By Rick Stanton
I’ve made it abundantly clear that I have been and remain appreciative of the work KOMO-TV did in putting together the Seattle is Dying documentary. But now I sense a little yellow journalism coming from its weather forecasters.
The term yellow journalism typically is associated with newspapers and their use of eye- catching headlines that stretch or ignore the truth, in order to sell more papers. Other words come to mind, like exaggeration and sensationalism.
Living on an island, surrounded by really big trees, makes watching the weather—especially the wind in the Fall and Winter—important. And I’ve long thought that KOMO often tends to, shall we say, overstate the effects of a coming storm.
Perhaps they do this to make sure you stay tuned to their forecasts in order to stay safe. Who knows. But they’ve succeeded in removing any doubt that they choose to provide a rather alarmist tone in their weather reporting.
They now have a new graphic that states they are the “Weather Warn Team.” And the word warn is in “hair-raising red.” I’m surprised they haven’t hired Danger Jim Forman away from KING. I always loved his reporting from Alki on a coming wind storm years ago, “Look, the bush is not moving!”
I’ll give KOMO the fact that the weather all around the world is more and more unstable. No climate change, right? But maybe they’d serve us better if they used the Weather Warn Team idea when there was something worth warning us about, instead of when the forecast is for 65 degrees with sun breaks and a zephyr of a breeze.
And for Pete’s sake, stop referring to winds as breezy. What the hell does breezy mean? Just tell us what the winds are predicted to be in miles per hour. And if they don’t know, just go to the National Weather Service website.