Police Pursuits on TV Chase Away the News

“Are TV Chases a Pursuit of Justice or Ratings?” (May 9) has touched a sore spot with me. I agree with the police, et al, when they request that coverage of these events be discontinued, albeit for my own selfish reasons. I strongly disagree with Crys Quimby, president of the Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern California, when she says these chases are “news.” They are definitely not news. Not only that, they are boring.

If the media wish to report these chases they should take a minute during the 11 p.m. news. That’s about as much time as they give to any really important events. The only alternative left to thinking people who sit down to watch the news and find that every network is airing the same boring event -- a car traveling down the freeway followed by about 30 police cars -- is to turn the TV set off. It is bad enough when this takes up the whole news hour, but when it preempts other programming, that is infringing on the rights of the viewer. The main problem with TV news is that 90% of it is not news at all. The “masterminds” who determine what should be aired should all be fired, and I would gladly give their replacements a few pointers on what “newsworthy” means.

Julia Lamb

Placentia