 |          |
TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM APRIL 23, 2008
Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic Presidential primary in Pennsylvania. CBS substitute anchor Harry Smith called it a "ten point win." On ABC, anchor Charles Gibson put the margin at "nearly" ten points. NBC anchor Brian Williams called "something approaching 9.4." Whatever. The important result was that Rodham Clinton narrowed Barack Obama's lead in delegates by nine, picking up 82 supporters at the Denver Convention to his 73. The primary was Story of the Day: ABC and NBC led with a summary of the results; CBS kicked off with coverage of Obama's next challenge.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR APRIL 23, 2008: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
THISCLOSE TO A DOUBLE DIGIT WIN Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic Presidential primary in Pennsylvania. CBS substitute anchor Harry Smith called it a "ten point win." On ABC, anchor Charles Gibson put the margin at "nearly" ten points. NBC anchor Brian Williams called "something approaching 9.4." Whatever. The important result was that Rodham Clinton narrowed Barack Obama's lead in delegates by nine, picking up 82 supporters at the Denver Convention to his 73. The primary was Story of the Day: ABC and NBC led with a summary of the results; CBS kicked off with coverage of Obama's next challenge.
ABC's David Wright got a little carried away when he found Rodham Clinton "on a roll." He put it this way: "Remember she did not just win Pennsylvania, she has won the last three big contests, including Texas and Ohio and that gives her momentum." He saw Rodham Clinton "brimming with confidence" as she claimed to have more popular votes than Obama before deflating her claim by noting that she includes votes cast in Florida and Michigan. "Almost no one else does."
On NBC, Andrea Mitchell was more moderate, construing the Pennsylvania result merely as enough to keep Rodham Clinton's "hopes alive and revive nagging doubts about frontrunner Barack Obama's ability to deliver a knockout punch." CBS' Jim Axelrod focused on the practical aspects of her win: Rodham Clinton's campaign "needed to cash in…the money is badly needed. Heading into last night her campaign was more than $10m in debt." It claimed 50,000 new donors and a $10m one day online infusion.
As for Obama, CBS kicked off with his new challenge in North Carolina. Dean Reynolds played a clip from ncgop.org, the state's Republican Party, criticizing two local Congressman for endorsing Obama on the grounds that he is "just too extreme for North Carolina." The Republican evidence for this claim was to play that notorious soundbite from Obama's longtime pastor Rev Jeremiah Wright: "Not God Bless America! God Damn America!" The "damn" was bleeped. Intoned the GOP's voiceover: "For 20 years Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor." Republican candidate John McCain described the ad as "not the message of my campaign."
WATCH WHITE CATHOLICS All three networks offered day-after analysis of the Pennsylvania result. NBC's Tim Russert zeroed in on two key blocs: Hillary Rodham Clinton found "real strength" among white Catholic voters, 72% of whom supported her, and Barack Obama failed to prevail in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which Russert had expected to be his "stronghold," splitting those counties instead 49%-51%. ABC anchor Charles Gibson interviewed a pair of Democratic Party operatives, Tad Devine and Mary Beth Cahill, about Obama's chances for the remainder of the primary season. Both stated that a victory in Indiana would be decisive, since that would convince wavering superdelegates. On CBS, Jeff Greenfield handicapped the prospects in Indiana: the good news for Rodham Clinton is that the state has few African-Americans and plenty of Catholics; the factors favoring Obama include its relative affluence, its proximity to his home state of Illinois and its open rules, allowing independents and Republicans to participate.
FAVORITE GENERAL Both ABC's Jonathan Karl (no link) and NBC's Jim Miklaszewski gave us an update on the Pentagon organization chart. Central Command, whose control of the US military includes the Persian Gulf and southern Asia, is slated to be headed by David Petraeus, the current commander of forces inside Iraq. Nominated for his Iraq job was Raymond Odierno. Keeping those two "at the top levels of command," opined NBC's Miklaszewski, "ensures a stay-the-course strategy…but it also indicates that the military may be short on officers with enough experience in counterinsurgency." ABC's Karl called Petraeus the "favorite general" of President George Bush. This appointment is traditionally a three-year job, Karl added, meaning that Petraeus will not only implement strategy for Bush in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, but for his successor too.
BASMATI RATIONING Rising food prices made news again. All three networks had reporters look at rice. "The crisis is really hitting hardest in the developing world, places like Haiti and Somalia," worried ABC's Dan Harris (embargoed link). NBC's Martin Savidge mentioned India. Indonesia, Africa and Haiti. On CBS, John Blackstone ticked off Egypt and Haiti. But all three focused on domestic supply disruption as Sam's Club, the discount warehouse retailer, put a limit on mass purchases of rice to prevent hoarding. "Stores have been reporting customers concerned about rising prices of rice clearing out shelves and buying it by the pallet," noted NBC's Savidge.
HOMELESS AND PUFFING Other economic features saw ABC look at new wrinkles for employees and NBC and CBS examine the fallout from the bursting of the real estate bubble. CBS' Hitting Home feature has Kelly Cobiella profile the efforts of school districts to care for students who are newly homeless because of foreclosure. On NBC, Erin Burnett of CNBC, NBC's sibling financial news cable channel, covered a Conference of Mayors report on falling revenues for school districts as lower real estate values produce fewer property tax revenues. ABC's A Closer Look examined health insurance coverage at work. Barbara Pinto told us that preventive healthcare, so-called wellness plans, offers incentives for workers not to smoke cigarettes and penalties on those who do. She told us of workers at the Whirlpool plant in Evansville who had accepted a $500 bonus after declaring themselves non-smokers only to be suspended, perhaps fired, when found puffing off the job.
OFF TO OSA The spirit of Earth Day lives on at NBC and CBS as each continued weeklong eco-friendly features. On CBS' Energy Savers, Hari Sreenivasan gave free publicity to DrivingGreen.com a carbon offset trading firm: it helped a diesel-powered sailfish tournament run out of Miami remain carbon neutral by arranging a subsidy for methane recycling at a dairy farm in upstate New York. NBC's Anne Thompson landed a choice assignment to the Osa peninsula of Costa Rica for her network's Greening the Earth. What could be wrong with an ecotouristic visit to Bosque del Cabo in order to illustrate how ranchland and coffee plantations are being converted back to rain forests? See that spider monkey, that macaw, that butterfly, that sloth. "Garden of Eden!" Thompson exclaimed.
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: secrets about last year's Israeli air raid on a suspected nuclear facility operated by Syria are about to be revealed…those strange unidentified flying lights over Phoenix are no longer UFOs, they are flares attached to helium balloons…Michael DeBakey, the pioneering open heart surgeon, was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal…the telephone call alleging domestic abuse by a polygamous husband against his pregnant child bride that triggered the child custody raid of the Yearning for Zion ranch has been confirmed to be a fabrication…fertile women who eat more bananas are more likely to conceive a male fetus if they get pregnant.
ABC's David Wright got a little carried away when he found Rodham Clinton "on a roll." He put it this way: "Remember she did not just win Pennsylvania, she has won the last three big contests, including Texas and Ohio and that gives her momentum." He saw Rodham Clinton "brimming with confidence" as she claimed to have more popular votes than Obama before deflating her claim by noting that she includes votes cast in Florida and Michigan. "Almost no one else does."
On NBC, Andrea Mitchell was more moderate, construing the Pennsylvania result merely as enough to keep Rodham Clinton's "hopes alive and revive nagging doubts about frontrunner Barack Obama's ability to deliver a knockout punch." CBS' Jim Axelrod focused on the practical aspects of her win: Rodham Clinton's campaign "needed to cash in…the money is badly needed. Heading into last night her campaign was more than $10m in debt." It claimed 50,000 new donors and a $10m one day online infusion.
As for Obama, CBS kicked off with his new challenge in North Carolina. Dean Reynolds played a clip from ncgop.org, the state's Republican Party, criticizing two local Congressman for endorsing Obama on the grounds that he is "just too extreme for North Carolina." The Republican evidence for this claim was to play that notorious soundbite from Obama's longtime pastor Rev Jeremiah Wright: "Not God Bless America! God Damn America!" The "damn" was bleeped. Intoned the GOP's voiceover: "For 20 years Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor." Republican candidate John McCain described the ad as "not the message of my campaign."
WATCH WHITE CATHOLICS All three networks offered day-after analysis of the Pennsylvania result. NBC's Tim Russert zeroed in on two key blocs: Hillary Rodham Clinton found "real strength" among white Catholic voters, 72% of whom supported her, and Barack Obama failed to prevail in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which Russert had expected to be his "stronghold," splitting those counties instead 49%-51%. ABC anchor Charles Gibson interviewed a pair of Democratic Party operatives, Tad Devine and Mary Beth Cahill, about Obama's chances for the remainder of the primary season. Both stated that a victory in Indiana would be decisive, since that would convince wavering superdelegates. On CBS, Jeff Greenfield handicapped the prospects in Indiana: the good news for Rodham Clinton is that the state has few African-Americans and plenty of Catholics; the factors favoring Obama include its relative affluence, its proximity to his home state of Illinois and its open rules, allowing independents and Republicans to participate.
FAVORITE GENERAL Both ABC's Jonathan Karl (no link) and NBC's Jim Miklaszewski gave us an update on the Pentagon organization chart. Central Command, whose control of the US military includes the Persian Gulf and southern Asia, is slated to be headed by David Petraeus, the current commander of forces inside Iraq. Nominated for his Iraq job was Raymond Odierno. Keeping those two "at the top levels of command," opined NBC's Miklaszewski, "ensures a stay-the-course strategy…but it also indicates that the military may be short on officers with enough experience in counterinsurgency." ABC's Karl called Petraeus the "favorite general" of President George Bush. This appointment is traditionally a three-year job, Karl added, meaning that Petraeus will not only implement strategy for Bush in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, but for his successor too.
BASMATI RATIONING Rising food prices made news again. All three networks had reporters look at rice. "The crisis is really hitting hardest in the developing world, places like Haiti and Somalia," worried ABC's Dan Harris (embargoed link). NBC's Martin Savidge mentioned India. Indonesia, Africa and Haiti. On CBS, John Blackstone ticked off Egypt and Haiti. But all three focused on domestic supply disruption as Sam's Club, the discount warehouse retailer, put a limit on mass purchases of rice to prevent hoarding. "Stores have been reporting customers concerned about rising prices of rice clearing out shelves and buying it by the pallet," noted NBC's Savidge.
HOMELESS AND PUFFING Other economic features saw ABC look at new wrinkles for employees and NBC and CBS examine the fallout from the bursting of the real estate bubble. CBS' Hitting Home feature has Kelly Cobiella profile the efforts of school districts to care for students who are newly homeless because of foreclosure. On NBC, Erin Burnett of CNBC, NBC's sibling financial news cable channel, covered a Conference of Mayors report on falling revenues for school districts as lower real estate values produce fewer property tax revenues. ABC's A Closer Look examined health insurance coverage at work. Barbara Pinto told us that preventive healthcare, so-called wellness plans, offers incentives for workers not to smoke cigarettes and penalties on those who do. She told us of workers at the Whirlpool plant in Evansville who had accepted a $500 bonus after declaring themselves non-smokers only to be suspended, perhaps fired, when found puffing off the job.
OFF TO OSA The spirit of Earth Day lives on at NBC and CBS as each continued weeklong eco-friendly features. On CBS' Energy Savers, Hari Sreenivasan gave free publicity to DrivingGreen.com a carbon offset trading firm: it helped a diesel-powered sailfish tournament run out of Miami remain carbon neutral by arranging a subsidy for methane recycling at a dairy farm in upstate New York. NBC's Anne Thompson landed a choice assignment to the Osa peninsula of Costa Rica for her network's Greening the Earth. What could be wrong with an ecotouristic visit to Bosque del Cabo in order to illustrate how ranchland and coffee plantations are being converted back to rain forests? See that spider monkey, that macaw, that butterfly, that sloth. "Garden of Eden!" Thompson exclaimed.
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: secrets about last year's Israeli air raid on a suspected nuclear facility operated by Syria are about to be revealed…those strange unidentified flying lights over Phoenix are no longer UFOs, they are flares attached to helium balloons…Michael DeBakey, the pioneering open heart surgeon, was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal…the telephone call alleging domestic abuse by a polygamous husband against his pregnant child bride that triggered the child custody raid of the Yearning for Zion ranch has been confirmed to be a fabrication…fertile women who eat more bananas are more likely to conceive a male fetus if they get pregnant.
