Monday, May 23, 2011

Bad Weather Again Rocks The Midwest


Note: Due to watching and discussing the Midwest tornado outbreak last night on social media channels, there is no new column Monday. We will be live blogging the NASCAR Hall of Fame Monday night on SPEED. Join us then.

Go to news-leader.com for updates on the MO tornado damage and information. All the best to our readers who were involved in the bad weather Sunday night.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prayers for them! Know a few in NASCAR are touched by it.

So so scary!

KoHoSo said...

For those of you that are still struggling with the conversations on this blog about how NASCAR should be using social media, yesterday was probably a textbook case of how services like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, plus online streaming of local television and radio channels (and the online feed of The Weather Channel) absolutely stomped traditional media and especially the cable news networks.

My best wishes go out to those affected in Kansas, Minnesota, Arkansas, and especially Joplin, Missouri.

Anonymous said...

is jamie mac's family ok, i know he was from joplin

Anonymous said...

KoHoSo, I'm sorry but I just can't quite equate the use of social media for an ultimately meaningless sport(in the grand scheme of things) with trying to get information on family and loved ones after the death and destruction caused by a massive tornado.
It takes all kinds.

glenc1 said...

anon, Jamie texted Marty Smith this morning & said his family is okay. Not sure who in his family is still lives there. But it must be strange to have so much that you grew up with gone. I would imagine he may have still had friends there; I'm sure we'll be hearing more about it.

CNN was better late than never, joining in at 9 and actually preempting Piers Morgan. I thought they did okay, and perhaps it was so much criticism that helped. Didn't make them interrupt a news entertainment program at 8, but they got there eventually....

as for social media...I think this is the one time they *are* important, but it wouldn't change my mind about not needing to know what Jr is doing every hour of the day. Streaming local channels is a good thing.

Sophia said...

I find it MIND BOGGLING we have no more real news stations. It's all editorial. Ch surfed across CNN/Fox/MSNBC Sunday night..either talking heads shows or old repeats of junk.

They don't care about developing stories unless it suits somebody's agenda?! :(

Very disappointing. Twitter is where it's out for news...I can't believe the devasation in Joplin...all the storms are just too much to witness...can't imagine those cities & those affected.

KoHoSo said...

Anonymous 1:52...

I certainly agree with your take when it comes to the relative importance of the events. The way I am seeing this is that NASCAR (in a centralized sense) has been slow to adopt social media and take advantage of its great networking possibilities (in a sharing sense). They still think in the manner of a four-channel or even fifty-channel universe in a world where especially the younger crowd wants to feel more of a part of what entertains and informs them.

No, not even a surprise winner of the Daytona 500 is going to generate the interest of a natural disaster that cuts across many more boundaries in who it affects and, thus, who is interested in knowing about it. Still, it affects the immediate sharing and feeling of inclusion in the event that I and many others feel is a big part (but certainly not all) of what NASCAR needs to attract and hold the younger generations.

And...yes, it does take all kinds. If it didn't, this world would be very boring. ;-)

GinaV24 said...

So much devestation. Heaven help all those people.

I agree about the tv coverage - talking heads without any brains.

I saw on our local news in Philly tonight that a man was rescued when he sent a text to a friend saying "I'm alive". And the rescuers pulled him out.