During my time as a video journalist at “Tele Top”, I also came across my fair share of quirky and unusual stories—which is exactly what local TV is all about. Whether it was a senior citizen in Schaffhausen who took matters into her own hands by putting up her own signs at the train station because people couldn’t find the bus, or a spelling mistake on a bus stop sign in Winterthur that went unnoticed for over 10 years, I always had a lot of fun with these small but entertaining stories. For me, they were a big part of what made working for local tv so appealing.
Take a look at some of my favorite “only-in-local-TV” moments below 🙂
The gold nugget prank: How we beat the pranksters
This was a truly crazy story! The popular YouTube magazine “Izzy” tried to pull a massive prank on us at “Tele Top”, but the whole story from the beginning:
It started when a man claimed to have found a massive gold nugget in a river near Winterthur. My first thought: “Wow, the perfect local news story!” But we were sceptical: Was this too good to be true? We decided to produce a segment centered around that exact question: Is this real?
I tracked down a professional gold digger who told me it was impossible. Then, I took the man and his nugget to a goldsmith for a spontaneous analysis. The result: It was real gold, but clearly man-made. On air, we exposed the gold nugget as a fake.
About six months later, the pranksters at “Izzy” unexpectedly released a video. They admitted to the “biggest fail in their history” and conceded defeat to “Tele Top”. It turned out the nugget was cast by their team (worth 10,000 CHF) and the “finder” was an actor.
Typo on bus stop sign remained undetected for 10 years
How long does it take to spot a spelling mistake on a bus stop sign? In Winterthur, the answer was a staggering ten years. For the news report, I decided to challenge commuters to find the error right in front of them, and their reactions were priceless.
Senior citizen puts up her own signs at the train station
This is a typical story of a senior citizen who felt let down by the authorities and decided to take matters into her own hands. She noticed that people were constantly getting lost on their way to the bus at the train station in Schaffhausen, but the authorities ignored her repeated pleas for better signage—so she simply installed her own. This kind of charming, small-scale stories you rarely find in the national news.
Students shave their beards in the middle of Winterthur
There are many quirky local traditions, like this one involving engineering students in Winterthur. Before their graduation, they commit to growing out their beards for several weeks. But first, they gather in the middle of the city for a public mass shaving.
Strangers replace traffic signs in a village
Much like the fire department being called to rescue a cat from a tree, this story is almost stereotypical for local news: Unknown individuals stealing street signs. In this case, “50 km/h” signs were replaced with “40 km/h” ones in a village. While people tended to make fun of the story, the police took it seriously.
Zurich honors millionth toilet visitor
There is always a reason to celebrate. For example, the millionth visitor to a public toilet in Zurich. While the unsuspecting woman was doing her business, a city councilor waited outside to surprise her with a spontaneous bouquet of flowers.