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CBS' Holly Williams followed up on the pair of investigative features (here and here) she filed on apparel sweatshops in Bangladesh five weeks ago. She targeted Monde Apparels, supplier to Asics, Walmart, and Wrangler, for child labor law violations and fire hazards. The upshot of her report is that Monde has had its safety certification stripped and that Williams' sources in the workforce have been fired. Williams found an NGO, the Institute for Global Labor & Human Rights, which is helping Monde's laid-off under-age girls get an education.
The day's only other foreign story came from the Tasman Sea, although it was filed from New York by ABC's Dan Harris. The Nina, an 85-year-old schooner, skippered by David Dyche, with seven on board, has gone missing in a storm, amid 26-foot waves. It is not clear why the boat's fate warranted network news coverage.
Someone should do a study of weathercasters who are named for meteorological phenomena. ABC's Clayton Sandell, reporting on the sweltering heatwave that is gripping the southwest, included a soundbite from KABC-TV's Dallas Raines. Los Angeles needs Raines. Geddit?
Trialwatch updates: ABC and NBC are keeping closer tabs on the George Zimmerman murder trial in Florida than CBS is. Matt Gutman and Ron Mott each made it four reports in four days (Mark Strassmann, by contrast, has skipped two). ABC's Gutman found the cross-examination of Rachel Jeantel -- forced to confess her illiteracy -- "heartbreaking" and it was. CBS finds the racketeering trial of James Bulger in Boston more interesting. Dan Dahler's report on John Morris, the corrupt former FBI agent, was the network's fourth since the trial began. Also in Boston, a death penalty case was brought against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by federal prosecutors for those pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line. CBS' Bob Orr and ABC's Pierre Thomas summarized the charges from their networks' DC bureaus. Thomas mentioned that Tsarnaev may have killed his own brother, running over his body with his car as he made his getaway from a police shootout.
Gay marriage and the abortion filibuster both deserved a follow-up. ABC's David Kerley told us pink tennis shoes have gone viral online in tribute the filibuster footwear worn by State Senator Wendy Davis. CBS' Bill Whitaker landed a twofer in his profile of Jennifer Post and Teri Kinne. Ms Kinne gets the benefits of California's new law twice, once as Ms Post's bride, and again in her business as a wedding planner.
ABC's Steve Osunsami paid tribute to Sheriff CT Woody of Richmond Va for converting his jail into a ballroom, to allow his inmates to dance, all dressed up, with their daughters. A small quibble: this is the city jail not the state penitentiary, so Osunsami cannot fairly say the doting fathers are serving "hard time." For that, you are sent up the river.
The wounds of war are a regular human interest topic on the nightly newscasts -- at least on NBC and CBS. Of the 15 such features filed in the last year, only one appeared on ABC. It was NBC's turn to pay tribute to Operation Mend for Making a Difference: while cosmetic surgeons at UCLA perform multiple operations, disfigured veterans have to find somewhere to live between procedures. Mike Taibbi shows us the Schwimmers, opening their home to Sergeant Israel del Toro.
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