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There was not much news made by President Barack Obama on his first full day in office. The news was that this was his first full day in office. All three newscasts kicked off with the Story of the Day as their White House correspondents summarizing his official calendar: arriving at the Oval Office, attending the National Prayer Service, promulgating executive orders, briefing staffers, telephoning world leaders, mulling policy options. The anchors at ABC and CBS returned to New York after their two days in Washington DC to cover the inauguration. NBC's Brian Williams stayed in the nation's capital one day longer.

ABC's Jake Tapper noticed that the new President was "taken aback" when he walked into a room and everyone immediately stood up. CBS' Chip Reid called Obama's daily schedule "jam packed" as he "hit the ground running." White House aides predicted to him that "the frenetic pace will continue for the foreseeable future." NBC's Chuck Todd was not buying. He took the opposite approach noting that "actually today was just a typical day for a President of the United States" whose very job description is "multitasking." On ABC, This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos generalized that on Day One "symbolism is substance--all about showing he was keeping the promises of the campaign."

NBC's Todd reported that when Obama "took on the title of Leader of the Free World" he made phone calls to "all key players in the Israeli-Gaza conflict." This indeed would have been newsworthy, if true, because it would have meant he had initiated diplomacy with Hamas. CBS' Reid disabused us of that notion, listing Obama's interlocutors as the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.


Andrew Tyndall 1/22/09 7:30:32 pm

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