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This was supposed to be the climax of the summer-long debate over healthcare reform. Thousands of protestors descended on Capitol Hill to protest legislation before the House of Representatives as the White House orchestrated endorsements from AARP and AMA. Yet the bill became an afterthought. An afternoon shooting spree at Fort Hood, the massive army base in central Texas, dominated the news agenda. It led all three newscasts and occupied 69% (41 min out of 59) of the three-network newshole. As of the newshour all three newscasts reported a death toll of twelve, including the officer identified as the killer, Major Nadal Hasan.

The shooting happened in the early afternoon, too close to the news hour to allow full reports to be filed from the scene. ABC's John Quinones and CBS' Don Teague were there for stand-ups. NBC relied on Jade Mingus of KCEN-TV, its local affiliate. By coincidence, Major Hasan was a graduate of Virginia Tech, the scene of a similar horrifying shooting spree in the spring of 2007. Back then Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 fellow students before killing himself. He attracted yet heavier coverage (62 min, 54 min and 38 min on the first three days). The Columbine High School massacre at its peak (49 min), received slightly more coverage than Fort Hood's first day, back in 1999.

Andrew Tyndall 11/10/09 6:27:16 pm

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