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The Roman Catholic Church put on a show like it knows how -- and reaped the reward of a bonanza of positive publicity. Fully 83% of the three-network newshole (48 mins out of 58) was devoted to the presentation of Pope Francis I to the throngs in St Peter's Square in the Vatican. CBS and ABC were also rewarded. Their decision to dispatch their anchors to Rome was blessed by a quick decision from the Conclave of Cardinals as the white smoke appeared on the fifth ballot: Scott Pelley and Diane Sawyer were each logging their third newscast from The Vatican. ABC called its newscast a Special Edition again, this time using the title The New Pope Francis. NBC, although anchor Brian Williams stayed in New York, also switched to special, with a generic logo that could have been designed in advance, whatever the outcome: Election of the Pope.

For descriptions of the ceremonials: check out NBC's Anne Thompson and ABC's Josh Elliott.

For thumbnail biographies of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires: check out CBS' Allen Pizzey, NBC's Lester Holt, ABC's Josh Elliott (again).

For character references from fellow eminences: check out Edward Egan on ABC and Donald Wuerl, breaking his vow of silence by describing the mood in the Sistine Chapel, on CBS.

For correspondents breaking with protocol and reporting subjectively on their devotional responses as Catholics: check out NBC's Anne Thompson (again) and ABC's Cokie Roberts.

For brief speculation on Bergoglio's impact on the church's mission and the Vatican bureaucracy: check out NBC analyst George Weigel and Monsignor Anthony Figueredo on CBS.

For a brief explanation about the Society of Jesus: check out ABC's Cokie Roberts (again) and CBS consultant Delia Gallagher.

For the mood among the faithful in the square: check out ABC's Cecilia Vega (at the tail of the Elliott videostream) and CBS' Mark Phillips (love that Argentine dig against Brazil).

For a celebration of Latin America: check out NBC's Miguel Almaguer (although NBC mis-handicapped the election, pre-positioning him in Rio de Janeiro, not Buenos Aires) and ABC's Cecilia Vega (again, at the tail of the Elliott videostream). Vega gets so carried away that she says there is only one word to describe the feeling: emotional! proud! unbelievable! Almaguer forgets that the first 1,492 years of the Christian era ignored the Western Hemisphere.

For the more sullen mood among disaffected Catholics in America del Norte: check out NBC's John Yang and CBS' Carter Evans.

And, just like that generic logo from NBC's graphics department, ABC anchor Diane Sawyer too had a canned feature that could be aired no matter whose name the conclave happened to decide on. She reran behind-the-scenes video of the papal apartment and the terrace overlooking the basilica from her visit to the Apostolic Palace ten years ago. By the way, she says that there is only one palace in the world that is bigger than the pontiff's and tells us whose it is. He is just as holy.

For closing thoughts on each of the three newscasts, there were these different takeaways: ABC's Josh Elliott had nothing new really, merely reiterating the highlights of his lead; NBC anchor Brian Williams decided, appropriately, that the event was first and foremost a visual spectacle, so he let the video roll; CBS' Scott Pelley tried to walk the narrow line between the profound, invoking the iconography of St Francis, and the cute, speculating about that seagull on the Sistine Chapel chimney.

Nice try, Pelley, but I am afraid that cuteness trumped profundity.
Andrew Tyndall 3/14/13 9:13:42 pm

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