Category: Culture
Reporting the Weather is About Ratings?
Last Tuesday the tornado sirens spun up their warning blast as storms approached our community. Three times the sirens sang out in the darkness of late Tuesday night to alert us that radar indicated a low level rotation in the line of storms. That’s weather speak for a possible tornado happening, but not spotted. Find your safe space at home. But long before the sirens warned, many in our State were on edge about what the sky would unleash. I live Oklahoma which is part of tornado alley. Oklahoma is accustomed to tending to disaster, natural and that created by our state legislature. The disasters created by our State legislature is a post for another day, but it is extensive and in many ways has created much more long term devastation in our State than any EF-5 tornado.
Each spring and summer we brace for the spinning wind that can reshape a community in seconds. This past Tuesday the State braced for what was to be a possible tornado outbreak. Here in Oklahoma the TV stations cover a daytime tornado the way California TV stations cover a car chase. I remember when the Weather Channel just reported the weather and the forecast. Technology and the need to fill 24hrs of a cable channels broadcast day has made weather ‘entertainment.’ The profit motive has seeped into covering the weather. The Washington Post ran an article discussing the mis-communication and hype around Tuesday’s weather coverage of what could possible happen. It is a good explanation of how the competition for eyes, ears, and clicks that drive ratings has led to overdramatizing what could happen and is actually happening. Spend a few minutes with the article and give it some thought. Some words from the article below and a link.
Tuesday’s severe weather ‘bust’ is a communication wake-up call
by Angela Fritz, April 27, 2016One local station in Oklahoma City said that on a scale from zero to 10, Tuesday’s tornado risk was a “10.” EF-4 tornadoes were possible, they said.
That threat proved to be unfounded.
First, to be clear, this is not just a problem for the National Weather Service or the Storm Prediction Center. They are in charge of the outlooks, watches and warnings, but this issue spans the entire weather enterprise. Technically, the forecasts were correct and they verified — there was only a 10 percent tornado risk yesterday. They weren’t calling for widespread long-track tornadoes. They emphasized large hail and wind over the tornado threat.
But these details do not matter. If people in the Plains were expecting a huge tornado outbreak on Tuesday, then the weather enterprise did a horrible job communicating the forecast. Click here to read more.
Questions for Christians
Who are you looking for? That’s my paraphrase of a question asked of Mary Magdalene when she went to the tomb where Jesus was buried after the sabbath. BTW, the gospels give different details of the resurrection story, but they agree that Mary Magdalene was one of the women present. They also all agree that the disciples, the men, were held up somewhere hidden away. No doubt they were afraid, grieving, and wondering what would happen next. The women must have shared those emotions.
Who are you looking for? That’s a faith question about Jesus of Nazareth that people who claim Christianity answer at Christmas, at Easter, and during every day. That answer, it seems to me, is not grounded in creeds, confessions of faith, the definition of scared music, or mode of baptism. It is grounded, I think, in how one treats a stranger, family, friends, and enemies.
Some of us seek a savior that will balance our account with God. A balanced account might help us live a balanced life. Some of us seek a teacher who can help us connect with God; to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Some of us don’t know who we are looking for, but follow the community or crowd because it is popular or comfortable. No matter what she believed, Mary Magdalene went out to do right by Jesus. Did someone ask her to go or tell her to go? The text doesn’t say. It does say that Magdalene returned to tell the disciples about who she had met and what she had seen. That sounds like what Christian tradition calls preaching.
When you look back at your life from the time you became conscious of others, and of right and wrong, what is the arc of your life bending toward? My guess is the answer to that question informs who you expect to find when you go with Mary Magdalene to the tomb. “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” (Unknown author often attributed to St Francis.)
God bless your journey in faith.