• Baltimore Sun, Tuesday, October 30, 2012 2:04 PM

Two opposing views on storm coverage: "Viewers visiting The Weather Channel, or just about any other TV news program, will surely encounter the young correspondent strapped to a utility pole, or staggering down a beach, while being lashed by wind and rain. He will tell us in the most serious tone that the wind is rising and the rain is coming down, which any fool could see without Jasper saying a word, or even being there, where he will surely be under the feet of first responders who have a legitimate reason for being there," writes The American Spectator's Larry Thornberry, "questioning why we must endure the additional storm of clichés without number from the media and the stylized form of storm coverage."

"I know in these snarky, all-you-need-is-irony, postmodern times, lots of folks, including some journalists who should know better, like to make fun of TV reporters standing in high winds and driving rain or snow to report on a storm. I could not disagree more," writes David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun. "The image of a correspondent being pounded by the elements is as crystal-clear an objective correlative for the core role of journalism as I can imagine. I want someone out there on the edge of the ocean and the tip of the storm bearing witness to the power of nature -- and reporting on the danger the storm portends for the rest of us back in our homes."

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