John,

We cut cable out of our lives.We called one of our friends in Florida, and checked that way.  We also reviewed the weather on line.  So I have no comments, other than we don't miss the media .  A

I felt that I was adequately informed... not sure it needed to be reported almost 24/7, but when you're dealing with the uncertainties of Mother Nature you can think in terms of over-hyped.

I am not following it on the news.  I am monitoring friends on FB and here in the Rain to get the actual report on how they are impacted. 

Overkill as usual

Like Ron and Alexandra Seigel, I no longer have cable.  The 24/7 news cycle was a rather easy addiction to cut.   As Alexandra added - the Internet provides the information if I need it plus lots and lots of cute animal videos.   

Take one molehill, add media and you get a mountain every time

Haven't paid much attention to it.  Heard it was not as bad as expected.

John DL Arendsen The media is not happy with just reporting the news. They insist on taking the worse case scenario and trying to capitalize on it over and over and over. This was a serious hurricane, but I don't think the media needed to emphasize what could happen instead of what is actually happening. It was not a Category 4 hurricane up the entire East Coast, the 20-foot surges didn't happen, etc., etc. I saw a reporter standing in water just about knee high and kept going on and on about it the raging water. When the camera panned away, you could see grass about 15 feet away.  Over hyped in a lot of cases for ratings.

What people need to understand is that Florida has a lot of residents who are either new here or have never experienced a hurricane (this was our first in 12 years) so they have to be advised of things.

We have a lot of elderly residents who don't even own a computer and get all their news from TV, radio and newspapers plus a lot of residents work non-traditional hours (think police, fire, nurses/hospital and hotel staff) so it has to be broadcast 24 hours to get the word to everyone.

We got our info from three different TV stations, weather apps on our phones and some from FB.. The TV coverage is very important to us since we like to track the storms.

The sad part is that, despite all the coverage and our Governor's updates urging residents of the beaches to evacuate, I heard today that 40% of the residents of one beach town (not mine) refused to leave despite a mandatory evacuation order.

After living in Florida for 30 years and going through various storms, I   know that these storms take on a mind of their own and change course in the blink of an eye. When we left on Wednesday it was a Cat 4 and predicted to go by 10 miles off shore. That would have been catastrophic and it is only because Matthew went by 40 miles offshore as a Cat 3 that we had a home to come back to.

Good information overall. I was glad to know what was happening and the early warnings helped keep people safe.

Same as any other event, they enjoy the extra facetime on tv.

   Over the top. 

    They have to play up any weather-related events, to justify the Global Warming/Climate Change Hoax.  As if we never had hurricanes, before Algore invented that lie.

I thought they did a great job. Most people have no idea what these storms are like!

A lot of useless information along with some actual facts! 

Never saw any, so couldn't judge it.

Like Susan Haughton, I think that in general, they really wanted to warn folks and as it happened, it hit us far worse than we anticipated.  So, while 24/7 coverage may be overrated for some, everyone doesn't watch TV or listen to the radio 24/7, they needed to be able to get the word out to EVERYONE when they were watching/listening.  I'm sure that many lives were saved and am ever so thankful for that!

North Carolina certainly got pounded far worse than they imagined. And, unfortunately, everyone is hung up on wind speed so much, I fear surge and rainfall gets lost in the message.  Saw many water rescues on tv this morning from hotels far inland to which people evacuated - mother nature cannot be adequately predicted at times.  Have been watching certain FB boards, particularly for the Outer Banks (we have had property and many friends there for a number of years, so it is of particular interest), and seeing dozens of questions from vacationers asking "I'm heading down there today, can I get in my cottage?" while looking at photos of complete neighborhoods underwater - and reading emergency bulletins saying there is restricted access to the entire County - and there is such a huge disconnect.  For the state of NC, there was unbelievable damage and much of it unexpected.  

Many people refuse to take alerts seriously and many people remain totally unprepared for any disaster at all, I get the "hype" although, yes, certainly it is somewhat for ratings, although I think there is a lot of cynicism in that stance because I do believe many weather people are sincere in their desire to warn people of what is to come. 

Overblown and while it could have been devastating, I think that the hysteria, i.e. Fox News "everyone is going to die" was way overboard.  I like news that the newscasters don't express their personal opinions and just state the facts.

A bit obsessive, but overall it's good to be informed and prepared.

I believed they handled like any other storm in the past--Good overall

Ron and Alexandra Seigel nailed this one!

Certianly over hyped, but loved watching the coverage to stay up to date

John DL Arendsen - more is perfectly fine. It's better to be safe, isn't it?

I am surprised that we haven't heard more about the relief information. I remember that with Katrina, there was a call to action given by the media. With Matthew I think that we are missing the message of urgency to help people.

I'm not sure how the Media is handling it in general( no tv for me), but I was checking live twitter/FB updates since I have friends and clients who live in FL. 

so-so

I thought it was pretty good.  I think they got the message across to the people in harm's way.

I only get my news online. I don't have TV. So I can't really answer your question. 

Excellent, I was in Oklahoma checking on out condo in Jupiter and felt that the coverage was outstanding.

I think the media handled it just right. It's interesting that the California people think it was over hyped. And why wouldn't they? They are 3000 miles away. I'm sure the East coast people think the same way when there is an earthquake or forest fire in California

Annoying sometimes, other times it's the usual guess work and continual forecast adjustments.

I check in on the Weather Channel as my source of weather news.

I think the coverage has been very good.

When it comes to saving lives stress it.  Some are thick headed and pay with their lives or lives of their kids.

they were right on top of it....

Most of what I saw was online and checking in with people I know in the area.

The media coverage depended upon their target audience. 

Wind blown with bad hair.

Good.