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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM NOVEMBER 13, 2008
Sarah Palin may not be our next Vice President but defeat at the ballot box has not dimmed her knack for newsmaking. The annual Republican Governors Conference would normally not attract a glimmer of attention from the networks. Yet the appearance of the Governor of Alaska was enough for all three newscasts to assign a reporter to it, qualifying Palin as Story of the Day. Still, she is more political celebrity than substantial power player. Her truncated press conference--just four questions long--was not newsworthy enough to fill the lead spot. All three newscasts chose to start with the economy instead: ABC and NBC selected stock market action; CBS, with substitute anchor Harry Smith, started with Congressional hearings into the partial nationalization of the major banks.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR NOVEMBER 13, 2008: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
PALIN, THE ENDURING POLITICAL CELEBRITY Sarah Palin may not be our next Vice President but defeat at the ballot box has not dimmed her knack for newsmaking. The annual Republican Governors Conference would normally not attract a glimmer of attention from the networks. Yet the appearance of the Governor of Alaska was enough for all three newscasts to assign a reporter to it, qualifying Palin as Story of the Day. Still, she is more political celebrity than substantial power player. Her truncated press conference--just four questions long--was not newsworthy enough to fill the lead spot. All three newscasts chose to start with the economy instead: ABC and NBC selected stock market action; CBS, with substitute anchor Harry Smith, started with Congressional hearings into the partial nationalization of the major banks.
The day's trading on Wall Street "had professionals scratching their heads," according to ABC's Betsy Stark (no link). In just three hours "for no obvious reason" the valuation of the 30 major corporations in the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 10%. The index closed at 8835, up 552 points on the day. "In truth there were more reasons to sell than to buy," Stark shrugged, listing a European recession and growing unemployment lines. "Walmart reported better than expected earnings--only because Americans cannot afford to shop anywhere else." CNBC's Trish Regan on NBC put the one-day increase in stock prices in the context of a yearlong 33% decline, including "icons of American business"--the pharmaceutical firm Merck down 51% year to date, the Internet search engine Google down 55%, and her own employer General Electric down 54%.
IN THE REALM OF THE EXPERIMENTAL Committees of both the House and Senate held hearings into the health of financial capitalism. CBS' Sharyl Attkisson chose the Senate side, where executives from four of the big banks that received partial federal buyouts faced questions. "All that money was supposed to jumpstart consumer loans but there has been no measurable impact so far," she commented. "Nobody anticipated that banks might hold on to the bailout money rather than lend it. It underscores the reality that the attempted remedies are all in the realm of the experimental." The House panel involved five hedge fund managers, each with 2007 annual personal income in excess of $1bn. "When things go well it is new Ferrari time," mused ABC's Bill Weir (no link). "When the bets go bad it makes an horrific economy even worse." In 2008, the funds have not only lost fortunes for their rich clients "but also the endowments of universities, charities and pension funds."
A WORLD OF HURT In a quick trip around a globe of economic hurt, NBC's Dawna Friesen surveyed slowdowns in Germany, Britain, Russia and China…CBS' Ben Tracy examined worsening home foreclosures in Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida: "Some experts say that if enough homeowners get help the housing market could stabilize by the end of 2009," was his heavily qualified attempt at optimism…A decline in donations to charities for the poor has depleted shelves at food pantries, caused layoffs at homeless shelters, understocked the Salvation Army and crimped Meals on Wheels, Rehema Ellis warned on NBC…At least the cost of gasoline is getting cheaper. Not so fast, CBS' Mark Strassmann suggested. Citing rising unemployment and falling consumer confidence, he argued that prices would not be so low if demand had not declined so much. "It is also a grim time for alternative energy" as sinking oil prices undercut the development of green technology.
IT’S SO COLD IN ALASKA All three networks chose a female correspondent to follow the Sarah Palin story. NBC's Michelle Kosinski and CBS' Kelly Cobiella were in Miami for the GOP governors' confab. ABC had Kate Snow narrate the proceedings from New York. "Palin was the media draw," noted Kosinski. "Palin blew into Miami like a hurricane," was how Cobiella put it. Snow saw her in the middle of a "media blitz" including kitchen interviews that had her "whipping up moose stew and salmon halibut casserole." Snow picked up on a comment by Republican operative Karl Rove that Palin "would need to study up on foreign policy if she really wants to make a run for office again one day at the national level." Rove suggested that an expert would have to move to Alaska to teach her. "Let us be clear," the Texan added, excluding himself as her potential docent. "It is very cold in Anchorage most of the year."
TEAM OF RIVALS & BONDS OF AFFECTION A couple of tidbits came out of Barack Obama's transition team. NBC's Andrea Mitchell added a name to the shortlist buzz about Secretary of State. Tom Daschle, John Kerry and Bill Richardson have a fourth possibility for Obama's team of rivals--Hillary Rodham Clinton. ABC anchor Charles Gibson had some fun with the 63 question application form given to administration wannabes. "List the names of your cohabitants within the last ten years with whom you shared bonds of affection" or "Have you even sent an e-mail, text message or instant message that could be a possible source of embarrassment?"
"Maybe we have to wait for the next administration," Gibson shrugged.
RECOUNTS & BLACKLISTS CBS and NBC both tied up some loose ends on the non-Presidential contests from Election Day. Lee Cowan covered the three undecided Senate contests--in Georgia, Alaska, Minnesota--for NBC's In Depth. NBC is never shy about using news reporting to cross-promote its other programming so it was no surprise that Cowan should pick the Minnesota contest as the most newsworthy of the three. Republican incumbent Norm Coleman "watched his lead nearly evaporate as his Democratic challenger Al Franken, of Saturday Night Live fame, closed the gap." Minnesota's three million ballots will now be recounted by hand.
CBS had John Blackstone cover the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which rendered the state's same-sex marriages unConstitutional. Some gay rights activists have singled out political donors who supported the ban by posting their names at antigayblacklist.com. A Los Angeles restaurant is being picketed because of its manager's campaign contribution and a Sacramento musical director resigned from his theatrical job. Blackstone pointed out that such intimidation has been a two-way street in an environment where all financial contributors are identified by name online. Supporters of the ban had sent letters to large opposition donors "demanding equal money or threatening to publish their names."
THE GREAT GAME PLAYS ON The fighting along Pakistan's northwest frontier with Afghanistan attracted the attention of both CBS and ABC. ABC had Nick Schifrin (no link) file from Peshawar where bazaars are stocked with military supplies stolen from American transports. Supply lines run overland from the port in Karachi to forces in Afghanistan through the tribal areas, where they are an inviting target for bandits. "Just this week members of the Taliban took joyrides in American HumVees after stealing twelve trucks full of US supplies without firing a single shot." Meanwhile CBS' Lara Logan obtained an Exclusive sitdown with Pakistan's President Asif ali-Zardari about the dozens of Predator drone attacks launched into his territory from the other direction by CIA operatives based in Afghanistan. He protested the raids as "undermining my sovereignty and not helping win the war for the hearts and minds of people." President Zardari claimed that the CIA acts without his knowledge or permission. Logan was skeptical: "Some believe the Pakistani government has to know but cannot say so publicly because the strikes are so unpopular."
DOCUMENTARY CLIPS YOU CANNOT SEE As is often the case, broadcast news stories including clips from outside productions are not posted online, presumably because of copyright issues. So those of us who watched television saw ABC's David Muir airing clips from the BBC's royal documentary Charles at 60: The Passionate Prince and NBC's Pete Williams airing clips from the Discovery Channel's Dallas documentary on the reenactment of sniper fire from the JFK Assassination. Tough luck to everyone else.
ET "In the past astronomers inferred the existence of planets by measuring the movements of stars," explained NBC's Robert Bazell about new pictures of the Pegasus constellation. Now for the first time NASA's Hubble space telescope and observatories in Hawaii have taken snapshots of actual planets in a solar system other than our own: one orbiting Formalhaut; three around HR 8799.
TWO PACKS A DAY VOICE In the second offering of his On the Road Again tribute to his human interest predecessor Charles Kuralt, CBS' Steve Hartman demonstrated that it was not only Kuralt's eye for a story that made him a master. It was that two-packs-a-day voice, too. Hartman took us to the north woods of Minnesota where birch bark canoes are still being made--without nail or rope or fiberglass--just as Kuralt found them 26 years ago. What Hartman could not repeat was Kuralt's voice reciting The Song of Hiawatha:
Thus the birch canoe was builded
And it floated on the river
Like the yellow leaf in autumn
Like a yellow water lily.
HERE’S GAFFNEY Adrienne Gaffney has joined our happy band of news junkies who "watched last night night's newscasts...so you do not have to." Here are her observations on the same content Tyndall Report just monitored at Vanity Fair magazine's Culture & Celebrity blog.
The day's trading on Wall Street "had professionals scratching their heads," according to ABC's Betsy Stark (no link). In just three hours "for no obvious reason" the valuation of the 30 major corporations in the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 10%. The index closed at 8835, up 552 points on the day. "In truth there were more reasons to sell than to buy," Stark shrugged, listing a European recession and growing unemployment lines. "Walmart reported better than expected earnings--only because Americans cannot afford to shop anywhere else." CNBC's Trish Regan on NBC put the one-day increase in stock prices in the context of a yearlong 33% decline, including "icons of American business"--the pharmaceutical firm Merck down 51% year to date, the Internet search engine Google down 55%, and her own employer General Electric down 54%.
IN THE REALM OF THE EXPERIMENTAL Committees of both the House and Senate held hearings into the health of financial capitalism. CBS' Sharyl Attkisson chose the Senate side, where executives from four of the big banks that received partial federal buyouts faced questions. "All that money was supposed to jumpstart consumer loans but there has been no measurable impact so far," she commented. "Nobody anticipated that banks might hold on to the bailout money rather than lend it. It underscores the reality that the attempted remedies are all in the realm of the experimental." The House panel involved five hedge fund managers, each with 2007 annual personal income in excess of $1bn. "When things go well it is new Ferrari time," mused ABC's Bill Weir (no link). "When the bets go bad it makes an horrific economy even worse." In 2008, the funds have not only lost fortunes for their rich clients "but also the endowments of universities, charities and pension funds."
A WORLD OF HURT In a quick trip around a globe of economic hurt, NBC's Dawna Friesen surveyed slowdowns in Germany, Britain, Russia and China…CBS' Ben Tracy examined worsening home foreclosures in Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida: "Some experts say that if enough homeowners get help the housing market could stabilize by the end of 2009," was his heavily qualified attempt at optimism…A decline in donations to charities for the poor has depleted shelves at food pantries, caused layoffs at homeless shelters, understocked the Salvation Army and crimped Meals on Wheels, Rehema Ellis warned on NBC…At least the cost of gasoline is getting cheaper. Not so fast, CBS' Mark Strassmann suggested. Citing rising unemployment and falling consumer confidence, he argued that prices would not be so low if demand had not declined so much. "It is also a grim time for alternative energy" as sinking oil prices undercut the development of green technology.
IT’S SO COLD IN ALASKA All three networks chose a female correspondent to follow the Sarah Palin story. NBC's Michelle Kosinski and CBS' Kelly Cobiella were in Miami for the GOP governors' confab. ABC had Kate Snow narrate the proceedings from New York. "Palin was the media draw," noted Kosinski. "Palin blew into Miami like a hurricane," was how Cobiella put it. Snow saw her in the middle of a "media blitz" including kitchen interviews that had her "whipping up moose stew and salmon halibut casserole." Snow picked up on a comment by Republican operative Karl Rove that Palin "would need to study up on foreign policy if she really wants to make a run for office again one day at the national level." Rove suggested that an expert would have to move to Alaska to teach her. "Let us be clear," the Texan added, excluding himself as her potential docent. "It is very cold in Anchorage most of the year."
TEAM OF RIVALS & BONDS OF AFFECTION A couple of tidbits came out of Barack Obama's transition team. NBC's Andrea Mitchell added a name to the shortlist buzz about Secretary of State. Tom Daschle, John Kerry and Bill Richardson have a fourth possibility for Obama's team of rivals--Hillary Rodham Clinton. ABC anchor Charles Gibson had some fun with the 63 question application form given to administration wannabes. "List the names of your cohabitants within the last ten years with whom you shared bonds of affection" or "Have you even sent an e-mail, text message or instant message that could be a possible source of embarrassment?"
"Maybe we have to wait for the next administration," Gibson shrugged.
RECOUNTS & BLACKLISTS CBS and NBC both tied up some loose ends on the non-Presidential contests from Election Day. Lee Cowan covered the three undecided Senate contests--in Georgia, Alaska, Minnesota--for NBC's In Depth. NBC is never shy about using news reporting to cross-promote its other programming so it was no surprise that Cowan should pick the Minnesota contest as the most newsworthy of the three. Republican incumbent Norm Coleman "watched his lead nearly evaporate as his Democratic challenger Al Franken, of Saturday Night Live fame, closed the gap." Minnesota's three million ballots will now be recounted by hand.
CBS had John Blackstone cover the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which rendered the state's same-sex marriages unConstitutional. Some gay rights activists have singled out political donors who supported the ban by posting their names at antigayblacklist.com. A Los Angeles restaurant is being picketed because of its manager's campaign contribution and a Sacramento musical director resigned from his theatrical job. Blackstone pointed out that such intimidation has been a two-way street in an environment where all financial contributors are identified by name online. Supporters of the ban had sent letters to large opposition donors "demanding equal money or threatening to publish their names."
THE GREAT GAME PLAYS ON The fighting along Pakistan's northwest frontier with Afghanistan attracted the attention of both CBS and ABC. ABC had Nick Schifrin (no link) file from Peshawar where bazaars are stocked with military supplies stolen from American transports. Supply lines run overland from the port in Karachi to forces in Afghanistan through the tribal areas, where they are an inviting target for bandits. "Just this week members of the Taliban took joyrides in American HumVees after stealing twelve trucks full of US supplies without firing a single shot." Meanwhile CBS' Lara Logan obtained an Exclusive sitdown with Pakistan's President Asif ali-Zardari about the dozens of Predator drone attacks launched into his territory from the other direction by CIA operatives based in Afghanistan. He protested the raids as "undermining my sovereignty and not helping win the war for the hearts and minds of people." President Zardari claimed that the CIA acts without his knowledge or permission. Logan was skeptical: "Some believe the Pakistani government has to know but cannot say so publicly because the strikes are so unpopular."
DOCUMENTARY CLIPS YOU CANNOT SEE As is often the case, broadcast news stories including clips from outside productions are not posted online, presumably because of copyright issues. So those of us who watched television saw ABC's David Muir airing clips from the BBC's royal documentary Charles at 60: The Passionate Prince and NBC's Pete Williams airing clips from the Discovery Channel's Dallas documentary on the reenactment of sniper fire from the JFK Assassination. Tough luck to everyone else.
ET "In the past astronomers inferred the existence of planets by measuring the movements of stars," explained NBC's Robert Bazell about new pictures of the Pegasus constellation. Now for the first time NASA's Hubble space telescope and observatories in Hawaii have taken snapshots of actual planets in a solar system other than our own: one orbiting Formalhaut; three around HR 8799.
TWO PACKS A DAY VOICE In the second offering of his On the Road Again tribute to his human interest predecessor Charles Kuralt, CBS' Steve Hartman demonstrated that it was not only Kuralt's eye for a story that made him a master. It was that two-packs-a-day voice, too. Hartman took us to the north woods of Minnesota where birch bark canoes are still being made--without nail or rope or fiberglass--just as Kuralt found them 26 years ago. What Hartman could not repeat was Kuralt's voice reciting The Song of Hiawatha:
Thus the birch canoe was builded
And it floated on the river
Like the yellow leaf in autumn
Like a yellow water lily.
HERE’S GAFFNEY Adrienne Gaffney has joined our happy band of news junkies who "watched last night night's newscasts...so you do not have to." Here are her observations on the same content Tyndall Report just monitored at Vanity Fair magazine's Culture & Celebrity blog.
