The Inbox...
/We got a lot of responses to the WXIN Weather Anchor and the Traffic Anchor that decided to share their personal opinions of the college loan forgiveness program.
We will share some of the responses we got below:
Email:
I have no interest in how the WXIN weather person paid his student loan debt off. I also have no interest in the various charities that a traffic person contributes to, or her opinions about student debt. Just tweet me when it's going to stop raining. Tell me where the wreck is. Do that and you've done the only job the TV station pays you for. And it's the only thing I want to hear about.
Reading about what any on-air person thinks about student loan debt is like going in to buy a new car and the salesman starts telling me that his mother-in-law is walking around after her gall bladder operation.
Email:
Hey there-
Long time, first time.
RE: https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2022/8/25/nexstars-talent-weighs-in-about-loan-forgiveness
Little extra context to the weather guy rant- he says 26 years of work which puts his grad year to 1996. Curious, I did a quick Google search based on his reference to Kentucky. What I found was in 1999 UK in-state was $1,648 per semester.
http://www.uky.edu/PR/News/Archives/1999/MAY99/99-00tuition.htm
Sure that's not 1992-1996... but... 1) how much more time do I want to spend on this guy and 2) the below PR refers to the 1999-2000 tuition as being a 9.3% increase-- so, math-- he was paying less.
Times have changed... inflation and all that... what's $1,648 from 1999 in 2022 money?
Let's see....https://www.aier.org/cost-of-living-calculator/
That would be $2,836
According to the UK website--- current in-state tuition per semester is $6,429.50
https://www.uky.edu/studentaccount/tuition#9
I know I work in TV, but even my cathode ray burned brain understands $2800 per semester is a ton less than $6400.
Now imagine what a 1996 part time minimum wage job paid (in real dollars) vs 2022. How many hours would you need to work in 1996 vs 2022 to cover that tuition bill? I'd look that up too, but... sigh. Too much time on this already.
Oh...
And looks like Military now get a discount on per-credit rate-- can't see where they get free ride. In fact, Google can't find anything for the search: Kentucky "operation seed tree" tuition
Finally- what gets me the most-- I'm about the same age as that guy. He needs to except this world is different than the one we grew up in. And we helped create this mess. Stop blaming the kids when we were the ones who dicked around for 3 decades gobbling up tax cuts. Where do you think the tax cut money came from? Cutting things like higher ed funding.
Email:
Scott,
Is there no one running the newsroom in Indy? The fact that not one, but two of their anchors feel that sharing their person opinion on social media is ok, makes me fear for thye future of the business.
While I’m worried about many of the people in TV news, I think I’m more worried as to the people in charge.
It is fruusrating for sure.
Email:
Hey Scott,
Just wanted to share my perspective on student loan forgiveness. I would never post this publicly to either my station branded or personal accounts.
My story… graduated college with about $12,000 in debt.
Took my first job in the early 2000’s at a station that at the time was owned by a wealthy GOP donor who was convicted of voter fraud (he’s now in the Missouri Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame — I guess folks in Missouri are ok with voter fraud).
He paid us a salary of $14,500 with NO health benefits and NO overtime.
That started the process of deferring student loan payments — and a harsh lesson in compounding interest.
Long story short… my student loans essentially doubled.
Yea, it was my choice to take out the loans and take a low paying dream job… but at the end of the day, any debt relief is only going to take care of the exorbitant interest and fees. I’ll still end up paying back all of the principal on the loan.
So is it really a handout, or relief from years of predatory interest and fees? I’m sure this is the case for millions of others.
Also I’m not buying the tweet from the woman who claims she made $40k in her first job and $200k as a reporter in her last job. I guess I’m choosing the wrong markets.
Just my 2 cents.
There were a number of other emails that said pretty much the same thing. But, there was also one email in support of the WXIN anchors and in fairness we thought we would share that one.
Email:
Hey,
I was reluctant to write this, since you own the platform and can easily trash me….
However Mr O’Brien, the WXIN weather guy you flamed for his post on his National Guard service….don’t you understand that he actually gave his time and talent to that organization in return for the subsidy of his education? He didn’t get it for free. I think you are way off base in suggesting he was getting something for nothing.
As for the his colleague….is she going to get a refund for her tuition to make up for the time and effort spent for the education?
Jeez, man, you sign for the loan which means you agree to repay it. It’s a calculation that the education you receive will allow you to earn more than if you didn’t get the degree. So, is you take some bullshit degree in gender studies or 17th century English Lit, I guess you limit the payback. That’s a choice.
I think your logic is faulty and maybe you owe these people an apology, which they won’t get from you.
Well, you’re right about them not getting an apology from me. But, here’s the deal, my problem was with someone working at a local TV station sharing their opinion on social media.
I pointed out his National Guard not to downplay O’Brien’s service, but the fact that he was also paid with tax dollars. What if someone is firmly against the war and yet their tax dollars helped pay Jim O’Brien? Is that fair to the taxpayer?
There are many times that our tax dollars are spent on items and services that we don’t want them spent on. That’s life here in America. But, when you work in TV news, it is not your job to openly comment or complain, it puts your station and company in a bad light and it hurts the station’s integrity and perceived objectivity.
