A recent column in the Tampa Bay Times seems to provide yet another example why ordinary consumers have grown disillusioned with the pretentious, virtue-signalling mainstream or legacy media. Who knows — It might even be a “teachable moment.”

Earlier this week, a Times columnist recounted how two Pasco County, Fla., commissioners think that the airtime the local sheriff’s department is receiving on the hit A&E ride-along show Live PD — which airs on Friday and Saturday evenings at 9 p.m. Eastern — is giving viewers the wrong idea “in terms of Pasco County’s image and reputation.”

In general, you could make that argument about any community featured on the show. You could also contend that officers are on their best behavior when the Live PD cameras are rolling.

In the alternative, you could make a case that Live PD is substantially improving the perception of law enforcement officers across the country, which is particularly relevant after the controversies that have engulfed police departments in the last few years. It may even encourage more individuals to consider an LEO career. (That the cops are often covered with more tattoos than the suspects they are taking into custody is another matter.)

In making a point about the potential for image tarnishing, the column, as relatively brief as it is, comes across to some degree as condescending to many people who — with good reason — really enjoy the show. The columnist explained that he watched the show for just 90 minutes (out of a potential 360 minutes for two episodes) “at the urging of an acquaintance.”

But “After 90 minutes, I’d had my fill and will return to other forms of entertainment.” In a recommendation that has never surfaced before, he also advises readers to curl up with a book instead of watching TV.

The journalist also acknowledges that Live PD (which has an avid social media following in addition to its ratings pull) “apparently” has a lot of fans, numbering in the several millions, he conceded.

Because of its action, unpredictability,  plus quirky and humorous, and sometimes mundane, interactions between cops and citizens, he may be unaware that  Live PD is the closest thing that even approaches appointment TV anymore.

Pasco deputies were only filmed responding to once call in the segments that he watched, moreover, which suggests that his investigative journalism was incomplete.

The columnist almost makes it sound like it was a difficult sacrifice to take time out of his busy schedule — which perhaps includes heavy listening to NPR and watching Rachel Maddow in addition to stated recreational reading — to seemingly embark on an archaeological dig in a remote area of the world rather than just plopping down on the couch to watch a reality TV show for an hour and a half.

Tampa’s WTSP, 10 News, provided an alternative view of the ramifications of Live PD:

“Since coming to the small screen on the show, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has seen huge benefits with their nationwide fame. Assistant executive director Chase Daniels said the biggest benefit of having their deputies featured on the show was the conversations it starts…Daniels said deputies have told him they’ve seen positive feedback from the Pasco community. He said deputies featured on the show get recognized from the show and people have great feedback…The impacts the show has brought to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office goes beyond telling the tales of their deputies. It has significant effects on charities in the community…The money earned by selling PCSO swag and that is donated goes to the Pasco Sheriff Charities and the multiple community organizations they support.”

This weekend is Live PD’s season finale, but host Dan Abrams just revealed on Twitter that the production is taking only three weeks of downtime before fresh episodes featuring eight different police agencies in the U.S. return to A&E next month.