Snowstorm touches 'primal' fears – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Coming up… we’ll tell you whether you’ll be impaled by sharp, radioactive icicles hurled by mobs of rampaging robots in your neighborhood.  But first, people panicking, filling up three shopping carts of toilet paper and canned food.  Hear the techno-pop pulse of our theme music, and know that you’re being conditioned to think of us as your only source of comfort in times of uncertainty.  Remember, newspapers make you read, and teh interweb will steal your kids, but your StormTV FearCast NewsFriends love you.

“When I was growing up, we had snow constantly, and no one seemed to
mind or panic,” said Sutton, 48, a mother of three. “I don’t know what
happened. People get fixated on what the TV forecasters are saying.”

Weather forecasters provide crucial predictions to help people
prepare, not to grab ratings, said Anthony Moretti, an assistant
professor in the School of Communication at Point Park University,
Downtown.

“The No. 1 reason why people watch local news is for weather,” said
Moretti, a former associate producer for two Columbus, Ohio, TV
stations. “I don’t think there is a conscious effort to pander to the
ratings. It’s about their responsibility to tell you about the most
important thing that is happening in your town. Weather cuts across all of us.” — Post-Gazette

Update: Case in point…

Weatherman Freaking Out Over DC Snowpocalypse
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