RE: your comments regarding Mississippi State and the state of TV weathercasting. I think you hit the nail square on the head. In reading some of the other comments about the MSU program, those who have a four-year degree seem to have a real hatred toward those MSU grads out there. Why? Because those MSU grads are being hired for jobs that the degreed meteorologists feel they deserve. But the world doesn't work that way.
As you said, news directors don't know what they want, just as long as they get something that works. Put a product on the air and hopefully the people want to watch. People watching=ratings=$$$. The bottom line rules, so in the end it doesn't really matter what degree, experience, or forecasting skill you posses. Can I get more people to watch this TV station? That is what our managers are asking.
In some markets it may come down to a battle over who has more AMS seals to display on the air. In other markets, the bubbly personality may win out. What we (and the NWA & AMS) should try to promote is education for all on-air weathercasters. After all, something is better than nothing. I have worked at stations where they pulled a reporter with almost no weather knowledge (and no desire to do weather on the air) to fill in for a sick or vacationing regular weathercaster. "Just get up there, read off some temperatures and peel the forecast off the wires..." they were told. Does the public know the difference? I would venture to say that not many do. Hey, they're doing weather on TV, so they obviously must be a meteorologist...right?
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I thought you brought up some valid points, some things to think about, and the reality of what we do. Many of us need to take a few steps back and look at the big picture.
No, I didn't get my degree in Meteorology (Communications), and no, I didn't go through the MSU program (USDA Grad School and Oregon State with Fred Decker). I can't say anything good or bad about the MSU program because I haven't worked with any of their grads.
I wonder if the posting of your letter will stir up the masses and create a running dialogue, or just bring on a new wave of MSU-bashing...???
We'll see.
Thanks!
Chris Dunn
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/dunnman
http://www.ufly.com/weather
P.S.
You also mention a valid point. As long as a person is doing weather on TV many in the public think that person is a meteorologist. Also, very few viewers flip between the channels comparing the forecast, so are unaware of the differences between a bimbo who constantly misses the extended and a serious forecaster.
And that also brings up the question: Do News Directors really know the difference? If you asked a news director who could be called "meteorologist" on the air, or what the qualifications for the AMS seal are, or what the difference between the AMS and NWA seals are, would they really know?