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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM NOVEMBER 07, 2008
Amid catastrophic economic headlines of rising unemployment and a collapsing automobile industry, Barack Obama was the Story of the Day. He held his first press conference since winning the Presidential election and his topic was the looming recession. Backed by his transition team's economic advisors--including two former Secretaries of the Treasury and a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board--he promised to make economic revival his policy priority upon taking office in January. Obama was the unanimous choice as lead on every newscast, with all three kicking off from Chicago.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR NOVEMBER 07, 2008: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
THE PRESIDENT-ELECT SOBERS UP Amid catastrophic economic headlines of rising unemployment and a collapsing automobile industry, Barack Obama was the Story of the Day. He held his first press conference since winning the Presidential election and his topic was the looming recession. Backed by his transition team's economic advisors--including two former Secretaries of the Treasury and a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board--he promised to make economic revival his policy priority upon taking office in January. Obama was the unanimous choice as lead on every newscast, with all three kicking off from Chicago.
The brief press conference--NBC's Lee Cowan counted just nine questions--focused on the economy but included few details. ABC's Jake Tapper summarized Obama's agenda as a simple two-parter, "to convey an air of command about the economy and, two, to avoid stepping on President Bush's toes." Thus Obama urged the lame-duck session of Congress to pass an economic stimulus but conceded that if his predecessor were not to enact it, "it will be the first thing I get done as President." As for that cash drain that is now the automobile industry, Obama assigned it as a "high priority" to his transition team to develop policies to help Detroit.
All three correspondents assessed Obama's demeanor. CBS' Chip Reid thought he was "extraordinarily calm, even showing a sense of humor." NBC's Cowan noticed that Obama "seemed genuinely surprised the see the press corps standing, out of respect," as he entered the room. ABC's Tapper perceived the mood after his meeting with his economic team as "sobering."
Watching from Washington, George Stephanopoulos of ABC's This Week pointed out "how much different it feels when you walk out there" as President-elect as opposed to mere candidate. Bob Schieffer (no link), host of CBS' Face the Nation, found "some insight into how he is going to operate," perceiving Obama as "someone who does not move until he gets all the pieces in place." On NBC, political director Chuck Todd (at the tail of the Caruso-Cabrera videostream) interpreted Obama as telling the public: "Remember, this is not on my watch...It is still on this guy's resume."
CNBC ANCHOR SEEKS C18TH SOLUTION "Hurry up and find a Treasury Secretary," was the message that CBS' Anthony Mason heard the financiers on Wall Street sending to the transition team in Chicago. "This crisis has its own timetable." CNBC, the sibling financial news cable channel of NBC, also pays close attention to Wall Street. CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera told NBC anchor Brian Williams that oftentimes the job of Treasury Secretary has been "a handshaking, backslapping, speechmaking kind of a job." But now Obama needs someone with "incredible intellect, impeccable judgment, in short he needs a modern-day Alexander Hamilton." Hamilton, we should remember, established national financial institutions to enshrine the privilege of east coast mercantile elites that were not dismantled until Andrew Jackson was elected.
Thus CNBC propagandizes against Jacksonian democracy and Keynesian economics in the face of "the deepest and most prolonged recession since World War II."
THERE IS ALWAYS HEALTHCARE The unemployment rate of 6.5% in October means that 1.2m have been rendered jobless since the year began, half of those in just the last six months. Layoffs have continued for ten straight months. "The worst is yet to come," was the word from Anthony Mason's sources among the dismal scientists for CBS. CNBC's Trish Regan talked to Nobel-prizewinning economist Paul Krugman for NBC. He suggested that this might be "the biggest downturn since the Great Depression." On ABC, "most economists expect that toll to rise," Betsy Stark (no link) told us.
In search of consolation, CBS assigned Mark Strassmann to track down those sectors of the economy that are still adding jobs. He came up with education, computers, green energy, security forces "and most of all healthcare."
BIG THREE GROW SMALL Then there are Detroit's rapidly shrinking Big Three automakers. General Motors and Ford posted a combined $7bn in losses for the third quarter of the year as sales stalled to their slowest rate in 15 years. "The situation is so dire, General Motors said it could be out of operating cash by the end of the year," reported CBS' Cynthia Bowers. Chris Bury's (no link) coverage for ABC included watching the appearance of auto bosses on CNBC. "On television, Detroit executives, normally upbeat, are selling pessimism to make their case for $50bn in emergency loans from Congress." Both Bury and Bowers worked with similar math in envisioning how disastrous plant closings and bankruptcies might be. Bowers told us that "one job lost inside the plant jeopardizes as many as a dozen outside." Bury depicted that ripple effect this way: "If one of the Big Three went under as many as 2.5m jobs would be lost--240K from the carmaker, 800K from suppliers and 1.4m down the line, from ad agencies to car dealers."
ASSAULT GUNS SELL LIKE HOT CAKES Amid a slowing economy, ABC's Ryan Owens discovered one retail sector that is booming as a result of Obama's victory. Despite the fact that the President-elect has endorsed an individual's Constitutional right to bear arms, would-be gun owners are afraid of restrictions and are flocking to firearms stores to stock up. "Colorado just set a record for the highest number of background checks for new gun owners." Owens checked out the Cheaper Than Dirt gun shop in Fort Worth to brandish the hottest selling semi-automatics. "Obama does support renewing the expired federal ban on assault weapons."
THE FIRST MUTT In the aftermath of the election, NBC picked up on a couple of choice ex-candidate soundbites. Dog lover Mike Taibbi was assigned to close the week on the search for the First Puppy for soon-to-be First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. At his press conference, their father Barack stated his preference for a dog from a shelter, many of whom are "Mutts Like Me." NBC also ran extended clips from Sarah Palin's informal press conference upon her return to the Governor's office in Alaska. Had she diverted Republican National Committee funds to improve her personal wardrobe? "I know that I know that I know that there was nothing done wrong in the campaign," was her categorical denial. "The RNC purchased clothes. Those are the RNC's clothes. They are not my clothes." Furthermore those purchases were not demanded by her: "I never forced anybody to buy me--I never asked for anything--more than, maybe, a Diet Dr Pepper once in a while."
YES, THE WORLD EXISTS The Presidential election grabbed so much attention this week that there have been only three reports that made any reference to a world outside our borders. On Election Day, NBC's Dawna Friesen reported from London on how, 40 years on, the whole world was watching the events about to unfold in Chicago's Grant Park. ABC sent Martha Raddatz to Peshawar to preview an Obama Administration's policies in Pakistan and Iran. Now CBS assigned Kelly Cobiella in Miami to narrate videotape of a horror in Haiti: as many as 300 children may have been crushed to death when a shoddily-built three-story concrete schoolhouse collapsed.
FRIDAY FEATURES NBC's Making a Difference feature was filed by Joe Fryer of that network's KARE-TV affiliate in Minneapolis. It was his second follow-up on Nick Nelson, the nine-year-old who requested to have his own leg amputated last year because he was born with a web of skin behind his knee that prevents his from standing straight. Fryer showed us the prosthesis in February. Now he guides us through the boy's decision to have his second leg cut off.
CBS' Steve Hartman chose disability too, for his weekending closer on Assignment America. When the marching band of the Ohio School for the Blind spells out the state's name on the football field, it is not in script like the giant Ohio State University outfit. It uses Braille.
ABC's Person of the Week was a civic choice for anchor Charles Gibson. He paid tribute to the electorate: "The right to vote is the bedrock of democracy and this week a record number of you exercised that right." The number Gibson cited, 125m, was actually disappointing. On Election Day, his own network's David Muir anticipated "at least 130m" while George Lewis on NBC told us "up to 140m lined up."
The brief press conference--NBC's Lee Cowan counted just nine questions--focused on the economy but included few details. ABC's Jake Tapper summarized Obama's agenda as a simple two-parter, "to convey an air of command about the economy and, two, to avoid stepping on President Bush's toes." Thus Obama urged the lame-duck session of Congress to pass an economic stimulus but conceded that if his predecessor were not to enact it, "it will be the first thing I get done as President." As for that cash drain that is now the automobile industry, Obama assigned it as a "high priority" to his transition team to develop policies to help Detroit.
All three correspondents assessed Obama's demeanor. CBS' Chip Reid thought he was "extraordinarily calm, even showing a sense of humor." NBC's Cowan noticed that Obama "seemed genuinely surprised the see the press corps standing, out of respect," as he entered the room. ABC's Tapper perceived the mood after his meeting with his economic team as "sobering."
Watching from Washington, George Stephanopoulos of ABC's This Week pointed out "how much different it feels when you walk out there" as President-elect as opposed to mere candidate. Bob Schieffer (no link), host of CBS' Face the Nation, found "some insight into how he is going to operate," perceiving Obama as "someone who does not move until he gets all the pieces in place." On NBC, political director Chuck Todd (at the tail of the Caruso-Cabrera videostream) interpreted Obama as telling the public: "Remember, this is not on my watch...It is still on this guy's resume."
CNBC ANCHOR SEEKS C18TH SOLUTION "Hurry up and find a Treasury Secretary," was the message that CBS' Anthony Mason heard the financiers on Wall Street sending to the transition team in Chicago. "This crisis has its own timetable." CNBC, the sibling financial news cable channel of NBC, also pays close attention to Wall Street. CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera told NBC anchor Brian Williams that oftentimes the job of Treasury Secretary has been "a handshaking, backslapping, speechmaking kind of a job." But now Obama needs someone with "incredible intellect, impeccable judgment, in short he needs a modern-day Alexander Hamilton." Hamilton, we should remember, established national financial institutions to enshrine the privilege of east coast mercantile elites that were not dismantled until Andrew Jackson was elected.
Thus CNBC propagandizes against Jacksonian democracy and Keynesian economics in the face of "the deepest and most prolonged recession since World War II."
THERE IS ALWAYS HEALTHCARE The unemployment rate of 6.5% in October means that 1.2m have been rendered jobless since the year began, half of those in just the last six months. Layoffs have continued for ten straight months. "The worst is yet to come," was the word from Anthony Mason's sources among the dismal scientists for CBS. CNBC's Trish Regan talked to Nobel-prizewinning economist Paul Krugman for NBC. He suggested that this might be "the biggest downturn since the Great Depression." On ABC, "most economists expect that toll to rise," Betsy Stark (no link) told us.
In search of consolation, CBS assigned Mark Strassmann to track down those sectors of the economy that are still adding jobs. He came up with education, computers, green energy, security forces "and most of all healthcare."
BIG THREE GROW SMALL Then there are Detroit's rapidly shrinking Big Three automakers. General Motors and Ford posted a combined $7bn in losses for the third quarter of the year as sales stalled to their slowest rate in 15 years. "The situation is so dire, General Motors said it could be out of operating cash by the end of the year," reported CBS' Cynthia Bowers. Chris Bury's (no link) coverage for ABC included watching the appearance of auto bosses on CNBC. "On television, Detroit executives, normally upbeat, are selling pessimism to make their case for $50bn in emergency loans from Congress." Both Bury and Bowers worked with similar math in envisioning how disastrous plant closings and bankruptcies might be. Bowers told us that "one job lost inside the plant jeopardizes as many as a dozen outside." Bury depicted that ripple effect this way: "If one of the Big Three went under as many as 2.5m jobs would be lost--240K from the carmaker, 800K from suppliers and 1.4m down the line, from ad agencies to car dealers."
ASSAULT GUNS SELL LIKE HOT CAKES Amid a slowing economy, ABC's Ryan Owens discovered one retail sector that is booming as a result of Obama's victory. Despite the fact that the President-elect has endorsed an individual's Constitutional right to bear arms, would-be gun owners are afraid of restrictions and are flocking to firearms stores to stock up. "Colorado just set a record for the highest number of background checks for new gun owners." Owens checked out the Cheaper Than Dirt gun shop in Fort Worth to brandish the hottest selling semi-automatics. "Obama does support renewing the expired federal ban on assault weapons."
THE FIRST MUTT In the aftermath of the election, NBC picked up on a couple of choice ex-candidate soundbites. Dog lover Mike Taibbi was assigned to close the week on the search for the First Puppy for soon-to-be First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. At his press conference, their father Barack stated his preference for a dog from a shelter, many of whom are "Mutts Like Me." NBC also ran extended clips from Sarah Palin's informal press conference upon her return to the Governor's office in Alaska. Had she diverted Republican National Committee funds to improve her personal wardrobe? "I know that I know that I know that there was nothing done wrong in the campaign," was her categorical denial. "The RNC purchased clothes. Those are the RNC's clothes. They are not my clothes." Furthermore those purchases were not demanded by her: "I never forced anybody to buy me--I never asked for anything--more than, maybe, a Diet Dr Pepper once in a while."
YES, THE WORLD EXISTS The Presidential election grabbed so much attention this week that there have been only three reports that made any reference to a world outside our borders. On Election Day, NBC's Dawna Friesen reported from London on how, 40 years on, the whole world was watching the events about to unfold in Chicago's Grant Park. ABC sent Martha Raddatz to Peshawar to preview an Obama Administration's policies in Pakistan and Iran. Now CBS assigned Kelly Cobiella in Miami to narrate videotape of a horror in Haiti: as many as 300 children may have been crushed to death when a shoddily-built three-story concrete schoolhouse collapsed.
FRIDAY FEATURES NBC's Making a Difference feature was filed by Joe Fryer of that network's KARE-TV affiliate in Minneapolis. It was his second follow-up on Nick Nelson, the nine-year-old who requested to have his own leg amputated last year because he was born with a web of skin behind his knee that prevents his from standing straight. Fryer showed us the prosthesis in February. Now he guides us through the boy's decision to have his second leg cut off.
CBS' Steve Hartman chose disability too, for his weekending closer on Assignment America. When the marching band of the Ohio School for the Blind spells out the state's name on the football field, it is not in script like the giant Ohio State University outfit. It uses Braille.
ABC's Person of the Week was a civic choice for anchor Charles Gibson. He paid tribute to the electorate: "The right to vote is the bedrock of democracy and this week a record number of you exercised that right." The number Gibson cited, 125m, was actually disappointing. On Election Day, his own network's David Muir anticipated "at least 130m" while George Lewis on NBC told us "up to 140m lined up."
