A HORSE??????????????

[Fire Hydrogant]

ABC World News lead it's national network newscast Monday with a story about a racehorse that died. Would some of you producers out there care to weigh in with your thoughts on what they were thinking, with all the things going on in the world? I might understand if the recently deceased sports figure was a famous NFL quarterback, but how many people in this country, or any country, care enough about horse racing for this to be the lead? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd never even heard of "the great horse Barbaro" until tonight. I mean really: a f**king HORSE???

Yes, I know, what a perfect opportunity to post the "beating a dead horse" graemlin:
graemlins/horse.gif

[adam & doctor drew]

if you've never heard of Barbaro until tonite, that's probably something you shouldn't boast about.

[sonorandesert]

Next to Secretariat (sp?), Barbaro could become a well remembered equestrian not so much of what Secretariat did, but for what Barbaro was trying to do.
To blow out a leg, out of the gate is rough.
To hold out so long as Barbaro did is the story.

RIP Barbaro.

Apologies to Seattle Slew and Affirmed.

[TVShootist]

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
and no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.

Go right to the source and ask the horse
he'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.
He's always on a steady course.
Talk to Mr. Ed

People yakkity yak a streak and waste your time of day But Mister Ed will never speak unless he has something to say.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
and this one'll talk 'til his voice is hoarse.
You never heard of a talking horse?
Well listen to this.
"I am Mister Ed."

[Laughing Angel]

Lead story? No.

But certainly worthy of mention during the last half of the newscast.

People love animal stories, and this was a fascinating one. Barbaro should have been dead eight months ago.

RIP one magnificent horse.

[Fire Hydrogant]

Exactly. Worthy of mention, but not as a lead story. Maybe as lead story in the sports section?

[The Mockingbird]

Bastard afternoon guy on 101.1 here in DC was saying that America is mourning a great loss yesterday.

Since they played an REM song afterward, I thought Michael Stipe died for a few minutes, but thankfully, I have the internets.

Screw 101.1, my new ipod car dock comes next week.

But, back to our main story it's a freakin' horse, people. Didn't they teach you people in your Mass Communications classes about "media amplification"?

That's when a bunch of people like YOU all get together and talk about something people who aren't journalist could give two piles of horse biscuits about. But because you're all talking about it, you convince yourselves that it's what everyone is talking about, because, by God, you are representative of everyone, aren't you?

Cognitive bias.

[CleanBreeze]

Worth mentioning? Yes.

Lead story? Only in Kentucky.

[TopRamen]

I would have made it the last story and teased the crap out of it. It's the kind of story that works well at the end. I heard the story on NPR this morning and it has stayed with me for much of the day. As a former producer, I placed a lot of value on that lingering effect of a newscast that ended with an emotional punch.

When Indy 500 polesitter Scott Brayton died during practice years ago, the Indy newscasts ended with a shot of the pole, Brayton's number was the only one lit up--and no music bed. It was stirring. I think the Barbaro story could have had the same effect. I wouldn't roll right to break, but I would just come to the anchor with a simple Goodnight.

I remember when Peter Jennings died, the same treatment was given to his empty chair. You obviously can't compare Brayton's or Jennings's lives to this horse, but one goal of any producer should be to make the viewers remember your product.

I still get choked up thinking about that damn empty chair. :(

[adam & doctor drew]

Originally posted by TopRamen:
I would have made it the last story and teased the crap out of it. (how would you tease it without giving away that he died?

[Mr G]

Originally posted by sonorandesert:
Next to Secretariat (sp?), Barbaro could become a well remembered equestrian not so much of what Secretariat did, but for what Barbaro was trying to do.
To blow out a leg, out of the gate is rough.
To hold out so long as Barbaro did is the story.

RIP Barbaro.

Apologies to Seattle Slew and Affirmed.the horse wasn't "trying" to do anything, but maybe eat, sleep, and run.

[Another side]

I thought it was a valid national lead -- lots of interest in this horse even from non-horse-racing fans like me -- but not for local newscasts.

People love animal stories, particularly when the animals are mistreated, killed, or when they died.

If you started your local newscast everyday with a story on couple of puppies that froze to death on their owners porch, or tape of five or six emaciated horse's in their owner's pasture --and all you were worried about were numbers and ratings -- you probably couldn't go wrong.

[TopRamen]

Originally posted by adam & doctor drew:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by TopRamen:
I would have made it the last story and teased the crap out of it. (how would you tease it without giving away that he died?</font>[/QUOTE]I wouldn't. I think it's tacky to tease an obit piece without being upfront. I have seen, "A major movie star has died, find out who and how, at 11." Or, "take a look at this wild accident... did the victim make it out alive? We'll tell you, tonight." I think with obit stories, what you tease is HOW you intend to tell the story. Draw the viewer into the emotion of it. Even something simple like "bidding farewell to Barbaro..." promotes a bit of emotional buy-in without being insensitive, sensational, or tacky.

[The Mockingbird]

The universal response I heard from non-journalists was: "It must have been a slow news day."

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Another side:

If you started your local newscast everyday with a story on couple of puppies that froze to death on their owners porch, or tape of five or six emaciated horse's in their owner's pasture --and all you were worried about were numbers and ratings -- you probably couldn't go wrong.mmmm. Puppies. The Other White Meat....

[Consider This]

Originally posted by Fire Hydrogant:

I mean really: a f**king HORSE???
Yes, but a f**king celebrity horse. Celebrities, regardless of species, are more important and, thus, more newsworthy than regular people.

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Consider This:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Fire Hydrogant:

I mean really: a f**king HORSE???
Yes, but a f**king celebrity horse. Celebrities, regardless of species, are more important and, thus, more newsworthy than regular people.</font>[/QUOTE]Don't worry. Just wait, in a couple years he'll come out of retirement and play professional baseball.

[Dedhed_AND]

Originally posted by Another side:
I thought it was a valid national lead -- lots of interest in this horse even from non-horse-racing fans like me -- but not for local newscasts.Except in Louisville & Lexington (for obvious reasons), Philadelphia & Harrisburg (New Bolton Center is in their backyard), and Baltimore (where he broke down).

I agree with an above poster that Barbaro's passing fits well in an end piece. You can devote some time to it and do it right. When Jerry Garcia died in '95, it wasn't the lead. But the CBS Evening News ran a fantastic obit piece to end the show. Not sure what the other nets did that night, but that's where I'd put it.

As for the teasing, you're not trying to hide the fact that Barbaro died. You bill it as "Remembering a legend", or "A champion's gallant battle finally ends."

[foxravens]

Originally posted by CleanBreeze:
Worth mentioning? Yes.

Lead story? Only in Kentucky.Wrong.
It was the lead here in Baltimore, too.
After all, he blew out the leg at the Preakness.

[Moderate]

I'm not sure anywhere it should be the lede. Tease it in headlines -- but why don't you get to some news with impact first.

[sports_hustler]

I noticed it was the lead, and it struck me as quite odd. I didn't see the story in its entirety, but what I did hear sounded a bit overblown.

All that said, I think a good argument could be made for it to be in the A-block.

I don't know what else World News had that night, but I'd be very curious to know the editorial meeting arguments for and against Barbaro as the lead.

[Suri Cruise]

If we're talking about a 30-minute newscast, in no way should it even be in the "news" portion of your show. Maybe if you have an hour and need a package to fill some time, put it in your c-block. Otherwise leave it to sports, unless you live in Kentucky or some other place where horse racing is kind of a big deal. A horse that won one race is not some grand champion that changed the sport. Hell, every couple of years there's a horse that comes along, wins the first two big races then flames out in the third. There was nothing groundbreaking about Barbaro. It's a horse that won a race. That's it.

The most utterly retarded aspect to all of this is the notion that Barbaro was a "fighter" as everyone seemed to be putting it. Are you serious? The horse cares about eating hay, taking a dump and not standing on his busted leg because it doesn't feel good. The kicker was the video of all the "get well soon" posters and cards with messages to Barbaro, as if the horse was capable of feeling a sense of inspiration.

[ February 01, 2007, 12:54 AM: Message edited by: Suri Cruise ]