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The espionage at the National Security Agency, which had dominated headlines for the previous week, found itself with only one correspondent -- and even then ABC's Brian Ross was more interested in Edward Snowden, the confessed leaker of top secrets, than the cyberspooking itself. Ross was somewhat ad hominem against Snowden, likening him to the 70s-era's Philip Agee, calling him a high school dropout and a would-be male model, and finding a psychologist to diagnose self-absorbed egotism.
There is an organization called the Authentics Foundation, which is trying to crack down on the street trade for Big Apple tourists in knock-off Louis Vuitton, Tony Burch, Coach, Burberry, Ferragamo. ABC's Linsey Davis gave free publicity to Valerie Salembier, the well-dressed matron who insists on authenticity -- and passed on tips about where the LV logo should be if you want your counterfeit to look like the genuine article.
I noted on Wednesday that CBS, alone of the three newscasts, has followed the prosecution of mobster-turned-FBI-informant James Whitey Bulger for reverting to racketeering. Now Carter Evans adds one more chapter, including publicity for Dick Lehr's book Whitey. When Bulger was living incognito at the Princess Eugenia apartments in Santa Monica under the name Charlie Gasko, he befriended a neighbor, who eventually ratted him out. The neighbor's name was Bond -- Josh Bond.
Last week CBS' Seth Doane brought us the case of Blaec Lammers, a mentally-ill 21-year-old, who was able to purchase an arsenal of firearms, background check and all, because his diagnosis had not involved his being involuntarily committed to an institution. Lammers' parents had to organize for their own son to be arrested. Now CBS' Manuel Bojorquez brings us the case of Nhan Tran, a mentally-ill 34-year-old, who is so enraged by the sound of passing cars that he shoots bullets at them. He was able to purchase his gun, background check and all, because his diagnosis had not involved his being involuntarily committed to an institution. This February, one of Tran's bullets went through an SUV window and killed Devin Aryal, aged nine.
Speaking of ill mental health, if you are a babyboomer and you are going demented -- losing your empathy, changing your personality, shedding your inhibitions, rarely speaking, moving compulsively -- you might not be getting Alzheimer's Disease, NBC's Robert Bazell reassured us. Well, reassuring it was not. This incurable dementia may be frontal temporal instead. You will end up institutionalized, overweight, and dead within years.
I told you ABC was celebrity oriented. It was the only newscast to find the journey to Splitsville by Rupert Murdoch, the tabloid newspapermen and media mogul, newsworthy. In what way did Rebecca Jarvis find his soon-to-be-ex-wife Wendi newsworthy? She was the woman in pink who foiled the cream pie thrower.
Two good-news education stories to close NBC's newscast in two days: Wednesday's Education Nation saw Rehema Ellis at the above-average Annapolis High School in Maryland; now John Yang's Making a Difference brings us the graduating high school seniors of Kalamazoo, where every single one is eligible for a scholarship to a state college. The Kalamazoo Promise was featured on CBS, back when Katie Couric was anchor, six years ago.
Get your shoes shined in Pittsburgh and you may be helping uninsured pediatric hospital patients pay for surgery. Byron Pitts explained that it will only happen if you tip well. That is America Strong on ABC.
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