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Chicago TV news loves to cover fires. TV vans even descend en masse upon small residential blazes. It’s been that way as long as I can remember, and I grew up watching Chicago TV news. I always thought the coverage must’ve had something to do with local Jungian memories of the Great Chicago Fire, but the better explanation is probably ratings.

The TV coverage of a major fire in the Loop yesterday went on and on for hours uninterrupted. The last Loop high-rise fire - which really didn’t look like much from the outside - killed several people, which likely led to the intensity of the coverage this time around. Yesterday’s inferno was no little brush fire. It was attended to by more than a third of the city’s available firefighters, and, therefore, big news.

The decision to go “wall-to-wall” didn’t sit well with every TV watcher, however.

Angry viewers flooded WLS-Channel 7 with dozens of complaint calls when the ABC-owned station preempted the first half of “Monday Night Football” with continuous coverage of the LaSalle Bank building fire.

All three of Chicago’s network-owned stations went virtually wall-to-wall with live reports on the fire throughout prime time Monday.

I’m not sure “dozens” of calls meant the station was “flooded” with complaints from boorish football fans, but there may be those who believe that covering a fire for four hours nonstop might border on the exploitative.

That wouldn’t be me, however. I live in a Loop high-rise that isn’t equipped with what could be called the very latest in fire safety technology (it’s not a fire trap, but it could be better). Personally, I’m all for letting the TV guys push the coverage envelope if it means the Loop fire code issue is once again shoved at the mayor and the city council.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Dec 7, 04 @ 4:46 am

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