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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM JUNE 27, 2008
A photo-op was Story of the Day. Barack Obama orchestrated a joint appearance with his onetime rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire to dispel lingering notions of disunity. The 4,000-person event was staged at Unity NH. All three newscasts led with campaign correspondents in the Granite State. ABC was anchored by substitute George Stephanopoulos and NBC had Brian Williams anchor from Washington DC. A sardonic Rodham Clinton referred their hard-fought 17-month-long Democratic Presidential primary contest, which she lost, as a "spirited dialogue--that was the nicest way I could think of phrasing it."
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MAKING A SHOW OF UNITY A photo-op was Story of the Day. Barack Obama orchestrated a joint appearance with his onetime rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire to dispel lingering notions of disunity. The 4,000-person event was staged at Unity NH. All three newscasts led with campaign correspondents in the Granite State. ABC was anchored by substitute George Stephanopoulos and NBC had Brian Williams anchor from Washington DC. A sardonic Rodham Clinton referred their hard-fought 17-month-long Democratic Presidential primary contest, which she lost, as a "spirited dialogue--that was the nicest way I could think of phrasing it."
On ABC, Jake Tapper called the photo-op "methodically negotiated and carefully staged"…CBS' Dean Reynolds saw the pair "trying to wipe the slate clean and hoping their supporters get the message"…NBC's Lee Cowan saw stagecraft rather than substance: "It was really the picture of the two of them stranding shoulder to shoulder that may have been worth more than whatever words they had to say to this crowd."
ABC's Tapper cited statistics from his network's latest national opinion poll, conducted with Washington Post, that only 62% of Rodham Clinton's supporters are committed to voting for Obama in the General Election. Of the remainder, 24% said they would vote for Republican John McCain and 14% were undecided. "He cannot win if that does not change," Tapper asserted. CBS anchor Katie Couric asked Jeff Greenfield about the likelihood of such defections. Greenfield was skeptical, since the rivalry in the Democratic race was not ideological and therefore impermanent. "There are very few policy differences here," he pointed out. "Of course, there is one thing that these would-be John McCain supporters say could change their minds," mused CBS' Reynolds, "if Barack Obama picks Hillary Clinton as his running mate."
Whenever Campaign 2008 was the Story of the Day, it had been the habit of NBC anchor Brian Williams to turn to DC bureau chief Tim Russert for analysis, now deceased. Filling in for her late boss, Andrea Mitchell reported on the behind-the-scenes relationship between the key fundraisers for Obama and Rodham Clinton. Things were "going swimmingly" at an inside-the-Beltway dinner party, Mitchell revealed, until the issue of Rodham Clinton's $20m debt from her primary campaign was raised. When Obama's money men dismissed its retirement as "not a top priority" things chilled. There was "almost a food fight," Mitchell told us.
ALMOST NO JOURNALISTS ALLOWED No network had a correspondent in Zimbabwe for the election that the United States has denounced as "a sham." President Robert Mugabe finds himself unopposed after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the contest in order to protect his supporters from organized government violence after 90 of his supporters were killed. ABC covered the non-contest from Johannesburg. Jim Sciutto (embargoed link) characterized the election this way: "Back the dictator or face punishment, even death, at the hands of government thugs." CBS had Lara Logan handle the story from its Washington DC bureau. She quoted British newspaper reporter Chris McGreal of The Guardian, a rare foreign journalist in Harare: "On the streets of the townships there are armed militias moving around burning people out of their homes, if they think they are opposition supporters, beating people up and snatching women and raping them." NBC mentioned Zimbabwe only in passing.
AFRICA, ARCTIC, AFGHAN In other overseas news, CBS had Mark Phillips file from London on the 90th birthday party concert for Nelson Mandela. Singers included Joan Baez, who sang Free Nelson Mandela for his 70th birthday back when he was incarcerated by South Africa's apartheid regime. The concert was a fundraiser for Mandela's HIV/AIDS charity 46664. Phillips told us that 46664 was Mandela's number as an inmate…NBC's Anne Thompson brought us the latest summer weather forecast for the Arctic Ocean. The National Snow & Ice Data Center predicts that the North Pole will be covered by open waters, instead of a three-foot thick sheet of ice…Kabul was the dateline for NBC's Making a Difference report. Martin Fletcher profiled Rosemary Stasek, the onetime Mayor of Mountain View in California's Bay Area. Stasek is now a one-woman NGO, running A Little Help in Afghanistan. She distributes blankets for maternity wards and art supplies for schools and knitting needles for blind people. She likes to drive her own car round Kabul's streets to set an example for girls: "California comes to Kabul." Yet Mayor Stasek has little regard for Kabul's Finest: "The police are nothing but corrupt. Are you kidding? They freak me out."
CHECKS KEEP BEAR AT BAY All three networks mentioned the grim statistics on Wall Street in passing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11346, down 106 points, and within a tenth of a percentage point of a 20% decline from its all-time high--a statistic that would enable journalists to start using the phrase Bear Market. Jeff Glor of CBS' Early Show offered the glimmer that consumers are faring better than investors, thanks to an infusion of federal tax rebate checks. The government's $78bn fiscal stimulus helped increase personal spending and income in May.
NO LONGER OF INTEREST Steven Hatfill, once designated as a "person of interest" by Attorney General John Ashcroft, had his name virtually cleared. The biowarfare scientist was identified as the prime suspect in the 2001 murder of five people, killed when anthrax spores were sent through the mails. The murders received enormous publicity because they occurred immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11th that year and because the targets included network news operations--fanning fears that germ warfare might follow hijacked jets. "The country was terrified," ABC's Pierre Thomas recalled. Yet Hatfill categorically denied any involvement and was "never arrested, never charged," as CBS' Bob Orr put it. NBC's Pete Williams reminded us that FBI surveillance was so intense that an undercover operative even ran over Hatfill's foot with his car. The Justice Department did not formally exonerate Hatfill but it did pay him $5.8m in compensation for invading his privacy and besmirching his good name--all without admitting any wrongdoing.
TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATOR Richard Lipton is an investor in a new gadget that sends magnetic pulses through the brain. A medical researcher, Lipton published results of a study that claims to prevent migraine headaches. ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi and CBS' Jon LaPook both offered free publicity to his TransCranial Magnetic Stimulator. Lipton claims that if the TCMS is applied when a migraine patient experiences an "aura," which is the warning symptom of an attack, 40% of them can be averted. Alfonsi cautioned that the contraption has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration while LaPook cautioned that the magnet is no miracle cure. LaPook explained that the aura--"visual changes like flashing lights, zigzagging patterns, blind spots"--is a warning sign for only 25% of all migraines. Do the math and that means Lipton's contraption prevents just 8% of cases, of which half can be prevented by a placebo, according to Lipton.
NBC LOVES FLEX, ZIP On NBC, free publicity went to the car sharing schemes for the second time in a year. Last July, Peter Alexander lauded the benefits of by-the-hour car rentals offered by Flexcar--urban motorists no longer own their own wheels but drive a shared car when they need one with a per-hour fee, gasoline and insurance included. Now Kerry Sanders extends promotional generosity to Zipcar, a rental system with a $75 membership. Sanders warned that cities like Pittsburgh are not convinced, taxing Zipcar as if it were Hertz or AVIS.
FIFTY EIGHT TIMES Among Bill Gates' many achievements, noted NBC anchor Brian Williams, was putting the "ms" in msnbc.com. Thus he introduced Tom Brokaw's profile of the onetime software geek as he leaves work at Microsoft to become a fulltime dogooder. ABC's Neal Karlinsky (embargoed link) wondered whether Gates' true mission in life was to be a philanthropist and that computer code was merely a means to an end. "No, no. My primary life's work is writing software," replied the 58-times billionaire. NBC's Brokaw tried to have Gates act modest about the staggering success of his brainchild. Gates would have none of it: "Even in those days, we wrote that it was our goal to put a computer on every desk and in every home running our software. So, in fact, the ambition level from the very beginning was pretty incredible. People thought it was crazy. Now they do not."
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: violence along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is estimated to have increased by 40%…the origin of the salmonella toxin, thought to have come from raw tomatoes, is still a mystery…free tickets from Delta Airlines' frequent flyer program will now cost $50…the price of crude continues to climb, now $140 a barrel…muskrats are blamed for a levee breach in Winfield Mo--their holes weakened flood protection…Col Chuck Dryden, one of WWII's Tuskegee Airmen died, aged 87.
On ABC, Jake Tapper called the photo-op "methodically negotiated and carefully staged"…CBS' Dean Reynolds saw the pair "trying to wipe the slate clean and hoping their supporters get the message"…NBC's Lee Cowan saw stagecraft rather than substance: "It was really the picture of the two of them stranding shoulder to shoulder that may have been worth more than whatever words they had to say to this crowd."
ABC's Tapper cited statistics from his network's latest national opinion poll, conducted with Washington Post, that only 62% of Rodham Clinton's supporters are committed to voting for Obama in the General Election. Of the remainder, 24% said they would vote for Republican John McCain and 14% were undecided. "He cannot win if that does not change," Tapper asserted. CBS anchor Katie Couric asked Jeff Greenfield about the likelihood of such defections. Greenfield was skeptical, since the rivalry in the Democratic race was not ideological and therefore impermanent. "There are very few policy differences here," he pointed out. "Of course, there is one thing that these would-be John McCain supporters say could change their minds," mused CBS' Reynolds, "if Barack Obama picks Hillary Clinton as his running mate."
Whenever Campaign 2008 was the Story of the Day, it had been the habit of NBC anchor Brian Williams to turn to DC bureau chief Tim Russert for analysis, now deceased. Filling in for her late boss, Andrea Mitchell reported on the behind-the-scenes relationship between the key fundraisers for Obama and Rodham Clinton. Things were "going swimmingly" at an inside-the-Beltway dinner party, Mitchell revealed, until the issue of Rodham Clinton's $20m debt from her primary campaign was raised. When Obama's money men dismissed its retirement as "not a top priority" things chilled. There was "almost a food fight," Mitchell told us.
ALMOST NO JOURNALISTS ALLOWED No network had a correspondent in Zimbabwe for the election that the United States has denounced as "a sham." President Robert Mugabe finds himself unopposed after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the contest in order to protect his supporters from organized government violence after 90 of his supporters were killed. ABC covered the non-contest from Johannesburg. Jim Sciutto (embargoed link) characterized the election this way: "Back the dictator or face punishment, even death, at the hands of government thugs." CBS had Lara Logan handle the story from its Washington DC bureau. She quoted British newspaper reporter Chris McGreal of The Guardian, a rare foreign journalist in Harare: "On the streets of the townships there are armed militias moving around burning people out of their homes, if they think they are opposition supporters, beating people up and snatching women and raping them." NBC mentioned Zimbabwe only in passing.
AFRICA, ARCTIC, AFGHAN In other overseas news, CBS had Mark Phillips file from London on the 90th birthday party concert for Nelson Mandela. Singers included Joan Baez, who sang Free Nelson Mandela for his 70th birthday back when he was incarcerated by South Africa's apartheid regime. The concert was a fundraiser for Mandela's HIV/AIDS charity 46664. Phillips told us that 46664 was Mandela's number as an inmate…NBC's Anne Thompson brought us the latest summer weather forecast for the Arctic Ocean. The National Snow & Ice Data Center predicts that the North Pole will be covered by open waters, instead of a three-foot thick sheet of ice…Kabul was the dateline for NBC's Making a Difference report. Martin Fletcher profiled Rosemary Stasek, the onetime Mayor of Mountain View in California's Bay Area. Stasek is now a one-woman NGO, running A Little Help in Afghanistan. She distributes blankets for maternity wards and art supplies for schools and knitting needles for blind people. She likes to drive her own car round Kabul's streets to set an example for girls: "California comes to Kabul." Yet Mayor Stasek has little regard for Kabul's Finest: "The police are nothing but corrupt. Are you kidding? They freak me out."
CHECKS KEEP BEAR AT BAY All three networks mentioned the grim statistics on Wall Street in passing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11346, down 106 points, and within a tenth of a percentage point of a 20% decline from its all-time high--a statistic that would enable journalists to start using the phrase Bear Market. Jeff Glor of CBS' Early Show offered the glimmer that consumers are faring better than investors, thanks to an infusion of federal tax rebate checks. The government's $78bn fiscal stimulus helped increase personal spending and income in May.
NO LONGER OF INTEREST Steven Hatfill, once designated as a "person of interest" by Attorney General John Ashcroft, had his name virtually cleared. The biowarfare scientist was identified as the prime suspect in the 2001 murder of five people, killed when anthrax spores were sent through the mails. The murders received enormous publicity because they occurred immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11th that year and because the targets included network news operations--fanning fears that germ warfare might follow hijacked jets. "The country was terrified," ABC's Pierre Thomas recalled. Yet Hatfill categorically denied any involvement and was "never arrested, never charged," as CBS' Bob Orr put it. NBC's Pete Williams reminded us that FBI surveillance was so intense that an undercover operative even ran over Hatfill's foot with his car. The Justice Department did not formally exonerate Hatfill but it did pay him $5.8m in compensation for invading his privacy and besmirching his good name--all without admitting any wrongdoing.
TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATOR Richard Lipton is an investor in a new gadget that sends magnetic pulses through the brain. A medical researcher, Lipton published results of a study that claims to prevent migraine headaches. ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi and CBS' Jon LaPook both offered free publicity to his TransCranial Magnetic Stimulator. Lipton claims that if the TCMS is applied when a migraine patient experiences an "aura," which is the warning symptom of an attack, 40% of them can be averted. Alfonsi cautioned that the contraption has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration while LaPook cautioned that the magnet is no miracle cure. LaPook explained that the aura--"visual changes like flashing lights, zigzagging patterns, blind spots"--is a warning sign for only 25% of all migraines. Do the math and that means Lipton's contraption prevents just 8% of cases, of which half can be prevented by a placebo, according to Lipton.
NBC LOVES FLEX, ZIP On NBC, free publicity went to the car sharing schemes for the second time in a year. Last July, Peter Alexander lauded the benefits of by-the-hour car rentals offered by Flexcar--urban motorists no longer own their own wheels but drive a shared car when they need one with a per-hour fee, gasoline and insurance included. Now Kerry Sanders extends promotional generosity to Zipcar, a rental system with a $75 membership. Sanders warned that cities like Pittsburgh are not convinced, taxing Zipcar as if it were Hertz or AVIS.
FIFTY EIGHT TIMES Among Bill Gates' many achievements, noted NBC anchor Brian Williams, was putting the "ms" in msnbc.com. Thus he introduced Tom Brokaw's profile of the onetime software geek as he leaves work at Microsoft to become a fulltime dogooder. ABC's Neal Karlinsky (embargoed link) wondered whether Gates' true mission in life was to be a philanthropist and that computer code was merely a means to an end. "No, no. My primary life's work is writing software," replied the 58-times billionaire. NBC's Brokaw tried to have Gates act modest about the staggering success of his brainchild. Gates would have none of it: "Even in those days, we wrote that it was our goal to put a computer on every desk and in every home running our software. So, in fact, the ambition level from the very beginning was pretty incredible. People thought it was crazy. Now they do not."
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: violence along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is estimated to have increased by 40%…the origin of the salmonella toxin, thought to have come from raw tomatoes, is still a mystery…free tickets from Delta Airlines' frequent flyer program will now cost $50…the price of crude continues to climb, now $140 a barrel…muskrats are blamed for a levee breach in Winfield Mo--their holes weakened flood protection…Col Chuck Dryden, one of WWII's Tuskegee Airmen died, aged 87.
