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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUGUST 09, 2007
CBS has become fixated on the fate of the six coalminers trapped underground by a cave-in at the Crandall Canyon mine. For the fourth straight day it led its newscast from its stakeout in the Utah mountains--even though, yet again, there was no newsworthy development to report. The other two networks showed only slightly sounder news judgment: they filed an update from the scene; yet they avoided making it their lead. Still, all three combined, the coalmine was Story of the Day for the third day out of four. The lead on both ABC and NBC was the continued volatile trading on Wall Street.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR AUGUST 09, 2007: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
WISHFUL THINKING AT UTAH COALMINE CBS has become fixated on the fate of the six coalminers trapped underground by a cave-in at the Crandall Canyon mine. For the fourth straight day it led its newscast from its stakeout in the Utah mountains--even though, yet again, there was no newsworthy development to report. The other two networks showed only slightly sounder news judgment: they filed an update from the scene; yet they avoided making it their lead. Still, all three combined, the coalmine was Story of the Day for the third day out of four. The lead on both ABC and NBC was the continued volatile trading on Wall Street.
"Any minute now we could get word that rescuers have managed to drill through into the chamber where the six miners are trapped," CBS' John Blackstone announced breathlessly. He was referring to a two-inch bore hole being drilled vertically towards the chamber created by the cave-in. Blackstone had different sources than NBC's Jennifer London. She warned that it will be "at least tomorrow morning" before contact is made with the chamber. The drill is making slower progress than expected, London explained, because of a heavy sandstone formation in the mountain. The mine granted access to television cameras to show the horizontal tunnel being dug simultaneously through the caved-in rubble. ABC's Neal Karlinsky found himself "surrounded by darkness, jagged walls and a low ceiling. It is an other-wordly environment." CBS' Blackstone called the tunnel "cramped, claustrophobic."
CBS abandoned the norms of detached reporting to reveal a rooting expectation that the miners are still alive. Blackstone, who introduced the six miners by name with head-and-shoulder shots and thumbnail biographies, narrated a CBS News Animation computer graphic showing the drill bit descending and the sextet standing around underground waiting to receive it. Neither CBS' animators nor anyone else had any knowledge on which to base that depiction. Journalism that conveys wishful thinking as graphic information is not true journalism but fantasy peddling.
HOME LOANS HIT PARIS The headlines from Wall Street did not concern plummeting stock prices so much as volatile ones. Even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 387 points in a single day, that drop followed violent upswings on previous days. Today's closing of 13270, despite the downdraft, was still higher than at the start of the week. "The market has shot up or plunged in triple digits 11 out of the last 15 sessions," ABC's John Berman (subscription required) calculated, the most volatile period of trading since the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The latest factor to roil markets was that "the mortgage mess developed a French Connection," as CBS' Kelly Wallace put. Funds run by BNP Paribas, the largest bank in France, announced huge losses from $4bn investments in defaulting American home mortgages. Wallace added that the woes of the housing market are spreading to retailers of home furniture and home improvement supplies, such as Home Depot. NBC substitute anchor Ann Curry asked Mad Money host Jim Cramer from CNBC to suggest a remedy. He argued that the Federal Reserve Board needs to help "homeowners who are walking away from their homes--they cannot afford their mortgages." Declared Cramer: "The Federal Reserve needs to cut." George Bush was asked whether the federal government should intervene. "I am told there is enough liquidity in the system to enable those markets to correct," was how ABC's Berman quoted the President. Berman did not speculate whether Bush meant "correct" by prices moving upwards or downwards.
NBC followed up by sending Josh Mankiewicz to illustrate what the housing market looks like when foreclosures strike. "Red ink gives way to green pools," he reported from Arizona as realtors are forced to show filthy kitchen cabinets and backyard swimming pools growing green slime. "Empty homes bake in the summer sun, their former tenants so broke they could not afford to clean the place before abandoning it to the bank."
FIBER SEARCHES FOR FATIGUE As two more bodies were pulled out of the Mississippi River from the debris of Minneapolis' collapsed I-35 bridge, CBS had Sheila MacVicar offer the European perspective on her colleague Nancy Cordes' report last Friday that American inspectors rely on the naked eye to check for metal fatigue in highway bridges. Europe, MacVicar showed us, has "some of the most spectacular new bridges and some of the most beautiful old ones" and can keep an automated round-the-clock eye on its infrastructure. Fiber optic filament may either be glued onto bridges or embedded in concrete spans so that hairline fractures can be pinpointed precisely. The sensors are made by Smartec in Switzerland and by Lifespan in Atlanta--but are not deployed for American bridges, some of which "have a hard time even finding the money to buy paint."
UNRECONSTRUCTIVE A couple of interesting Iraq stories surfaced that, for once, did not focus on war. ABC's Miguel Marquez joined Amb Ryan Crocker as he visited Ramadi, the capital of the Sunni-majority province of al-Anbar, a "city that is in desperate need of rebuilding" where "tribal leaders have decided to work with, not against, the Americans." Crocker listened as local politicians pleaded for funds and gave him "an earful of complaints" about the central government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Meanwhile, al-Maliki traveled for talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, where, CBS' Jim Axelrod reminded us, the Shiite al-Maliki lived for part of his exile. Sunnis in Iraq are "furious" at the diplomacy, Axelrod added, seeing it as a "deliberate provocation." But what does President Bush feel about his ally al-Maliki talking to "a charter member of his Axis of Evil"? Axelrod quoted Bush's hypothetical reply: "If the signal is that Iran is constructive I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the Prime Minister because I do not believe they"--the Iranians--"are constructive."
EXILE'S RETURN? NBC's Ann Curry, substituting for anchor Brian Williams, obtained an interview with Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, now living in exile in London and Dubai under accusations of corruption, "charges she firmly denies." Bhutto reacted to reports that her political rival Pervez Musharraf, the general cum president, had been on the verge of imposing a state of emergency: "My fear is that if elections are postponed or democracy is not restored, it will simply play into the hands of the extremist forces." She announced her plans to return to Pakistan to run in parliamentary elections. No surprise, Curry was more interested in talking about al-Qaeda and the Taliban than about internal Pakistani politics. She melded the two agendas by quoting Bhutto's claim that "members of Musharraf's own government are preventing the capture of Osama bin Laden."
NOT MUCH DEPTH NBC aired a couple of campaign-related misnamed In Depth features that contributed little of substance. NBC's Andrea Mitchell offered a personality round-up of the reputations of the candidates'--or, in one case, putative candidate's--spouses. Jeri Thompson, wife of Fred, gets dismissed "as a trophy wife;" Judith Giuliani, wife of Rudolph, "invites coverage in glossy magazines and tabloids except when it is negative;" Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John, "can be tougher than her husband;" Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, is "her husband's closest friend and advisor"--and of course Bill Clinton, husband of Hillary, is "the most experienced political spouse of all." Ron Allen is at the Iowa State Fair in the run-up to the Republican candidates' straw poll fundraiser. His In Depth diagramed the "Presidential primary chess game" as South Carolina became the latest state to advance the date for its primary. "For states like Iowa there is more than pride and prestige on the line," Allen explained, as both Iowa and New Hampshire decide what yet-earlier date to choose. "Campaigns spend huge amounts of money on these early voting states." ABC's Jake Tapper, too, juggled the calendar before concluding that "it is all Florida's fault."
BRAVO! Both ABC and CBS offered features on military families, CBS on reunions and ABC on separations. For CBS' Cynthia Bowers completed her two-parter Bravo Company Coming Home, explaining the difficulties facing a Minnesota National Guard unit readapting to civilian life. A pair was shot to death, one in a police dispute, another at a party. Other soldiers, used to giving and receiving unquestioned orders, are unaccustomed to "the inevitable war of wills" that family life consists of. Meanwhile the teleconference facilities at Iraq's al-Asad Air Force Base gave a USMC corporal access to the delivery room to watch as his wife gave birth in Massachusetts. Tyrelle Greene is the father of a newborn daughter Janelle Margaret, even though his timing was a bit off during mother Melissa's contractions: "Because of the satellite, Tyrelle's coaching came with a bit of a delay," ABC's David Muir (subscription required) explained.
MENTIONED IN PASSING The network newscasts do not assign correspondents to all of the news of the day. If Tyndall Report readers come across videostreamed reports online of stories that were mentioned only in passing, post the link in comments for us to check out.
Today's examples: the forecast for the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season has been downgraded to nine named storms…the Marine Corps court martial for the multiple murder of civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha acquitted two of seven defendants…an army nurse, Captain Maria Ortiz, was killed in Baghdad's Green Zone and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Any minute now we could get word that rescuers have managed to drill through into the chamber where the six miners are trapped," CBS' John Blackstone announced breathlessly. He was referring to a two-inch bore hole being drilled vertically towards the chamber created by the cave-in. Blackstone had different sources than NBC's Jennifer London. She warned that it will be "at least tomorrow morning" before contact is made with the chamber. The drill is making slower progress than expected, London explained, because of a heavy sandstone formation in the mountain. The mine granted access to television cameras to show the horizontal tunnel being dug simultaneously through the caved-in rubble. ABC's Neal Karlinsky found himself "surrounded by darkness, jagged walls and a low ceiling. It is an other-wordly environment." CBS' Blackstone called the tunnel "cramped, claustrophobic."
CBS abandoned the norms of detached reporting to reveal a rooting expectation that the miners are still alive. Blackstone, who introduced the six miners by name with head-and-shoulder shots and thumbnail biographies, narrated a CBS News Animation computer graphic showing the drill bit descending and the sextet standing around underground waiting to receive it. Neither CBS' animators nor anyone else had any knowledge on which to base that depiction. Journalism that conveys wishful thinking as graphic information is not true journalism but fantasy peddling.
HOME LOANS HIT PARIS The headlines from Wall Street did not concern plummeting stock prices so much as volatile ones. Even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 387 points in a single day, that drop followed violent upswings on previous days. Today's closing of 13270, despite the downdraft, was still higher than at the start of the week. "The market has shot up or plunged in triple digits 11 out of the last 15 sessions," ABC's John Berman (subscription required) calculated, the most volatile period of trading since the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The latest factor to roil markets was that "the mortgage mess developed a French Connection," as CBS' Kelly Wallace put. Funds run by BNP Paribas, the largest bank in France, announced huge losses from $4bn investments in defaulting American home mortgages. Wallace added that the woes of the housing market are spreading to retailers of home furniture and home improvement supplies, such as Home Depot. NBC substitute anchor Ann Curry asked Mad Money host Jim Cramer from CNBC to suggest a remedy. He argued that the Federal Reserve Board needs to help "homeowners who are walking away from their homes--they cannot afford their mortgages." Declared Cramer: "The Federal Reserve needs to cut." George Bush was asked whether the federal government should intervene. "I am told there is enough liquidity in the system to enable those markets to correct," was how ABC's Berman quoted the President. Berman did not speculate whether Bush meant "correct" by prices moving upwards or downwards.
NBC followed up by sending Josh Mankiewicz to illustrate what the housing market looks like when foreclosures strike. "Red ink gives way to green pools," he reported from Arizona as realtors are forced to show filthy kitchen cabinets and backyard swimming pools growing green slime. "Empty homes bake in the summer sun, their former tenants so broke they could not afford to clean the place before abandoning it to the bank."
FIBER SEARCHES FOR FATIGUE As two more bodies were pulled out of the Mississippi River from the debris of Minneapolis' collapsed I-35 bridge, CBS had Sheila MacVicar offer the European perspective on her colleague Nancy Cordes' report last Friday that American inspectors rely on the naked eye to check for metal fatigue in highway bridges. Europe, MacVicar showed us, has "some of the most spectacular new bridges and some of the most beautiful old ones" and can keep an automated round-the-clock eye on its infrastructure. Fiber optic filament may either be glued onto bridges or embedded in concrete spans so that hairline fractures can be pinpointed precisely. The sensors are made by Smartec in Switzerland and by Lifespan in Atlanta--but are not deployed for American bridges, some of which "have a hard time even finding the money to buy paint."
UNRECONSTRUCTIVE A couple of interesting Iraq stories surfaced that, for once, did not focus on war. ABC's Miguel Marquez joined Amb Ryan Crocker as he visited Ramadi, the capital of the Sunni-majority province of al-Anbar, a "city that is in desperate need of rebuilding" where "tribal leaders have decided to work with, not against, the Americans." Crocker listened as local politicians pleaded for funds and gave him "an earful of complaints" about the central government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Meanwhile, al-Maliki traveled for talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, where, CBS' Jim Axelrod reminded us, the Shiite al-Maliki lived for part of his exile. Sunnis in Iraq are "furious" at the diplomacy, Axelrod added, seeing it as a "deliberate provocation." But what does President Bush feel about his ally al-Maliki talking to "a charter member of his Axis of Evil"? Axelrod quoted Bush's hypothetical reply: "If the signal is that Iran is constructive I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the Prime Minister because I do not believe they"--the Iranians--"are constructive."
EXILE'S RETURN? NBC's Ann Curry, substituting for anchor Brian Williams, obtained an interview with Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, now living in exile in London and Dubai under accusations of corruption, "charges she firmly denies." Bhutto reacted to reports that her political rival Pervez Musharraf, the general cum president, had been on the verge of imposing a state of emergency: "My fear is that if elections are postponed or democracy is not restored, it will simply play into the hands of the extremist forces." She announced her plans to return to Pakistan to run in parliamentary elections. No surprise, Curry was more interested in talking about al-Qaeda and the Taliban than about internal Pakistani politics. She melded the two agendas by quoting Bhutto's claim that "members of Musharraf's own government are preventing the capture of Osama bin Laden."
NOT MUCH DEPTH NBC aired a couple of campaign-related misnamed In Depth features that contributed little of substance. NBC's Andrea Mitchell offered a personality round-up of the reputations of the candidates'--or, in one case, putative candidate's--spouses. Jeri Thompson, wife of Fred, gets dismissed "as a trophy wife;" Judith Giuliani, wife of Rudolph, "invites coverage in glossy magazines and tabloids except when it is negative;" Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John, "can be tougher than her husband;" Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, is "her husband's closest friend and advisor"--and of course Bill Clinton, husband of Hillary, is "the most experienced political spouse of all." Ron Allen is at the Iowa State Fair in the run-up to the Republican candidates' straw poll fundraiser. His In Depth diagramed the "Presidential primary chess game" as South Carolina became the latest state to advance the date for its primary. "For states like Iowa there is more than pride and prestige on the line," Allen explained, as both Iowa and New Hampshire decide what yet-earlier date to choose. "Campaigns spend huge amounts of money on these early voting states." ABC's Jake Tapper, too, juggled the calendar before concluding that "it is all Florida's fault."
BRAVO! Both ABC and CBS offered features on military families, CBS on reunions and ABC on separations. For CBS' Cynthia Bowers completed her two-parter Bravo Company Coming Home, explaining the difficulties facing a Minnesota National Guard unit readapting to civilian life. A pair was shot to death, one in a police dispute, another at a party. Other soldiers, used to giving and receiving unquestioned orders, are unaccustomed to "the inevitable war of wills" that family life consists of. Meanwhile the teleconference facilities at Iraq's al-Asad Air Force Base gave a USMC corporal access to the delivery room to watch as his wife gave birth in Massachusetts. Tyrelle Greene is the father of a newborn daughter Janelle Margaret, even though his timing was a bit off during mother Melissa's contractions: "Because of the satellite, Tyrelle's coaching came with a bit of a delay," ABC's David Muir (subscription required) explained.
MENTIONED IN PASSING The network newscasts do not assign correspondents to all of the news of the day. If Tyndall Report readers come across videostreamed reports online of stories that were mentioned only in passing, post the link in comments for us to check out.
Today's examples: the forecast for the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season has been downgraded to nine named storms…the Marine Corps court martial for the multiple murder of civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha acquitted two of seven defendants…an army nurse, Captain Maria Ortiz, was killed in Baghdad's Green Zone and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
