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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM JANUARY 22, 2009
The new President continues to set the news agenda, even though the three networks disagreed over which aspect of Barack Obama's busy day should lead their newscasts. NBC kicked off at the State Department where Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled Obama's diplomatic agenda. ABC started with the War on Terrorism, as Obama signed executive orders to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and to order CIA interrogators to abide by Geneva Conventions. CBS took the omnibus approach, covering those two topics plus Obama's economic deliberations, his introduction to the White House press corps and his beloved BlackBerry. Gitmo, as the detention center is nicknamed, was Story of the Day.
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GITMO WILL BE NO MO’ The new President continues to set the news agenda, even though the three networks disagreed over which aspect of Barack Obama's busy day should lead their newscasts. NBC kicked off at the State Department where Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled Obama's diplomatic agenda. ABC started with the War on Terrorism, as Obama signed executive orders to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and to order CIA interrogators to abide by Geneva Conventions. CBS took the omnibus approach, covering those two topics plus Obama's economic deliberations, his introduction to the White House press corps and his beloved BlackBerry. Gitmo, as the detention center is nicknamed, was Story of the Day.
ABC's Jake Tapper called Obama's new rules on terrorism "the most sweeping changes in national security policy, arguably, since immediately after 9/11." In addition to the order that the detention center on the naval base in Cuba should be closed within the year, the President also forbade the CIA from running any other secret detention camps and from questioning suspects with methods not condoned by the Army Field Manual.
Ordering Gitmo to be closed "was the easy part," opined NBC's Jim Miklaszewski, "it is how you do it that will be tough." Of the 250-or-so held without trial in Cuba, Miklaszewski explained that the majority can be released to their home country or put on criminal trial in the United States. There remains "a small group of hardcore accused terrorists, less than 20, who may be held indefinitely without ever facing trial because, in some cases, the evidence remains top secret." On ABC's A Closer Look Jan Crawford Greenburg did not venture such a low number. By contrast, she believed that release or trial of inmates constituted "huge questions." She wondered: "Where will these prisoners go? What kind of trials will they face?"
CBS' report from the Pentagon by David Martin was the most sanguine about Gitmo's closing. He reminded us that "the first photos of hooded and shackled prisoners being shipped to Guantanamo Bay came as a shock." He replayed the pledge by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that inmates would be detained indefinitely even if they were acquitted of being enemy combatants. He pointed out that the camp was built on Cuban soil for the sole purpose of evading the protections of the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions. He reported that Pentagon official Susan Crawford recently found formal evidence of torture, making prosecution impossible. "It was hard to tell which posed the greater threat. Terrorists at Guantanamo? Or the damage it has done to America's image?"
UNFOGGY BOTTOM ABC's Martha Raddatz and NBC's Andrea Mitchell both filed from the State Department as Hillary Rodham Clinton, the new Madame Secretary, was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of 1,000 pinstripers. She brought her boss, Barack Obama, along with her as she introduced George Mitchell, her envoy to Israel and Palestine, and Richard Holbrooke, her envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. "There was no greater way to demonstrate the new administration's emphasis on diplomacy," ABC's Raddatz remarked while NBC's Mitchell stated "diplomacy is back" as the rank and file "whooped and hollered." Under George Bush's Presidency, she explained, they felt "overshadowed by the Pentagon and neglected by the White House." CBS folded the State Department ceremonies into Chip Reid's overview of the new President's day.
CAROLINE IS AS CLEAR AS MUD All three newscasts assigned a correspondent to the political shenanigans in the Empire State. Yet finding a source who was willing to go on the record about Caroline Kennedy's decision to withdraw from consideration from New York's vacant Senate seat was like finding hen's teeth. Consider the blind quotes in Kelly Wallace's report on CBS. An unidentified Kennedy aide said the former First Daughter was "made aware of a personal situation that was occurring that does not have anything to do with her uncle." An unidentified source "close" to Kennedy said she was withdrawing for personal reasons that are "serious and something only she and her immediate family really know." Another unidentified aide "disputed reports" that she had backed out because Gov David Paterson "was not going to choose her."
NBC's Mike Taibbi quoted The New York Times as one of his sources. The newspaper reported that "problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced during the vetting process." ABC's John Berman quoted unidentified sources close to Paterson as describing "friction" over "financial disclosure forms" while an unidentified Kennedy aide decried "mudslinging." Kennedy's quest, observed Berman, "ended with one cryptic sentence and a crateload of conflicting explanations."
NBC's Taibbi summarized that Kennedy-for-Senate seemed like the "classic good idea at the time" when it was first floated. Now Kennedy-for-Private-Citizen even has her supporters saying "it is a good idea at this time."
FIRE THE FINANCIER WITH THE COMMODE ON LEGS "In the diplomatic language of corporate executives, it was mutually agreed that his situation was not working out," thus CBS' Anthony Mason described feuding financial bigshots. Ken Lewis, boss of Bank of America, axed John Thain, boss of the Merrill Lynch brokerage, which BoA took over in the fall. "Thain was fired for a simple reason," CNBC's Charles Gasparino told NBC's Lisa Myers. "Merrill Lynch lost $15bn last quarter and Lewis had no idea it was coming." That $15bn brought Merrill's total losses to $41bn, Mason calculated, yet "Thain paid out $4bn in company bonuses just days before the merger went through." BofA, in turn, just received a $20bn capital infusion from the TARP federal bailout fund.
Wretched excess made this inside Wall Street wheelerdealing especially newsworthy. Even as his brokerage house flirted with all those losses, Thain hired interior designer Michael Smith--who is also sprucing up the White House for the Obamas--for a $1.2m makeover for his office. The rug cost $87K and the commode on legs--"I cannot tell you what that is," CBS' Mason smiled--cost $35K.
STICKY, GUMMY PHOSPHORUS With videotape, with eyewitness testimony and with physical evidence he discovered for himself on the ground, CBS' Allen Pizzey asserted that the Israel Defense Force used shells made of white phosphorus in its attack on the Gaza Strip. "The area is littered with pieces of shrapnel and bits of sticky, gummy material. Rub it and it bursts into flames and emits an acrid smoke." Pizzey told us that the use of phosphorus in civilian areas is a war crime and that the IDF admits firing 200 such shells. Yet the Israelis "deny breaking international law." Pizzey failed to elaborate on Israel's explanation of its innocence.
DOUBT & SLUMDOG The annual nominations were announced in Hollywood for the Academy Awards. ABC, whose entertainment division televises the Oscars ceremonies, had Brian Rooney pay tribute to Meryl Streep, notching her 15th nomination since 1979, this time for best actress in Doubt. NBC chose to close from the Mumbai shantytown where Slumdog Millionaire was shot. "The brutal reality of life in the slums is rarely seen in Indian-made movies," Ian Williams told us. India may have the "world's most avid cinemagoers" but when the Slumdog opens this weekend "there is uncertainty" how such gritty British-made fare will be received by fans of Bollywood.
ABC's Jake Tapper called Obama's new rules on terrorism "the most sweeping changes in national security policy, arguably, since immediately after 9/11." In addition to the order that the detention center on the naval base in Cuba should be closed within the year, the President also forbade the CIA from running any other secret detention camps and from questioning suspects with methods not condoned by the Army Field Manual.
Ordering Gitmo to be closed "was the easy part," opined NBC's Jim Miklaszewski, "it is how you do it that will be tough." Of the 250-or-so held without trial in Cuba, Miklaszewski explained that the majority can be released to their home country or put on criminal trial in the United States. There remains "a small group of hardcore accused terrorists, less than 20, who may be held indefinitely without ever facing trial because, in some cases, the evidence remains top secret." On ABC's A Closer Look Jan Crawford Greenburg did not venture such a low number. By contrast, she believed that release or trial of inmates constituted "huge questions." She wondered: "Where will these prisoners go? What kind of trials will they face?"
CBS' report from the Pentagon by David Martin was the most sanguine about Gitmo's closing. He reminded us that "the first photos of hooded and shackled prisoners being shipped to Guantanamo Bay came as a shock." He replayed the pledge by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that inmates would be detained indefinitely even if they were acquitted of being enemy combatants. He pointed out that the camp was built on Cuban soil for the sole purpose of evading the protections of the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions. He reported that Pentagon official Susan Crawford recently found formal evidence of torture, making prosecution impossible. "It was hard to tell which posed the greater threat. Terrorists at Guantanamo? Or the damage it has done to America's image?"
UNFOGGY BOTTOM ABC's Martha Raddatz and NBC's Andrea Mitchell both filed from the State Department as Hillary Rodham Clinton, the new Madame Secretary, was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of 1,000 pinstripers. She brought her boss, Barack Obama, along with her as she introduced George Mitchell, her envoy to Israel and Palestine, and Richard Holbrooke, her envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. "There was no greater way to demonstrate the new administration's emphasis on diplomacy," ABC's Raddatz remarked while NBC's Mitchell stated "diplomacy is back" as the rank and file "whooped and hollered." Under George Bush's Presidency, she explained, they felt "overshadowed by the Pentagon and neglected by the White House." CBS folded the State Department ceremonies into Chip Reid's overview of the new President's day.
CAROLINE IS AS CLEAR AS MUD All three newscasts assigned a correspondent to the political shenanigans in the Empire State. Yet finding a source who was willing to go on the record about Caroline Kennedy's decision to withdraw from consideration from New York's vacant Senate seat was like finding hen's teeth. Consider the blind quotes in Kelly Wallace's report on CBS. An unidentified Kennedy aide said the former First Daughter was "made aware of a personal situation that was occurring that does not have anything to do with her uncle." An unidentified source "close" to Kennedy said she was withdrawing for personal reasons that are "serious and something only she and her immediate family really know." Another unidentified aide "disputed reports" that she had backed out because Gov David Paterson "was not going to choose her."
NBC's Mike Taibbi quoted The New York Times as one of his sources. The newspaper reported that "problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced during the vetting process." ABC's John Berman quoted unidentified sources close to Paterson as describing "friction" over "financial disclosure forms" while an unidentified Kennedy aide decried "mudslinging." Kennedy's quest, observed Berman, "ended with one cryptic sentence and a crateload of conflicting explanations."
NBC's Taibbi summarized that Kennedy-for-Senate seemed like the "classic good idea at the time" when it was first floated. Now Kennedy-for-Private-Citizen even has her supporters saying "it is a good idea at this time."
FIRE THE FINANCIER WITH THE COMMODE ON LEGS "In the diplomatic language of corporate executives, it was mutually agreed that his situation was not working out," thus CBS' Anthony Mason described feuding financial bigshots. Ken Lewis, boss of Bank of America, axed John Thain, boss of the Merrill Lynch brokerage, which BoA took over in the fall. "Thain was fired for a simple reason," CNBC's Charles Gasparino told NBC's Lisa Myers. "Merrill Lynch lost $15bn last quarter and Lewis had no idea it was coming." That $15bn brought Merrill's total losses to $41bn, Mason calculated, yet "Thain paid out $4bn in company bonuses just days before the merger went through." BofA, in turn, just received a $20bn capital infusion from the TARP federal bailout fund.
Wretched excess made this inside Wall Street wheelerdealing especially newsworthy. Even as his brokerage house flirted with all those losses, Thain hired interior designer Michael Smith--who is also sprucing up the White House for the Obamas--for a $1.2m makeover for his office. The rug cost $87K and the commode on legs--"I cannot tell you what that is," CBS' Mason smiled--cost $35K.
STICKY, GUMMY PHOSPHORUS With videotape, with eyewitness testimony and with physical evidence he discovered for himself on the ground, CBS' Allen Pizzey asserted that the Israel Defense Force used shells made of white phosphorus in its attack on the Gaza Strip. "The area is littered with pieces of shrapnel and bits of sticky, gummy material. Rub it and it bursts into flames and emits an acrid smoke." Pizzey told us that the use of phosphorus in civilian areas is a war crime and that the IDF admits firing 200 such shells. Yet the Israelis "deny breaking international law." Pizzey failed to elaborate on Israel's explanation of its innocence.
DOUBT & SLUMDOG The annual nominations were announced in Hollywood for the Academy Awards. ABC, whose entertainment division televises the Oscars ceremonies, had Brian Rooney pay tribute to Meryl Streep, notching her 15th nomination since 1979, this time for best actress in Doubt. NBC chose to close from the Mumbai shantytown where Slumdog Millionaire was shot. "The brutal reality of life in the slums is rarely seen in Indian-made movies," Ian Williams told us. India may have the "world's most avid cinemagoers" but when the Slumdog opens this weekend "there is uncertainty" how such gritty British-made fare will be received by fans of Bollywood.
