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The Collins story was covered from Los Angeles by NBC's Mike Taibbi and CBS' Ben Tracy, while ABC had Dan Harris file from New York. Harris saw all those shopworn stereotypes about gays being utterly demolished by this seven-foot trash-talking bruiser. CBS anchor Scott Pelley followed up with a briefing from James Brown, of his network's sports division, the host of NFL Today: "Historic." Among the bold names encouraging Collins, NBC's Taibbi cited Chelsea Clinton, his onetime classmate at Stanford University. Bizarrely, Clinton also happens to be a fellow-reporter at NBC News; bizarrely, that connection was something Taibbi did not mention. NBC seems determined to confuse its viewers about Ms Clinton's status. Is she journalist? Or celebrity? Or the network's insider access to a political dynasty?
The Boston story was hardly ignored. The latest updates on the investigation in New England and in the Caucasus were followed in Washington DC by NBC's Pete Williams and CBS' Bob Orr. Look how Orr insinuates that Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow may have been involved in making the pressure-cooker bombs while he insists that she is no such suspect. ABC had Brian Ross file from New York. All three mentioned the newest sports connection to the case: William Plotnikov, a Canadian boxer, was killed last year by Russian secret police. Confusingly, ABC's Ross called Plotnikov a "professional" boxer even as he showed a picture of him posing as an amateur. NBC next had anchor Brian Williams file a personal profile of Tom Menino, Boston's longtime mayor. Menino was in a hospital bed convalescing from ankle surgery when the marathon took place. Against doctor's orders, he insisted on standing up out of his wheelchair to lead his city's mourning.
The day's third story to receive attention from correspondents on all three newscasts was the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, exactly six months after it hit. As usual, this was a female assignment, handled by ABC's Linsey Davis in Breezy Point, by CBS' Elaine Quijano in The Rockaways, and by NBC's Katy Tur on the Jersey Shore. Uncannily, if you look at the playlist of the 22 reports updating us on Sandy rebuilding filed since the New Year, only three have a man's name on them. Davis' contribution was unusual: hers is the only one of those 22 to appear on the ABC newscast.
NBC rounded out its Sandy coverage with environmental correspondent Anne Thompson taking a wider look at the prospects for beachfront property from coast to coast. The combination of rising sea levels, caused by climate change, and erosion, caused by heavy storms, renders those breathtaking ocean views unsustainable.
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