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Did Weather Channel really call Mississippi 'The Land Mass'?Aug 28, 2012 (The Sun Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- So maybe we Mississippians need to take back our unkind remarks about The Weather Channel. We might even need to apologize for accusing them of referring to Mississippi as "the land mass" between New Orleans and Mobile during their Isaac coverage Sunday. Here's the deal. The Weather Channel representative David Blumenthal has called the Sun Herald to say he can find nobody who actually viewed, or can point him to video about, "the land mass" remark. "I'm going to keep looking," Blumenthal said. "I've just been talking to a couple of my colleagues and they say the same thing to me, 'David, I haven't seen video of anyone saying, 'Land mass.' "I find that interesting. I can't find where it originated and I've been talking to folks here who would know." Uh, well, we can't help you, David. The Sun Herald reported on the gaffe based on mentions by other credible media that said it had occurred. Shepard Smith, a Mississippi native, railed about the whole thing at length on Fox News. CNN has since weighed in. The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson admonished The Weather Channel in an editorial. And social media, well, "the land mass" quote, or non-quote as it may be, has spawned a Facebook page called "The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile," with 50,000-plus likes and counting. The proprietor is now selling T-shirts for $24 and baby bibs for $14. You can even buy your dog a "land mass" T-shirt for $22. Tweets are picking on The Weather Channel on Twitter, too. The Weather Channel has even posted on said Facebook page, although no apology was offered because nobody has verified the remark. The post said, in part: "We love everyone's passion about the state of Mississippi. We at The Weather Channel are just as passionate about any and all areas affected by severe weather." And, as social media commenters have noted, the channel's meteorologists now seem to be going out of their way to work Mississippi into their commentaries. Seriously. It's time to stop picking on The Weather Channel. Jim Cantore risked life and limb when he rode out Katrina here. At least until somebody produces video. If you have said video, please post it to The Weather Channel Facebook page. David Blumenthal is waiting. ___ (c)2012 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |