journalist from ABC, the network that wins the lap dog award for extensive programming promoting the president’s health care agenda? A journalist from NBC, whose network recently did a flattering “day at the White House” documentary? Maybe a journalist from CBS, which might be irked that the network only received a morning show interview with the president?
None of the network journalists spoke up – even though this was a situation that demonstrates to the world that the free press in America is no longer what it used to be. It was left to the blogosphere for further dissemination of the Post’s report on White House chicanery. It seems that journalists in 2009 are “gathering, writing, editing, and publishing or disseminating” whatever the White House wants them to.
We get a lot of questions from schoolchildren – especially when they are assigned to research a potential career by writing to people who work in that industry. Here is a list of typical questions about becoming a meteorologist, with my typical answers.
What does a meteorologist do?
Most meteorologists are involved in forecasting the weather. Broadcast meteorologists deliver forecasts on television. Government meteorologists (e.g. National Weather Service) prepare forecasts for the public and aviation sectors. Research meteorologists investigate the science behind the weather, contributing to better forecasts.
What does a person have to do to become a meteorologist?
An undergraduate college degree (B.A. or B.S.) is the bare minimum for any career in meteorology. Increasingly, employers are giving preference to job seekers with graduate degrees. Even in television, which used to require no degree at all, you will find some meteorologists with Master’s (M.A. or M.S.) degrees – and even a few Doctorate (Ph.D.) degrees.
What made you decide to become a meteorologist?
Almost everyone in meteorology can trace their career path back to an interest in weather during childhood. Many can point to a specific storm they can recall in vivid detail that pointed them toward a career as a meteorologist. There are exceptions, of course. I myself started in television as a sportscaster, became a newscaster, and turned to weather after taking university classes as a non-traditional (meaning older) student.
What is your favorite weather to forecast?
My specialty is severe thunderstorms, but I enjoy the challenge of winter weather as well. Snowstorms are probably the most challenging to forecast, because the “bust” potential is so high. A degree or two difference in temperature can turn a snowy forecast to rain, and sometimes snowfall comes in narrow, heavy bands in which one place can get 6” while 30 miles away people get nothing.
Do you love your job? If so, why?
Yes. Meteorology is one profession which is never the same from one day to the next. As a forecaster, you get an immediate report card on your skill by simply looking out the window. If a public forecast is wrong, everyone knows it. But there is a silent satisfaction that many people fail to appreciate – most of the time the forecast is correct.
How much money do you make?
I think it is fair to say that a beginning meteorologist will make about the same salary as a school teacher. The very best broadcast meteorologists in America make salaries exceeding a few hundred thousand dollars per year. No jokes about getting paid even when you’re wrong, please.
Professional journalists consider themselves professionals, although they are not licensed and can’t be charged with malpractice. Too bad, because malpractice was on display during President Obama’s 100th day press conference.
The president has just succeeded in enacting the largest budget and budget deficit in American history, one which will require us to print additional money for decades to come. Yet there was not one question about it, nor his outrageous stimulus package, during the press conference. The gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 6.1% in first quarter figures released several hours before the press conference, but none of the professional journalists asked the president about it.
President Obama again claimed in his scripted remarks – and was unchallenged in his assertion – that he has “saved or created” 150 thousand jobs. I guess he believes that every American who has not been laid off has had their job preserved by himself.
Clearly the president is dedicated to preserving the jobs of every union auto worker. He has dumped billions of taxpayers’ dollars into the failing auto companies, and addressed a question about Chrysler thusly: “Let me speak to Chrysler first because the clock is ticking on Chrysler coming up with a plan.” Really? Does anyone believe he went into the press conference not knowing his administration was going to force Chrysler into bankrupty the following morning?
With the president available to convince us he is not out to destroy the economic fabric of this country through overspending, a reporter for the New York Times came forth with another hard-hitting question: “During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving this in office… ”
I doubt that President Bush ever considered a prime time press conference “some enchanged evening.” But, feeling the love in the room, President Obama just might.
UPDATE, 4/30/09: How do other journalists view their performance at the press conference? Consider this line from a columnist at the Washington Post:
The questions put to Barack Obama at his news conference last night covered nearly every topic but the Craigslist Killer, and if that had come up, Obama probably would have answered it in stride.
I am neither as old as Methuselah nor as wise as Solomon. But occasionally I do get asked for advice by college students, mostly those studying meteorology or broadcast journalism. For what it’s worth, here is what I tell them:
Those are my suggestions. If you have any others, please let me know and I will be sure to pass them on to the youth of America!
The pictures and video were staggering. Rioters and troublemakers the media politely called “protesters” made a mess of central London, breaking windows, attacking policeman, and shutting down traffic because London was hosting a meeting of the world’s top economic nations. One guy caught in the mob was pushed down by a policeman, had a heart attack and died – so his family will probably sue the police. Ironic, since police trying to help the man did so despite being attacked by protesters.
The public no idea how staged these things are. In this country, special interest groups with respectable names collect dues from unsuspecting members, and then quietly funnel money to pay the protesters. The mainstream media simply does not report on the real sources of these rent-a-mobs’ power, portraying them as heroically concerned citizens.
Several years ago I was at an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland. I needed a cash machine, and was told the nearest one was down the street at the World Trade Organization building. I went there, but met a couple hundred quiet protesters standing outside the gate. I went up to a guard, told him I just needed to use the cash machine inside, and after carefully scrutinizing my passport and other documents he let me in. A moment later, the crowd started screaming and chanting – because cars containing television cameras had just pulled up. The photographers shot videotape of the seething throng as I passed through a metal detector and went inside to get my money.
Fifteen minutes later I came out of the building and it was dead silent. There was no one left except for the two guards at the gate. As I departed I asked where everyone went. They told me that the guys with TV cameras shot their video and took off – so the protesters left, too. Mission accomplished for the mob – they made the evening newscast. The comical thing is that news viewers probably though the protesters dedicated their entire day fighting for change, when in fact even the protesters found better things to do once no one was paying attention anymore. Wouldn’t it be great if the newscasts would stop paying attention to them altogether?
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