COMMENTS: NBC Leads the Return to the Polluted Gulf of Mexico
The first anniversary of the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that caused months of pollution from a seabed gusher was marked by NBC, the leader in coverage all of last year. Anchor Brian Williams traveled to Venice La for a special edition, Disaster in the Gulf, that included his wharfside examination of the state of the Grand Isle shrimp fishery and environmental correspondent Anne Thompson's survey of the damage to the region's ecology and economy. Even though ABC has not started its anniversary coverage yet, the oil anniversary was Story of the Day, helped by Mark Strassmann's feature on CBS about continuing skepticism over the safety of seafood from Gulf waters. NBC did not lead with the oil disaster, however. NBC and CBS both led with the devastating string of tornadoes, numbering almost 250 from Alabama to North Carolina, that killed 45 over the weekend. ABC kicked off for the second Monday in a row with the price of gasoline, now averaging $3.84 per gallon nationwide.
ABC's Steve Osunsami performed play-by-play of the weather porn, narrating streams of stormchasing video. The Weather Channel's Jeff Morrow explained the meteorology of the supercells on NBC: this single weekend had many more touchdowns than are seen in an average month of tornado season. On ABC, Good Morning America weathercaster Sam Champion told us about the big box retail store in Sanford NC that was directly in the path of one funnel cloud. Attention Shoppers! Escape those tall-stacked shelves and hide in the cinderblock office in the rear! CBS' Cynthia Bowers was in Raleigh for a regional summary, including input from her network's affiliates WTVR in Virginia and WCSC in South Carolina. Impoverished Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina was hardest hit by the twisters. NBC's Kerry Sanders filed from Colerain.
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