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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
The crisis of finance capitalism has overshadowed the Presidential campaign on the news agenda for the last week and a half. At last, Republican John McCain has found a way to reclaim the headlines for his campaign. He halted it! His reason? Because of the crisis in finance capitalism! His decision to stop running for President until Congress has passed legislation to bail out the financial industry was the lead story on both ABC and CBS. CBS threw in an Exclusive interview with the no-longer candidate plus an Exclusive interview with his no-longer running mate Sarah Palin. Thus the now-suspended campaign accounted for 71% (14 min out of 19) of CBS' newshole. NBC led with continuing talks on Capitol Hill about the bailout itself as President George Bush prepared for a primetime TV address to the nation on its necessity. The substance--not the suspension--qualified as Story of the Day. NBC had Brian Williams anchor its newscast from Houston in order to catch-up on the neglected story of the destruction left by Hurricane Ike.
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CREDIT CRUNCH SUSPENDS MCCAIN CANDIDACY The crisis of finance capitalism has overshadowed the Presidential campaign on the news agenda for the last week and a half. At last, Republican John McCain has found a way to reclaim the headlines for his campaign. He halted it! His reason? Because of the crisis in finance capitalism! His decision to stop running for President until Congress has passed legislation to bail out the financial industry was the lead story on both ABC and CBS. CBS threw in an Exclusive interview with the no-longer candidate plus an Exclusive interview with his no-longer running mate Sarah Palin. Thus the now-suspended campaign accounted for 71% (14 min out of 19) of CBS' newshole. NBC led with continuing talks on Capitol Hill about the bailout itself as President George Bush prepared for a primetime TV address to the nation on its necessity. The substance--not the suspension--qualified as Story of the Day. NBC had Brian Williams anchor its newscast from Houston in order to catch-up on the neglected story of the destruction left by Hurricane Ike.
Concerning those negotiations on Capitol Hill over the Treasury Department's proposal for a $700bn financial bailout, NBC's Tom Costello was declarative: "It is clear the administration's initial three-page plan is not going to pass Congress. However, Democrats say that they have a 42-page plan right now." Democrats told ABC's Jake Tapper that "progress is being made" and that "they hope to have an agreement tomorrow." CBS' Bob Orr reported that those Democrats are "putting the White House and conservative Republicans on notice" that they will not pass the package alone. Hence George Bush's decision to make his primetime speech: "His address is coming not a moment too soon as opposition seems to be growing here in Congress," ABC's Tapper pointed out.
NBC and ABC both offered political analysis of the President's pending speech. NBC political director Chuck Todd cited his network's own polling that found that 28% of the population do not know enough about the bailout plan to form an opinion either for or against: "He has got to sell this thing." ABC's George Stephanopoulos opined that Bush has to convince people "that this is not something that is just going to bail out Wall Street but is really going to help every American."
NBC and ABC helped lay the groundwork for the President's pitch. CNBC economist Steve Liesman (no link) warned NBC anchor Brian Williams that if the bailout does not pass he expected activity to slow "probably bordering on a pretty severe recession" while ABC's Betsy Stark looked at the stock market and envisioned the plan's defeat: "Look out below." Her colleague Sharyn Alfonsi (embargoed link) checked out ordinary savers' 401(k) retirement accounts: "So-called hardship withdrawals are already up as much as 14% this year."
MELODRAMATIC MCCAIN Let's reconstruct the melodramatic day on the campaign trail. "For more than a week now the candidates have been all but eclipsed by the crisis on Wall Street," recounted ABC's David Wright, eclipsed, that is, until John McCain "dropped a political bombshell." The day started with Barack Obama placing a telephone call to McCain. The idea, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell (no link) told us, was to put together a joint statement in support of the financial bailout legislation. McCain returned the call in the afternoon and "the candidates discussed the need for swift bipartisan action to get a deal done." They agreed on the statement. Subsequently, according to CBS' Chip Reid, McCain became "convinced" that the plan "had almost no chance of passage thereby imperiling the economy."
McCain's solution was to suspend running for President until a bill gets passed. He announced he had canceled all stump events, all television advertising, all fundraising and his plans to participate in Friday's debate in Mississippi. He then scheduled an Exclusive interview with CBS anchor Katie Couric to publicize his non-candidacy: "Now is not the time for statements. The time is now to act," he declared. "This is a crisis of enormous proportions but we can fix it and America's best days are ahead of us."
Couric turned to CBS' political correspondent Jeff Greenfield to analyze McCain's suspension: "His campaign slogan is Country First. He wants to be seen as the man who put aside politics, came back and somehow supervised some kind of agreement with a very reluctant Republican Party. The danger is: does anybody see this as non-political?" Obama, meanwhile, decided to continue to support the legislation, to continue on the campaign trail and to continue to prepare to debate. "Multitasking he called it," noted NBC's Lee Cowan (no link). "The sign of a good President, he says."
DREADING DEBATE Paying no mind to John McCain's no-show threat, ABC anchor Charles Gibson operated on the assumption that the Mississippi debate was going ahead when he sat down for a q-&-a with a pair of former Presidents. Bill Clinton is holding his annual Global Initiative that coincides with the General Assembly of the United Nations. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates attended. He was profiled on NBC by former anchor Tom Brokaw. Gibson got the sitdown with Clinton and the First Father. He asked them to recall their debates. "I was nervous. I am not a very good debater," George Bush remembered. Added Clinton: "What you sit there in mortal terror of is that your campaign will somehow be wrecked because you made a mistake that does not amount to a hill of beans in the larger scheme of things and has no bearing on your fitness to serve."
PALIN PREFERS ACTIONS TO WORDS Sarah Palin was at the United Nations when she sat down with Katie Couric for the CBS anchor's Exclusive interview. The first part of Couric's edited q-&-a with the Republican Vice Presidential nominee concerned the Story of the Day, the financial crisis and the possible federal bailout. "Inaction is not an option," Palin asserted, echoing McCain's talking point about actions speaking louder than words. "We will not support this," she pledged, "unless there are amendments." She did not specify which ones. "Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal." Presumably she was referring to McCain and Barack Obama when she asked the following question: "Who is more apt to just be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for some opportunity to change? And who has actually done it?" Couric asked Palin for specific examples of McCain's accomplishments in financial reform: "I will try to find you some and I will bring them to you."
RATS AND TETANUS Ike, the undercovered hurricane, received attention from NBC as anchor Brian Williams traveled to Houston. He profiled Mayor Bill White, who is still working to restore electricity to a quarter of his city. Meanwhile NBC's Don Teague and ABC's Neal Karlinsky (embargoed link) both filed from Galveston Island where residents have finally been permitted to return, eleven days after its evacuation. The storm surge left 75% of its homes uninhabitable. "Officials have tried to warn residents about the toxic mud that covers everything here, about the mold, the sickening smell, the darkness and devastation," Teague told us. Karlinsky added that residents were advised to return with "a tetanus shot for themselves and rat poison for their homes."
Concerning those negotiations on Capitol Hill over the Treasury Department's proposal for a $700bn financial bailout, NBC's Tom Costello was declarative: "It is clear the administration's initial three-page plan is not going to pass Congress. However, Democrats say that they have a 42-page plan right now." Democrats told ABC's Jake Tapper that "progress is being made" and that "they hope to have an agreement tomorrow." CBS' Bob Orr reported that those Democrats are "putting the White House and conservative Republicans on notice" that they will not pass the package alone. Hence George Bush's decision to make his primetime speech: "His address is coming not a moment too soon as opposition seems to be growing here in Congress," ABC's Tapper pointed out.
NBC and ABC both offered political analysis of the President's pending speech. NBC political director Chuck Todd cited his network's own polling that found that 28% of the population do not know enough about the bailout plan to form an opinion either for or against: "He has got to sell this thing." ABC's George Stephanopoulos opined that Bush has to convince people "that this is not something that is just going to bail out Wall Street but is really going to help every American."
NBC and ABC helped lay the groundwork for the President's pitch. CNBC economist Steve Liesman (no link) warned NBC anchor Brian Williams that if the bailout does not pass he expected activity to slow "probably bordering on a pretty severe recession" while ABC's Betsy Stark looked at the stock market and envisioned the plan's defeat: "Look out below." Her colleague Sharyn Alfonsi (embargoed link) checked out ordinary savers' 401(k) retirement accounts: "So-called hardship withdrawals are already up as much as 14% this year."
MELODRAMATIC MCCAIN Let's reconstruct the melodramatic day on the campaign trail. "For more than a week now the candidates have been all but eclipsed by the crisis on Wall Street," recounted ABC's David Wright, eclipsed, that is, until John McCain "dropped a political bombshell." The day started with Barack Obama placing a telephone call to McCain. The idea, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell (no link) told us, was to put together a joint statement in support of the financial bailout legislation. McCain returned the call in the afternoon and "the candidates discussed the need for swift bipartisan action to get a deal done." They agreed on the statement. Subsequently, according to CBS' Chip Reid, McCain became "convinced" that the plan "had almost no chance of passage thereby imperiling the economy."
McCain's solution was to suspend running for President until a bill gets passed. He announced he had canceled all stump events, all television advertising, all fundraising and his plans to participate in Friday's debate in Mississippi. He then scheduled an Exclusive interview with CBS anchor Katie Couric to publicize his non-candidacy: "Now is not the time for statements. The time is now to act," he declared. "This is a crisis of enormous proportions but we can fix it and America's best days are ahead of us."
Couric turned to CBS' political correspondent Jeff Greenfield to analyze McCain's suspension: "His campaign slogan is Country First. He wants to be seen as the man who put aside politics, came back and somehow supervised some kind of agreement with a very reluctant Republican Party. The danger is: does anybody see this as non-political?" Obama, meanwhile, decided to continue to support the legislation, to continue on the campaign trail and to continue to prepare to debate. "Multitasking he called it," noted NBC's Lee Cowan (no link). "The sign of a good President, he says."
DREADING DEBATE Paying no mind to John McCain's no-show threat, ABC anchor Charles Gibson operated on the assumption that the Mississippi debate was going ahead when he sat down for a q-&-a with a pair of former Presidents. Bill Clinton is holding his annual Global Initiative that coincides with the General Assembly of the United Nations. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates attended. He was profiled on NBC by former anchor Tom Brokaw. Gibson got the sitdown with Clinton and the First Father. He asked them to recall their debates. "I was nervous. I am not a very good debater," George Bush remembered. Added Clinton: "What you sit there in mortal terror of is that your campaign will somehow be wrecked because you made a mistake that does not amount to a hill of beans in the larger scheme of things and has no bearing on your fitness to serve."
PALIN PREFERS ACTIONS TO WORDS Sarah Palin was at the United Nations when she sat down with Katie Couric for the CBS anchor's Exclusive interview. The first part of Couric's edited q-&-a with the Republican Vice Presidential nominee concerned the Story of the Day, the financial crisis and the possible federal bailout. "Inaction is not an option," Palin asserted, echoing McCain's talking point about actions speaking louder than words. "We will not support this," she pledged, "unless there are amendments." She did not specify which ones. "Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal." Presumably she was referring to McCain and Barack Obama when she asked the following question: "Who is more apt to just be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for some opportunity to change? And who has actually done it?" Couric asked Palin for specific examples of McCain's accomplishments in financial reform: "I will try to find you some and I will bring them to you."
RATS AND TETANUS Ike, the undercovered hurricane, received attention from NBC as anchor Brian Williams traveled to Houston. He profiled Mayor Bill White, who is still working to restore electricity to a quarter of his city. Meanwhile NBC's Don Teague and ABC's Neal Karlinsky (embargoed link) both filed from Galveston Island where residents have finally been permitted to return, eleven days after its evacuation. The storm surge left 75% of its homes uninhabitable. "Officials have tried to warn residents about the toxic mud that covers everything here, about the mold, the sickening smell, the darkness and devastation," Teague told us. Karlinsky added that residents were advised to return with "a tetanus shot for themselves and rat poison for their homes."
