Well now, wasn't that a lot of prep and fret for nothing? What, 9 inches down from 27? While Jersey City and most of the surround dodged a big winter bullet there are a lot of websites this morning asking how the prognosticators could get it so wrong. Johnny's gonna tell you about hype vs forecasting.
When meteorologists are trying to get a bead on a huge winter storm, especially a nor' easter, there is a lot of guesswork right up until the storm begins it's final path. They will try and prepare people, point out the possibilities and dangers. They will give you nothing but facts about the storm. They won't name it, they won't try and get you to participate in social media over it and they don't have a vested financial interest to hype the storm.
That's where the incredible failure of The Weather Channel comes in. They DO have a financial interest to hype a storm, first by naming it, then pumping it on Twitter and Facebook. They have shareholders, being owned by NBCUniversal and investment firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. Why would they name storms unless it was some way to get you to come view their station or go to their website of Facebook page? Hype that storm, drive traffic. Hype it more, make sure people are using OUR hashtag. They would not do it simply for altruism.
Was this miss entirely on the Weather Channel? Of course not. But they sure seem to be the ones willing to hype weather over just reporting it, all for money.
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