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The day-after coverage of President Barack Obama's second inauguration was the Story of the Day, even though much of it was trivial and celebrity-oriented, and none of it was deemed important enough to take the lead on any of the three newscasts. Yet there was nothing especially significant that did qualify for the top spot. Both CBS and ABC led with the hardly astonishing development that Minneapolis is bitterly cold in mid-January. NBC kicked off with Janet Shamlian in Houston, for what was nothing but a local item: three people were injured in a dispute involving firearms at a community college. What was NBC thinking?

As for the aftermath of Inauguration Day, both NBC's Kristen Welker and ABC's Jonathan Karl reflected on Obama's big speech from the White House. "A broad liberal agenda," said she; "a boldly liberal vision," said he. Karl focused on Obama's newfound focus on climate change; Welker chose the federal budget and Debt Ceiling; on CBS, Major Garrett, in a brief stand-up, explained that the White House will not be central in dealing with either climate change or with immigration legislation. CBS (1 min v ABC 7, NBC 6) paid the ceremonies less attention than its rivals, as it did on Monday (11 min v ABC 14, NBC 15).

As for inaugural celebrity watching, ABC gave us self-serving cross-promotion for its primetime sitcom by giving the title A Modern Family to Cecilia Vega's commentary on the candid camera glimpses of the Obamas en famille on the parade viewing stand. NBC's Chris Jansing offered a photo-essay on the day's highlights. And as for the musical performances…

…yesterday, ABC gushed over Beyonce Knowles' rendition of The Star Spangled Banner without bothering to dignify James Taylor with a mention. Now it seems that she was not singing live after all, so ABC's David Wright was assigned to sort out the embarrassment: he reached out to Mr Taylor with a clip and a soundbite; he quoted the Marine Corps Band as confessing that it faked its accompaniment to Beyonce's vocals, while its pre-recorded instrumental played. Yet the band refused comment as to whether the vocals, too, were pre-recorded. This barest of fig leafs allowed anchor Diane Sawyer to entertain the possibility still that she had not been duped into her enthusiasm of Monday: "And it is a mystery tonight," she concluded.

Andrew Tyndall 1/23/13 8:10:07 pm

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