 |
         
|
NBC aired an uncharacteristically soft newscast. It covered the pirate story in less detail (3 min v ABC 7, CBS 5) than its rivals. It closed with a piece of fluff from Norah O'Donnell on the expected arrival of the First Dog at the White House. Science correspondent Robert Bazell was assigned to explain research into different types of fat molecules in the human body, a topic that was more suitable for the lifestyle-leaning Today than the Nightly News. And Martin Fletcher, who earned high marks with his human touch on Tuesday from the earthquake zone in Abruzzo, now loses all sense of proportion. Fletcher chased around the Italian countryside trying to make sure that 18 cousins of a family of NBC viewers in Long Beach were still alive. They were. He even supplied the cell phone to deliver transAtlantic reassurance. Anchor Brian Williams misleadingly called it "a rare happy ending in a story with very few of them." The earthquake killed 275 while leaving 17,000 homeless--so finding the cousins alive was the rule not the exception.
CBS cut back on its earthquake coverage, filing merely a brief voiceover. ABC used Miguel Marquez for a conventional survey of the damage, skipping Fletcher's exaggerated, sentimental solicitude.
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
