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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAY 01, 2009
Partyswitcher Arlen Specter could not do it. Hundred Days President Barack Obama could not do it. Bankrupt Chrysler could not do it. For five straight weekdays of heavy competition the Mexican swine 'flu held on to its Story of the Day status. Then along came Justice David The Flukiller Souter. His letter of resignation from the Supreme Court, effective at the end of this term, led all three newscasts and accounted for a full third of the three-network newshole (33%--19 min out of 58). The 'flu was not ignored entirely, rounding out an impressive weeklong run (9 min last Friday followed by 34 Monday, 21 Tuesday, 18 Wednesday, 20 Thursday) with 11 minutes of coverage.
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SOUTER THE FLUKILLER Partyswitcher Arlen Specter could not do it. Hundred Days President Barack Obama could not do it. Bankrupt Chrysler could not do it. For five straight weekdays of heavy competition the Mexican swine 'flu held on to its Story of the Day status. Then along came Justice David The Flukiller Souter. His letter of resignation from the Supreme Court, effective at the end of this term, led all three newscasts and accounted for a full third of the three-network newshole (33%--19 min out of 58). The 'flu was not ignored entirely, rounding out an impressive weeklong run (9 min last Friday followed by 34 Monday, 21 Tuesday, 18 Wednesday, 20 Thursday) with 11 minutes of coverage.
A trio of correspondents--CBS' Wyatt Andrews (no link), ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg, NBC's Pete Williams--kicked off from the Supreme Court on Souter the jurist, Souter the man, and Souter in the eyes of the President.
"A fair-minded and independent judge, he came to the bench with no particular ideology. He never sought to promote a political agenda," was Barack Obama's tribute soundbite selected by ABC. CBS and NBC went with "a feverish work ethic and a good sense of humor with integrity, equanimity and compassion."
Souter was nominated by President George Bush pere. At the time "liberals were terrified," was how ABC's Crawford Greenburg recalled it. CBS' Andrews remembered him as being "sold as a law-and-order kind of conservative." All three reporters gave examples of his emergence on the "moderate to liberal wing" of the court, as NBC' Williams put it. Williams cited his pro-choice stance on abortion and his opposition to George Bush being elected President without a recount in Florida. CBS' Andrews selected abortion too, and then affirmative action and the rights of inmates at Guantanamo Bay and handgun control. ABC's Crawford Greenburg ticked off "abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty and religion."
As for Souter the man, both ABC's Crawford Greenburg and NBC's Williams quoted his own complaint that serving a term at the Supreme Court required "a sort of annual intellectual lobotomy." NBC's Williams noted that his retirement comes in mid-career, voluntarily walking away in the prime of life…By Supreme Court standards Souter, who is 69, is barely middle-aged." ABC's Crawford Greenburg called Souter "reclusive…for years he has told his friends that he did not like Washington and wanted to return home to his beloved New Hampshire cabin." CBS' Andrews mentioned that he was "physically mugged while out jogging" in the District of Columbia. He is "often called the Stealth Justice" and is a "workaholic confirmed bachelor."
SHORTLIST FOR SOUTER’S SLOT Covering David Souter's exit from the White House, NBC's Savannah Guthrie called Barack Obama's aides "ready." The President "personally gave his staff some names to consider" back in December, before he even took office. As Jake Tapper put it on ABC, "the administration has been preparing for this since before there was an Obama Administration."
The shortlists for the nominee to replace Souter were drawn up by Jeff Greenfield at CBS, Guthrie at NBC and Jan Crawford Greenburg at ABC. Top of the list, proposed on all three newscasts were Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Diane Wood got a mention from ABC and NBC and three other women were mentioned by CBS' Greenfield: Kimberly McLane Wardlaw, Leah Ward Sears and Jennifer Granholm. "The working assumption inside the White House is that President Obama will pick a woman," reported ABC's George Stephanopoulos (as part of the Tapper videostream). CBS' Greenfield was the only reporter to float male trial balloons: Deval Patrick and Harold Yoh.
HANDSHAKERS AND PEACHPICKERS Anxiety about the Mexican swine 'flu is abating. "The positive news remains," asserted NBC's Robert Bazell. "The virus has caused no more deaths as it continues to spread widely." Precautions persist, however. Bazell showed graduates forgoing handshakes at commencement exercises at Northeastern University and all three newscasts told us about a transAtlantic flight that stopped in Boston rather than Washington DC because a passenger "appeared to have 'flulike symptoms," as Bazell put it.
CBS' Nancy Cordes and ABC's John McKenzie picked up on the genetic analysis of the virus that in-house physician Timothy Johnson told us about on ABC on Thursday. "Slightly more contagious than the typical seasonal 'flu," CBS' Cordes told us, yet "a less lethal strain than feared." ABC's McKenzie put it this way: "While the virus could still change it does not have the genetic makeup of the much-feared 1918 pandemic virus."
CBS' Cynthia Bowers went down on the farm in South Carolina peach country to show us that it is not only those in the hog business who are suffering economic side effects. Fruit and vegetable harvests may be hard hit too, since most of the field labor comes from Mexico, where consulates are still closed and not issuing visas. Kerry Sanders was in Mexico City for NBC as the "virtual ghost town" began its five-day standstill to prevent any further transmission.
GET A JEEP As Chrysler's factories get shut down for 60 days while the automaker goes through bankruptcy, its dealerships' doors are staying open. CBS' Ben Tracy tried to give its salesmen a helping hand by publicizing the federal government's backing for Chrysler's warranties "to keep buyers rolling in." On NBC, CNBC's Phil LeBeau noted that Chrysler needs to "clear out a lot of inventory. They have got too much, too many cars and trucks that are sitting in lots. They have been built. They are sitting around."
ABC's Chris Bury looked forward to Chrysler dealers selling Fiat models next to the "lineup of Jeeps and minivans…the tiny Cinquecento is an updated classic that is selling gangbusters in Europe." The merger with Italy is no guaranteed success. "Chrysler has hooked up with a foreigner before, a German," Bury warned. "Historically alliances between automakers have not done very well," CNBC's LeBeau generalized. "Nissan-Renault is the one exception."
ALL-NATURAL LIVER DAMAGE Hydoxycut is being withdrawn from sale on the orders of the Food & Drug Administration for fear of liver damage. CBS' newly-arrived in-house physician Jennifer Ashton appeared on the Evening News for the third time this week (here and here on the Mexican swine 'flu) to point out that "just because something says it is natural does not always mean it is necessarily safe." Hydroxycut, made in Canada by Iovate, is a caffeinated herbal supplement that is marketed for weight loss. NBC's Tom Costello reminded us that its "ads are everywhere from cable TV to the pages of beauty magazines."
NBC's Costello then launched in on the law that prevents the FDA from regulating supplements before they are put on the market: "Amazingly the FDA cannot prescreen products if the ingredients existed before 1994…With 114m adults taking some type of dietary supplement--from vitamins to energy drinks--health experts argue FDA oversight before products come to market is long overdue."
PERUVIAN POTTERS & GHANAIAN POULTRY Microcredit programs for the Third World got a publicity boost for the second time in two weeks. Last month Daniel Sieberg plugged microplace.com by publicizing one-on-one loans to Peruvian potters on CBS. Now ABC anchor Charles Gibson champions Opportunity International, a poultry farm project in Ghana. The scheme uses a grade school text book called One Hen to encourage children to become microcredit fundraisers. Gibson made the book's author Katie Smith Milway his network's Person of the Week.
TIPTOEING THROUGH THE SEQUIN-CLAD MINEFIELD Check how carefully Neal Karlinsky tiptoes through a minefield of sex-role stereotypes in his preview of next year's Winter Olympic Games from Vancouver for ABC. His story concerned the initiative by Skate Canada to change the image of the men's figure staking competition. "Canada says figure skating needs to get macho," was how Karlinsky put it. Karlinsky did not explicitly come out and say that homosexuality and machismo are incompatible or that only heterosexual men are masculine but he did seem to endorse Skate Canada's prejudice that "frilly, sequin-clad outfits" are harmful to "figure skating's image" whereas an emphasis on the sport's difficulty and its "grueling even dangerous" side would improve it.
By quoting gay advocacy group outsports.com as opposing the initiative and Canadian "figure skating hero" Elvis Stojko's conciliatory attitude towards "the gay guys that are skating or the gay public that is watching it," Karlinsky seemed to subscribe to the stereotype that strong, powerful skaters are straight and that graceful, well-groomed skaters are gay. The suggestion that gay athletes do not compete in difficult, grueling or dangerous sports is, of course, preposterous yet I think Karlinsky's report subtly made such an insinuation.
A trio of correspondents--CBS' Wyatt Andrews (no link), ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg, NBC's Pete Williams--kicked off from the Supreme Court on Souter the jurist, Souter the man, and Souter in the eyes of the President.
"A fair-minded and independent judge, he came to the bench with no particular ideology. He never sought to promote a political agenda," was Barack Obama's tribute soundbite selected by ABC. CBS and NBC went with "a feverish work ethic and a good sense of humor with integrity, equanimity and compassion."
Souter was nominated by President George Bush pere. At the time "liberals were terrified," was how ABC's Crawford Greenburg recalled it. CBS' Andrews remembered him as being "sold as a law-and-order kind of conservative." All three reporters gave examples of his emergence on the "moderate to liberal wing" of the court, as NBC' Williams put it. Williams cited his pro-choice stance on abortion and his opposition to George Bush being elected President without a recount in Florida. CBS' Andrews selected abortion too, and then affirmative action and the rights of inmates at Guantanamo Bay and handgun control. ABC's Crawford Greenburg ticked off "abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty and religion."
As for Souter the man, both ABC's Crawford Greenburg and NBC's Williams quoted his own complaint that serving a term at the Supreme Court required "a sort of annual intellectual lobotomy." NBC's Williams noted that his retirement comes in mid-career, voluntarily walking away in the prime of life…By Supreme Court standards Souter, who is 69, is barely middle-aged." ABC's Crawford Greenburg called Souter "reclusive…for years he has told his friends that he did not like Washington and wanted to return home to his beloved New Hampshire cabin." CBS' Andrews mentioned that he was "physically mugged while out jogging" in the District of Columbia. He is "often called the Stealth Justice" and is a "workaholic confirmed bachelor."
SHORTLIST FOR SOUTER’S SLOT Covering David Souter's exit from the White House, NBC's Savannah Guthrie called Barack Obama's aides "ready." The President "personally gave his staff some names to consider" back in December, before he even took office. As Jake Tapper put it on ABC, "the administration has been preparing for this since before there was an Obama Administration."
The shortlists for the nominee to replace Souter were drawn up by Jeff Greenfield at CBS, Guthrie at NBC and Jan Crawford Greenburg at ABC. Top of the list, proposed on all three newscasts were Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Diane Wood got a mention from ABC and NBC and three other women were mentioned by CBS' Greenfield: Kimberly McLane Wardlaw, Leah Ward Sears and Jennifer Granholm. "The working assumption inside the White House is that President Obama will pick a woman," reported ABC's George Stephanopoulos (as part of the Tapper videostream). CBS' Greenfield was the only reporter to float male trial balloons: Deval Patrick and Harold Yoh.
HANDSHAKERS AND PEACHPICKERS Anxiety about the Mexican swine 'flu is abating. "The positive news remains," asserted NBC's Robert Bazell. "The virus has caused no more deaths as it continues to spread widely." Precautions persist, however. Bazell showed graduates forgoing handshakes at commencement exercises at Northeastern University and all three newscasts told us about a transAtlantic flight that stopped in Boston rather than Washington DC because a passenger "appeared to have 'flulike symptoms," as Bazell put it.
CBS' Nancy Cordes and ABC's John McKenzie picked up on the genetic analysis of the virus that in-house physician Timothy Johnson told us about on ABC on Thursday. "Slightly more contagious than the typical seasonal 'flu," CBS' Cordes told us, yet "a less lethal strain than feared." ABC's McKenzie put it this way: "While the virus could still change it does not have the genetic makeup of the much-feared 1918 pandemic virus."
CBS' Cynthia Bowers went down on the farm in South Carolina peach country to show us that it is not only those in the hog business who are suffering economic side effects. Fruit and vegetable harvests may be hard hit too, since most of the field labor comes from Mexico, where consulates are still closed and not issuing visas. Kerry Sanders was in Mexico City for NBC as the "virtual ghost town" began its five-day standstill to prevent any further transmission.
GET A JEEP As Chrysler's factories get shut down for 60 days while the automaker goes through bankruptcy, its dealerships' doors are staying open. CBS' Ben Tracy tried to give its salesmen a helping hand by publicizing the federal government's backing for Chrysler's warranties "to keep buyers rolling in." On NBC, CNBC's Phil LeBeau noted that Chrysler needs to "clear out a lot of inventory. They have got too much, too many cars and trucks that are sitting in lots. They have been built. They are sitting around."
ABC's Chris Bury looked forward to Chrysler dealers selling Fiat models next to the "lineup of Jeeps and minivans…the tiny Cinquecento is an updated classic that is selling gangbusters in Europe." The merger with Italy is no guaranteed success. "Chrysler has hooked up with a foreigner before, a German," Bury warned. "Historically alliances between automakers have not done very well," CNBC's LeBeau generalized. "Nissan-Renault is the one exception."
ALL-NATURAL LIVER DAMAGE Hydoxycut is being withdrawn from sale on the orders of the Food & Drug Administration for fear of liver damage. CBS' newly-arrived in-house physician Jennifer Ashton appeared on the Evening News for the third time this week (here and here on the Mexican swine 'flu) to point out that "just because something says it is natural does not always mean it is necessarily safe." Hydroxycut, made in Canada by Iovate, is a caffeinated herbal supplement that is marketed for weight loss. NBC's Tom Costello reminded us that its "ads are everywhere from cable TV to the pages of beauty magazines."
NBC's Costello then launched in on the law that prevents the FDA from regulating supplements before they are put on the market: "Amazingly the FDA cannot prescreen products if the ingredients existed before 1994…With 114m adults taking some type of dietary supplement--from vitamins to energy drinks--health experts argue FDA oversight before products come to market is long overdue."
PERUVIAN POTTERS & GHANAIAN POULTRY Microcredit programs for the Third World got a publicity boost for the second time in two weeks. Last month Daniel Sieberg plugged microplace.com by publicizing one-on-one loans to Peruvian potters on CBS. Now ABC anchor Charles Gibson champions Opportunity International, a poultry farm project in Ghana. The scheme uses a grade school text book called One Hen to encourage children to become microcredit fundraisers. Gibson made the book's author Katie Smith Milway his network's Person of the Week.
TIPTOEING THROUGH THE SEQUIN-CLAD MINEFIELD Check how carefully Neal Karlinsky tiptoes through a minefield of sex-role stereotypes in his preview of next year's Winter Olympic Games from Vancouver for ABC. His story concerned the initiative by Skate Canada to change the image of the men's figure staking competition. "Canada says figure skating needs to get macho," was how Karlinsky put it. Karlinsky did not explicitly come out and say that homosexuality and machismo are incompatible or that only heterosexual men are masculine but he did seem to endorse Skate Canada's prejudice that "frilly, sequin-clad outfits" are harmful to "figure skating's image" whereas an emphasis on the sport's difficulty and its "grueling even dangerous" side would improve it.
By quoting gay advocacy group outsports.com as opposing the initiative and Canadian "figure skating hero" Elvis Stojko's conciliatory attitude towards "the gay guys that are skating or the gay public that is watching it," Karlinsky seemed to subscribe to the stereotype that strong, powerful skaters are straight and that graceful, well-groomed skaters are gay. The suggestion that gay athletes do not compete in difficult, grueling or dangerous sports is, of course, preposterous yet I think Karlinsky's report subtly made such an insinuation.
