Back like 50 or 60 years ago, some sales chimp made a deal with a local nursery to put poinsettias on the news set.

The station would then include a lower third at the end of the newscast that said something like, "Poinsettias provided by Tom's Nursery."

Other TV stations followed suit and now each holiday season, stations put the useless weeds on the news set.

There is nothing like talking about murder and rape over the top of some lovely poinsettias, I always say. 

When I was News Director I refused to put that crap on the news set.

Bah humbug!

It is always nice after the plants have been sitting in a dark cold studio for a couple of weeks, unwatered because the person that did that for years, was long ago laid off, and watching the plants wilt and die as the Anchors continue to read the news. 

Call me Scrooge all you want, we don't put daisies on the set in Summer or mums in the Fall, so why do why do this crap for the holidays? 

I say pluck the poinsettias from the set and just give me the news.