This past summer my Dad's family moved to a suburb of Houston called Katy. I decided to visit the strange, exotic land of Texas during Thanksgiving break, which meant that I had a long ride ahead of me.
Somewhere along the Louisiana bayou my Dad informed me of a type of news segment the local NBC affiliated aired. This segment consists of a man spinning a wheel that has profiles of several criminals that are still at large tacked on it. Once the wheel selects somebody, the station plays a brief biography on that person.
One example my Dad thought of was a man who had committed a string of fast food robberies along the interstate that runs through Texas and Louisiana. Any audience member who helps aid in capturing the perpetrator earns $500, and the capture is filmed and aired the following week.
How American.
Naturally this threw my Chicago-suburban self for a loop. It seemed odd that a news station would have a news segment based on old-fashioned cowboy justice. Sure it is Texas, but isn't that a twinge bit stereotypical?
My mind, however, changed while I was basking in the warm southwest sun. Many news organizations are pushing for user interaction as a way of retaining their audience. Whether it's poll questions, user submitted photos, forums or article comments, this seemed like televisions way of appealing to its audience.
After all, who could resist the "Wheel of Justice."
Here's a link to the station's Web site http://www.click2houston.com/wheelofjustice/index.html
They have a blog of justice as well. Don't mess with Texas.
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3 comments:
That is interesting, and sounds like they are really stretching to appeal to an audience. I wonder if they have done screenings and surveys to determine if it would be popular.
Wow. I wonder how they manage to arrange to film a capture.
Originally when I wrote this post I looked for clips on Youtube that I could post. Surprisingly I didn't find any from the particular station I wrote about, but a station in North Dakota.
When I tell people about this they usually react with a response about the politics in Texas and how that would attract audience members. But in reality this is just like watching a news network's version of "Cops," and I'm sure many of us have indulged in that show. While there might be some truth in the stereotype of Texans and why they would be attracted to such programming, after visiting the suburbs of Houston most I know that most people who live there aren't "born and raised" in Texas. So how they figured this one out, I'm not too sure. It does kind of make you feel safe though.
And for Trisha, that would be interesting to find out. I'm sure there's some sort of partnership between the news station and the police who are investigating the crime since the station is working to gather facts for the police. I suspect that both ends are coming out on top with this one.
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