Hyping the Weather

At what point in time did the weather become real news? Here in the Northeast every single snowstorm is reported like Armageddon itself. This isn't our first snowstorm in history people, remember last year when it snowed? Apparently the news stations do not and have to send out the reporters for "full coverage" of this strange frozen water falling from the sky!For hours on mornings like this the local news has the reporters standing outside with their "News Team" parkas on and saying journalistic gems like this:"Well Jim, it's still snowing outside and people are trying to shovel