The Tipping Point

With due respect and apology to the great Malcolm Gladwell, this might be the most important post of the entire year yet to unfold.  It represents a tipping point.

A friend shared a story of a recent afternoon news meeting.  The market had had some wintry weather that day and the discussion was about the next morning and the possibility of ice for the commute.  The news director turned to an iPad, and the hourly automated product, to determine the pre-dawn temperature and decisions were made based on that data.  No inquiry was made to the weather staff.

Think about this long and hard in the days, weeks and months ahead.  What happened in this story is the individual in charge of creating the evening television newscast went to a digital platform for an answer…and all of the viewers of that newscast have the same option.

(Addendum:  Watching some of the early comments go by (thanks) I thought it important to add a comment.  This post is not meant to make comment on the news or weather department at this particular station.  The main issue is the availability of data, the ease of getting to it, and to make a comment on shifting priorities.)