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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM DECEMBER 10, 2009
"My accomplishments are slight." All three networks used the same self-deprecating soundbite in their coverage of President Barack Obama's speech in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. ABC led with an extended reporterless montage of excerpts from his speech, culminating in the non-pacifist conclusion: "Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war--and still strive for peace." NBC and CBS both covered the Story of the Day in a conventional format, assigning their White House correspondents to lead off their newscasts.
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OBAMA DOCTRINE CHANNELS REINHOLD NIEBUHR "My accomplishments are slight." All three networks used the same self-deprecating soundbite in their coverage of President Barack Obama's speech in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. ABC led with an extended reporterless montage of excerpts from his speech, culminating in the non-pacifist conclusion: "Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war--and still strive for peace." NBC and CBS both covered the Story of the Day in a conventional format, assigning their White House correspondents to lead off their newscasts.
NBC's Chuck Todd called Obama's "full-throated support for so-called Just Wars" the "biggest surprise" in the address. CBS' Chip Reid noted that Obama's self-professed admiration for non-violence was followed by this: "To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism; it is a recognition of history." ABC had Jake Tapper and George Stephanopoulos comment on the speech after running its extended excerpts. Stephanopoulos, who is soon to switch jobs to be anchor of Good Morning America, displayed the theological training that is unlikely to be showcased while interviewing actresses and hosting cooking segments: "One of his intellectual heroes is the philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr."
ABC's Tapper combined Obama's endorsement of the Just War together with his insistence on obeying international law, his support for human rights, his opposition to economic injustice and his pledge to engage adversaries diplomatically--and concluded that the speech amounted to "The Obama Doctrine, if you will."
JIHAD JOKERS Only NBC followed up on Wednesday's arrest of five students from the Washington DC area in Sarghoda, a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The quintet, all American citizens, worshipped at a mosque in Virginia: "Moslem groups say they must do more to counter widespread videos that radicalize some Americans by painting a violent and distorted picture of Islam," Pete Williams generalized.
Pakistani police alleged that the five had jihad on their minds even as NBC's Williams suggested that there was not much to their plan: "When the men tried to join up with two separate terror groups in eastern Pakistan they were turned away, considered suspicious because they did not know the language, had no training and had no real terror contacts," Williams' unidentified "official" sources told him. "They were beginning to get cold feet"…they were "jokers"…was what other sources added.
PAY CAPS FOR EXECS As Wall Street prepares to hand out its usually-lavish year-end bonuses, both CBS' Anthony Mason and ABC's David Muir publicized the decision by Goldman Sachs to withhold cash from its top 30 executives. The firm is "feeling the heat" for benefiting from the Treasury Department's bailout only subsequently to "turn huge profits," as ABC's Muir put it. Not getting any cash does not mean that they will not be getting bonuses, CBS' Mason pointed out: "Instead it will award them stock that cannot be sold for five years." As for AIG, Citigroup and General Motors' auto loans division--financial firms that have not yet repaid TARP bailout funds--CBS' Mason reported that annual salaries of 225 executives at the three firms will be capped at $500,000 by Kenneth Feinberg, whose nickname is the Pay Czar.
FRIVOLITY NOT PROFLIGACY For the second straight day Sharyl Attkisson was assigned by CBS to Follow the Money. Wednesday she helped Republican senators John McCain and Tom Coburn publicize their complaints about $7bn of porkbarrel spending in the $787bn federal fiscal stimulus program. Now she helps unidentified "fiscal conservatives" publicize their complaints about almost $4bn in spending on 5,200-or-so earmarks in a $450bn omnibus spending bill. Again, the proportion of to be spent on pork was small, so Attkisson focused on frivolity not profligacy. Federal funds have been earmarked for skateparks and water taxis, for art trails and bicycle racks, for decorative sidewalks and urban streetscapes.
LAKE EFFECTS The winter storm that started in the southwest on Tuesday is now in upstate New York. Paul Goodloe of the NBC-owned Weather Channel explained the "huge and significant lake effect event" because the Great Lakes are 3F warmer than they should be at this time of year. "Buffalo is being blinded by this storm," complained ABC's David Kerley. CBS had Dean Reynolds in Chicago check off the sub-zero wind chills from Montana through Nebraska. And ABC stuck Barbara Pinto (at the tail of the Kerley videostream) in Wisconsin: "It was so cold you could see it--the frigid waters of Lake Monona steaming in the even colder air, -16F."
MUTTS, APES & SKEETERS All three newscasts offered us animal stories. CBS gave us the sentimental in its American Spirit series. Richard Schlesinger introduced us to the volunteers of Pilots-n-Paws, a general aviation service that ships dogs from southern animal shelters to adopting families in the northeast. Schlesinger loves to tell an animal story--this is his tenth since the spring of 2007.
ABC closed with the adventurous as Bob Woodruff trekked through the mud of the Bukit Tigapuluh forest on the island of Sumatra to find a rehabilitation camp for orangutans that have been displaced by commercial logging operations. The orange apes have to be taught to search for food in unfamiliar parts of the forest before being released into the wild. Otherwise they will starve.
NBC's animal was serious--the mosquito. This was the fourth part of A Perfect Storm, the network's travelogue series about the dire consequences of global warming. Ian Williams told us about millions being driven from their land by the rising waters of the Bangladesh Delta. Anne Thompson took us to coastal Peru, which is facing dehydration because Andean glaciers are melting. Martin Fletcher showed us the tribal violence in northern Kenya, as herders fight over drought-parched grazing land.
Now Ian Williams shows us how a wetter and warmer climate is increasing the range of the breed of the mosquito that transmits dengue fever. Researchers in Kuala Lumpur have found that warmer temperatures double the speed at which the virus develops in a mosquito. Furthermore, the hotter it is, the more frequently mosquitoes bite. Dengue used to be confined to southeast Asia. It is now in 100 nations and has recently resurfaced in Florida.
ROSWELL TO OSLO "For the first time we can remember, Norway has been the subject of two stories in one broadcast," noted NBC anchor Brian Williams. Chuck Todd's report on the Nobel Prize was followed by Tom Costello's tale of the unidentified flying object seen spiraling across the Norwegian night sky. Unidentified it is no longer, Costello told us: "Moscow now admits a submarine-fired Bulava missile failed" when it was test-launched over the White Sea. Costello reminded us that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union used to encourage public fascination with UFOs. "It helped cover up secret military activities."
NOT UFOS BUT ASTROLOGY "You might think the people sitting in the pews along side you believe the same things you do," suggested Dan Harris in A Closer Look for ABC. No, he did not mention UFOs. He did cite belief in astrological powers and reincarnation. He told us of the latest survey of religious beliefs from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Worshippers mix and match their doctrines, blending New Age practices with mainstream theology.
AT LEAST MR ZIMMERMAN IS A CHRISTIAN NBC's Lee Cowan reflected the Pew Forum's blending of beliefs--but in a lighter vein--when he listed noted non-Christians in his hit parade of Christmas music. Alvin & the Chipmunks… Neil Diamond…Barry Manilow…The Muppets…"This year's most unlikely Christmas crooner is an American icon. Yes, Bob Dylan has gone Bing Crosby, in this case with a polka twist." Cowan commented. "There has never been a Little Drummer Boy like this."
NBC's Chuck Todd called Obama's "full-throated support for so-called Just Wars" the "biggest surprise" in the address. CBS' Chip Reid noted that Obama's self-professed admiration for non-violence was followed by this: "To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism; it is a recognition of history." ABC had Jake Tapper and George Stephanopoulos comment on the speech after running its extended excerpts. Stephanopoulos, who is soon to switch jobs to be anchor of Good Morning America, displayed the theological training that is unlikely to be showcased while interviewing actresses and hosting cooking segments: "One of his intellectual heroes is the philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr."
ABC's Tapper combined Obama's endorsement of the Just War together with his insistence on obeying international law, his support for human rights, his opposition to economic injustice and his pledge to engage adversaries diplomatically--and concluded that the speech amounted to "The Obama Doctrine, if you will."
JIHAD JOKERS Only NBC followed up on Wednesday's arrest of five students from the Washington DC area in Sarghoda, a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The quintet, all American citizens, worshipped at a mosque in Virginia: "Moslem groups say they must do more to counter widespread videos that radicalize some Americans by painting a violent and distorted picture of Islam," Pete Williams generalized.
Pakistani police alleged that the five had jihad on their minds even as NBC's Williams suggested that there was not much to their plan: "When the men tried to join up with two separate terror groups in eastern Pakistan they were turned away, considered suspicious because they did not know the language, had no training and had no real terror contacts," Williams' unidentified "official" sources told him. "They were beginning to get cold feet"…they were "jokers"…was what other sources added.
PAY CAPS FOR EXECS As Wall Street prepares to hand out its usually-lavish year-end bonuses, both CBS' Anthony Mason and ABC's David Muir publicized the decision by Goldman Sachs to withhold cash from its top 30 executives. The firm is "feeling the heat" for benefiting from the Treasury Department's bailout only subsequently to "turn huge profits," as ABC's Muir put it. Not getting any cash does not mean that they will not be getting bonuses, CBS' Mason pointed out: "Instead it will award them stock that cannot be sold for five years." As for AIG, Citigroup and General Motors' auto loans division--financial firms that have not yet repaid TARP bailout funds--CBS' Mason reported that annual salaries of 225 executives at the three firms will be capped at $500,000 by Kenneth Feinberg, whose nickname is the Pay Czar.
FRIVOLITY NOT PROFLIGACY For the second straight day Sharyl Attkisson was assigned by CBS to Follow the Money. Wednesday she helped Republican senators John McCain and Tom Coburn publicize their complaints about $7bn of porkbarrel spending in the $787bn federal fiscal stimulus program. Now she helps unidentified "fiscal conservatives" publicize their complaints about almost $4bn in spending on 5,200-or-so earmarks in a $450bn omnibus spending bill. Again, the proportion of to be spent on pork was small, so Attkisson focused on frivolity not profligacy. Federal funds have been earmarked for skateparks and water taxis, for art trails and bicycle racks, for decorative sidewalks and urban streetscapes.
LAKE EFFECTS The winter storm that started in the southwest on Tuesday is now in upstate New York. Paul Goodloe of the NBC-owned Weather Channel explained the "huge and significant lake effect event" because the Great Lakes are 3F warmer than they should be at this time of year. "Buffalo is being blinded by this storm," complained ABC's David Kerley. CBS had Dean Reynolds in Chicago check off the sub-zero wind chills from Montana through Nebraska. And ABC stuck Barbara Pinto (at the tail of the Kerley videostream) in Wisconsin: "It was so cold you could see it--the frigid waters of Lake Monona steaming in the even colder air, -16F."
MUTTS, APES & SKEETERS All three newscasts offered us animal stories. CBS gave us the sentimental in its American Spirit series. Richard Schlesinger introduced us to the volunteers of Pilots-n-Paws, a general aviation service that ships dogs from southern animal shelters to adopting families in the northeast. Schlesinger loves to tell an animal story--this is his tenth since the spring of 2007.
ABC closed with the adventurous as Bob Woodruff trekked through the mud of the Bukit Tigapuluh forest on the island of Sumatra to find a rehabilitation camp for orangutans that have been displaced by commercial logging operations. The orange apes have to be taught to search for food in unfamiliar parts of the forest before being released into the wild. Otherwise they will starve.
NBC's animal was serious--the mosquito. This was the fourth part of A Perfect Storm, the network's travelogue series about the dire consequences of global warming. Ian Williams told us about millions being driven from their land by the rising waters of the Bangladesh Delta. Anne Thompson took us to coastal Peru, which is facing dehydration because Andean glaciers are melting. Martin Fletcher showed us the tribal violence in northern Kenya, as herders fight over drought-parched grazing land.
Now Ian Williams shows us how a wetter and warmer climate is increasing the range of the breed of the mosquito that transmits dengue fever. Researchers in Kuala Lumpur have found that warmer temperatures double the speed at which the virus develops in a mosquito. Furthermore, the hotter it is, the more frequently mosquitoes bite. Dengue used to be confined to southeast Asia. It is now in 100 nations and has recently resurfaced in Florida.
ROSWELL TO OSLO "For the first time we can remember, Norway has been the subject of two stories in one broadcast," noted NBC anchor Brian Williams. Chuck Todd's report on the Nobel Prize was followed by Tom Costello's tale of the unidentified flying object seen spiraling across the Norwegian night sky. Unidentified it is no longer, Costello told us: "Moscow now admits a submarine-fired Bulava missile failed" when it was test-launched over the White Sea. Costello reminded us that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union used to encourage public fascination with UFOs. "It helped cover up secret military activities."
NOT UFOS BUT ASTROLOGY "You might think the people sitting in the pews along side you believe the same things you do," suggested Dan Harris in A Closer Look for ABC. No, he did not mention UFOs. He did cite belief in astrological powers and reincarnation. He told us of the latest survey of religious beliefs from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Worshippers mix and match their doctrines, blending New Age practices with mainstream theology.
AT LEAST MR ZIMMERMAN IS A CHRISTIAN NBC's Lee Cowan reflected the Pew Forum's blending of beliefs--but in a lighter vein--when he listed noted non-Christians in his hit parade of Christmas music. Alvin & the Chipmunks… Neil Diamond…Barry Manilow…The Muppets…"This year's most unlikely Christmas crooner is an American icon. Yes, Bob Dylan has gone Bing Crosby, in this case with a polka twist." Cowan commented. "There has never been a Little Drummer Boy like this."
