Criminally Stupid

I’ve seen some breathtakingly dumb things done in the name of local TV news, but I think maybe WGNO of New Orleans takes the cake. They’re inviting viewers to spin the “Wheel of Justice” and help them catch criminals. The promo says:

OK, it’s like this: We have this wheel. It has pictures of bad guys on it. Real dirt bags. We spin the wheel. When it stops on one of these dirt bags we go after them until we catch them. One more time: You. The wheel. Spin. Catch the creeps. Then it’s bye-bye dirt bag, goodbye. Got it? Etc…

I could be wrong. Maybe trivializing murder and mayhem as a ratings stunt is responsible journalism. I never went to j-school.

WGNO is uses the now popular “Getting Answers” slogan as their branding statement. Here’s a question they should answer: Are your news director and general manager idiots? Watch the spot for yourself. Until the anchor walks in it’s not so bad —except for the vile premise.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeK0Vauw2m8&hl=en&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]