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The network nightly newscasts sent mixed signals about the countdown to the shutdown. Friday saw a four-day climax of coverage of the negotiations about a formula to continue funding the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Finally all three newscasts agreed that the inside-the-Beltway game of chicken qualified as their lead: ABC for the first time this week, NBC for the third, CBS for the fourth straight day. The same climax can be tracked by daily minutes of coverage: 14 minutes to 16 to 16 to 28. Yet calling it a potential shutdown was hype: the majority of the government, including its armed forces, is deemed to be essential and would therefore continue in operation, regardless of funding. The networks' anchors, too, sent the message that this budget poker was theatrical not substantive: all three took a long weekend off, leaving a trio of substitutes: Kate Snow at NBC, Harry Smith at CBS, George Stephanopoulos at ABC.

ABC decided to lead off from the White House with Jake Tapper and follow up with Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill whereas Capitol Hill was the lead location for NBC, with Kelly O'Donnell, and CBS, with Nancy Cordes. All three Congressional correspondents were astonished to find themselves spending more time, in the face of this looming deadline, listening to partisan press conferences. Politicians of all stripes found microphones in order to trot out talking points to explain why an agreement had not been reached rather than staying behind closed doors in order to negotiate one.

"News conferences all over Capitol Hill"--NBC's O'Donnell
"Accusatory press conferences all day long"--CBS' Cordes
"All day holding press conferences to beat up the other side"--ABC's Karl

From the White House, ABC's Tapper noted that the dispute rested on 0.1% of the federal budget. NBC's Chuck Todd was confident a last minute deal would be reached. CBS' Chip Reid filed an essay on Barack Obama's leadership style. What his critics call a failure, his partisans describe as a choice "not to play by Washington rules on rushing to every emergency." Obama deployed that style over the BP oil spill, over Egypt and Libya, and he is now deploying it in budget talks. Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer balanced Reid's assessment of the President with observations about Speaker John Boehner and the Tea Party.

Yet again, reporters were assigned to the hypothetical. Exactly which were those inessential services of the federal government that might have to close? Already this week, we have been escorted around the National Parks and the Pentagon payroll department and the home mortgage insurers and the income tax non-electronic filing refunders by ABC's Tapper and CBS' Cordes and NBC's John Yang. Now ABC's David Wright joins the fray while NBC's Ron Mott concentrates on military families living paycheck-to-paycheck and CBS returns to Thursday's wheel format, folding anecdotes from the housing market and Yellowstone and Camp Pendleton into Cordes' report from Capitol Hill.

Had enough? Just one more verge-of-a-shutdown piece: Kevin Tibbles surveyed the vox pop in Chicago for NBC.

Andrew Tyndall 4/13/11 3:09:17 pm

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