Proof that there is no local news story that can't be 'improved' with a meaningless vox pop. How does this quote add to an otherwise interesting story in any way? "I'm kind of a furry animal guy - dogs and cats and what not," said [man on a street] Hunter Hoffman.
"Never gave any thought to having a jellyfish as a pet. I'm kind of a furry animal guy - dogs and cats and what not"
This isn't meaningless. People who had never thought of having a jellyfish might read this and become curious. In fact it sounds like pretty good PR, considering it's just a news story.
It's meaningless in terms of providing news - asking random people on the street their opinion of a topic is not newsworthy, and does not add meaning to the story.
It does sound like pretty good PR (which is great thing for Alex and his company), but pretty poor news.
Imagine if they'd interviewed a marine biologist about this species of jellyfish instead? It would have been even better PR (expert confirms they don't sting, are abundant etc), but it didn't happen because it's always easier to ask two people in front of the ABC building what they think.
In some strict sense it is not devoid of meaning the way colorless green ideas sleep furiously, purple monkey dishwasher is, but if you have sufficient experience with human culture to understand the article at all then it doesn't tell you anything you don't already know; people typically don't consider jellyfish as pets.
Comments
Proof that there is no local news story that can't be 'improved' with a meaningless vox pop. How does this quote add to an otherwise interesting story in any way? "I'm kind of a furry animal guy - dogs and cats and what not," said [man on a street] Hunter Hoffman.
The full quote is:
"Never gave any thought to having a jellyfish as a pet. I'm kind of a furry animal guy - dogs and cats and what not"
This isn't meaningless. People who had never thought of having a jellyfish might read this and become curious. In fact it sounds like pretty good PR, considering it's just a news story.
It's meaningless in terms of providing news - asking random people on the street their opinion of a topic is not newsworthy, and does not add meaning to the story.
It does sound like pretty good PR (which is great thing for Alex and his company), but pretty poor news.
Imagine if they'd interviewed a marine biologist about this species of jellyfish instead? It would have been even better PR (expert confirms they don't sting, are abundant etc), but it didn't happen because it's always easier to ask two people in front of the ABC building what they think.
This isn't meaningless.
In some strict sense it is not devoid of meaning the way colorless green ideas sleep furiously, purple monkey dishwasher is, but if you have sufficient experience with human culture to understand the article at all then it doesn't tell you anything you don't already know; people typically don't consider jellyfish as pets.