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Should the Amber Alert System Interfere your Television Programming?

C

chowderhead

Platinum Member
Last night, we had an Amber Alert in Northern California. An Amber Alert uses the Emergency Alert System to disseminate information to all radio and television stations about a missing child (under 18) that meets certain criteria i.e. known abductor, car description, etc. Sometimes, bulletins are also posted on freeway light signs, etc.

Multiple times (3x) throughout the night, the system was activated. Apparently some cities have just text scrolling at the bottom of the screen with all the information. Not here in Northern California. More than 95% of the channels (basic and cable) were blacked out and a text bar scrolled by followed by voice information about the Amber Alert. It lasted a good 2 minutes each time. It made me miss parts of ?Lost? which I am not very happy about. It also turned out there were two abductions but IMO, each happened very far away from the Bay Area i.e. 75-100 miles away in Sacramento and Stockton.

I personally support getting the information out there as early as possible. They say chances of finding the child alive decrease dramatically the longer they have been taken. However, I believe the vast majority of people watching television really are not in position to do anything. They are indoors and chances are, wouldn?t be out there looking for the child anyway. I definitely support alerts on freeways and roads and I could even support text scrolling at the bottom of the screen. But they cut into programming and blocked every channel (saved two or so) with the alert. Is two minutes too much for a missing child? Probably not, but they cut into one of my favorite programs. Bastards.

Cliff notes:
Amber Alert cut into tv programming. I ranted because I completely missed parts of ?Lost.?
What could you support?
 
The whole alert system was a good idea, but all it's doing is causing panic. I would rather see a local news cast interrupt my programming than hear "TEHOMGWTFBBQTERRORALERTRAISED!!"
 
There is no panic raised by the Amber alert. It's just annoying. You must be a pansy if an alert causes panic. In fact, we are all so used to the Emergency Broadcast System, they it's just an annoyance now and we ignore it. It's like car alarms.
 
I can see doing it on billboards and on the radio b/c people are most likely out and have a chance of seeing the vehicle they are looking for. But on TV.....First I was thinking....."that's stupid b/c everyone is at home watching TV, how are they going to catch anyone"....but then I thought more and realized there are probably a lot of people that are at bars or resturaunts and they might have a chance at seeing something. So even if one person watching TV sees the amber alert and reports the suspicious car it is worth it. I think they should scroll text at the bottom though not block out the station.
 
Originally posted by: sygyzy
There is no panic raised by the Amber alert. It's just annoying. You must be a pansy if an alert causes panic. In fact, we are all so used to the Emergency Broadcast System, they it's just an annoyance now and we ignore it. It's like car alarms.
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Who are you calling a pansy? The people that freak out whenever the terror alert is raised? Yeah, they ARE pansies. There's LOTS of them. :roll:

The EBS is great. It shouldn't have been "replaced."
 
they shouldnt be there at all
i mean if parents were carefully watching there children and trust people they are with it would happen a lot less
also when the amber shlt appears you think the kidnapper would see the shlt and change apperance/car and continue to run
 
There could be several abductions a day in a big state. Why not broadcast it a public television channel? I kinda agree if I were in a city in my home watching stargate and it was constantly interuppted with amber alerts, I'd be pissed. I'm not getting up to look for the kid.
 
Originally posted by: episodic
There could be several abductions a day in a big state. Why not broadcast it a public television channel? I kinda agree if I were in a city in my home watching stargate and it was constantly interuppted with amber alerts, I'd be pissed. I'm not getting up to look for the kid.
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I :heart: YOU!
 
OMGOMG it's an amber alert, lemme write this down, go to my car, and drive around like a maniac trying to match license plate numbers!!!!

Sheesh, I have yet to hear an amber alert on the radio when I'm actually driving, but last night was FVCKING annoying. I called comcast to file a complaint for their implementation. See....if you have the comcast DVR, it doesn't matter what you watch, recorded or live, the thing cuts all that off and blanks the screen to tell you the alert. They should have done it with just a scrolling msg on the bottom of the screen, but even when they did that (1 of the 5 times it happened in like 1 hour) the audio was that high pitch alert tone, so while I could see the program, I couldn't hear it for a good 3 minutes. Seriously, a monkey must've designed the implementation for that alert.
 
wait till you have kids....
but it seems like it would be just as effective to scroll the info across the top or bottom.
 
Originally posted by: mcveigh
wait till you have kids....
but it seems like it would be just as effective to scroll the info across the top or bottom.
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When I have kids, I won't lose them.
 
Originally posted by: Nik
Originally posted by: sygyzy
There is no panic raised by the Amber alert. It's just annoying. You must be a pansy if an alert causes panic. In fact, we are all so used to the Emergency Broadcast System, they it's just an annoyance now and we ignore it. It's like car alarms.
Click to expand...

Who are you calling a pansy? The people that freak out whenever the terror alert is raised? Yeah, they ARE pansies. There's LOTS of them. :roll:

The EBS is great. It shouldn't have been "replaced."
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I should clarify that I the EBS and Amber alert are NOT the same thing. I was just giving examples of other alerts that are similar, that don't cause panic and only cause annoyance.

And who panics when the terror alert is raised? Let me guess? You? I don't really understand your point. Are you including yourself in the group of people that "panic" or not?
 
Originally posted by: Hi
they shouldnt be there at all
i mean if parents were carefully watching there children and trust people they are with it would happen a lot less
also when the amber shlt appears you think the kidnapper would see the shlt and change apperance/car and continue to run
Click to expand...

Hello asshat, I hope your children (when you have them in the future) get abducted on their way home from school and get molested by your neighbor. Ever watched America's Most Wanted? It works.

 
However, I believe the vast majority of people watching television really are not in position to do anything. They are indoors and chances are, wouldn?t be out there looking for the child anyway.
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All of these systems are to make people feel like they are helping, but statisically they rarely are. The The best national estimates for the number of missing children are from incidence studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To date two such studies were completed, one in 1990, and a second in Oct 2002 (based on numbers from 1999).

So, in 1999 as estimated 797.500 children were reported missing. 58.200 children where abducted by non family members, 115 children were victims of long term non-family abductions, and 203,900 children where the victims of family abductions. So, if we presume an fairly average geographical break down into 300 areas (US wide) then we are talking about 2658 (.3) abductions per area per year. The translates into 7 (.283) per day.

So, get used to those scrolling banners....

 
Amber alert gives us a good excuse if you get pulled over for speeding, changing lanes w/o blinker, tailgating, etc.

"Sorry officer, I was looking for a Silver Acura Integra, Plate # 8F894rj9"

Of course, you have to remember the plate, and can't do it when there isn't an alert.
 
Let's see. If I am home watching TV, how am I going to spot a missing child. It's annoying and ridiculous to force those of us who don't care about missing children to watch this cr@p.
 
did someone miss a few minutes of their favorite network turd oozing out of the boob tube? poor you.

i dont think anyone expects anyone to rush to their car and look for a missing child. what they do expect to do is get the message out to as many people as possible, so maybe a lead will develope that will help the authorities to find the missing child.

but who gives a fvck about that? fat boy won the lottery with those spoOoOoOoky numbers.
 
The only time any kind of forced public broadcast thing like that should be used is if the population in general is in danger. For example - as a tornado warning. It shouldn't be used to tell EVERYONE about crimes already committed against a single individual.
 
but who gives a fvck about that? fat boy won the lottery with those spoOoOoOoky numbers.
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You bring up a good point (although I sure know you weren't trying). Wouldn't some donated commercial time be a better time to show what informaton is available? They'll take 10 seconds to show the lottery results, why not this information (if they have to do it)

Personally I agree with notfred (see above)
 
The overwhelming majority of missing children are custody disputes. I don't think that's right, but I don't think they should break into every TV show either. Nor do I think such a system will be very effective either, especially if the alert warnings become too frequent...
 
Yea where does the insanity end? Terror Alerts, Amber Alerts. . . - soon to come, escapee alerts, those running from the police alerts, rape alerts, murder alerts, illegal border crossing alerts. . .

 
Originally posted by: bsobel
but who gives a fvck about that? fat boy won the lottery with those spoOoOoOoky numbers.
Click to expand...

You bring up a good point (although I sure know you weren't trying). Wouldn't some donated commercial time be a better time to show what informaton is available? They'll take 10 seconds to show the lottery results, why not this information (if they have to do it)

Personally I agree with notfred (see above)
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one station in my area does what you suggest, in addition to breaking in during tv shows when the alert is issued. commercial time would probably be the worst time, as thats when people flip channels, hit the fridge, use the bathroom, etc.
 
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