 |           |
TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM JUNE 9, 2009
Airline safety topped the news agenda as the investigation into last week's fatal crash of Air France Flight 447 continued and the National Transportation Safety Board held hearings into the safe crash landing of USAirways Flight 1549 this January. Even though the Air France accident was not chosen to lead any of the three newscasts it qualified as Story of the Day for the second day in a row. CBS, which elevated the national profile of USAirways' Captain Chesley Sullenberger with its 60 Minutes exclusive, led with the Hudson River ditching. ABC and NBC chose economic stories for their leads: NBC picked Chrysler; ABC the banking industry.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR JUNE 9, 2009: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
FRIENDLY & UNFRIENDLY SKIES Airline safety topped the news agenda as the investigation into last week's fatal crash of Air France Flight 447 continued and the National Transportation Safety Board held hearings into the safe crash landing of USAirways Flight 1549 this January. Even though the Air France accident was not chosen to lead any of the three newscasts it qualified as Story of the Day for the second day in a row. CBS, which elevated the national profile of USAirways' Captain Chesley Sullenberger with its 60 Minutes exclusive, led with the Hudson River ditching. ABC and NBC chose economic stories for their leads: NBC picked Chrysler; ABC the banking industry.
NBC's Tom Costello told us Monday that Air France's pilots were refusing to fly A330s or A340s made by Airbus until their Pitot tubes were replaced. Now ABC's Lisa Stark covers the pilots' campaign. The tubes are the instruments used to monitor airspeed and "malfunctioning sensors can cause jets to fly dangerously fast--or slow." Yet NBC's Costello reminds us in his follow-up that there is no proof that a Pitot malfunction caused the crash. That "remains only a theory."
Meanwhile 41 bodies have now been retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean along with the jetliner's tail, whose appearance suggests that the jetliner disintegrated in midair, CBS' Bob Orr told us: "The jet's tail fin is virtually intact, cleanly sheared near the bolts that connected it to the fuselage--a sign it may have been ripped off by strong aerodynamic forces."
SANG FROID MEETS ICY WATER There was not much news about USAirways 1549 emanating from the National Transportation Safety Board hearings. But there was color. The NTSB published transcripts of the cockpit conversation between pilot Chesley Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles during the 210 seconds between takeoff at LaGuardia Airport and landing on the icy Hudson River. ABC's David Kerley and CBS' Nancy Cordes both selected the sang froid of the final 20 seconds. Captain: "Got any ideas?" Co-pilot: "Actually not."
This year's third newsworthy air crash was Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, which left 50 dead. CBS' Cordes reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered stepped-up inspection of the training of pilots at all regional carriers such as Colgan Air, which operated Continental's commuter flight. NBC's Tom Costello noted that the crash has "raised questions about crew experience, training, rest time and pay" at the regional airlines. CBS' Cordes consulted "several" unidentified aviation experts about their safety. The experts would not go so far as to call the regionals unsafe. Put it this way: "If they can fly in those larger jets on those larger airlines, they will."
POST-DEALERS NOW SELL PRE-OWNED Monday's major development in the bankruptcy of Chrysler Motors was the Supreme Court's decision to freeze its merger with Fiat while it considered a lawsuit brought by aggrieved pension funds. CNBC's Phil LeBeau followed up on NBC: "Fiat claimed the deal could unravel if it is not approved by Monday," he warned without affording that scenario too much credence. "Legal experts believe the Supreme Court is unlikely to block the sale."
Back in bankruptcy court, Chrysler was given the green light to cancel its relationship with 789 dealerships. Chrysler had claimed that unprofitable dealers cost the company $1.5bn annually, underinvesting in advertising, facilities, personnel and customer services, ABC's Chris Bury reported. "Half the cut dealers sold fewer than 100 cars" each year. Most of those losing their Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge-Jeep shingles will not go out of business, CBS' Ben Tracy explained, they will just lose the company's rebates and new-car warranties. He introduced us to Star Chrysler-Jeep in the Los Angeles suburbs. "We become Star Pre-owned Super Center," announced the used-car-salesman-to-be.
BIG BANKS GET OUT OF DEBT An investment bank, a credit card company and a financial conglomerate were among the ten big names that repaid TARP funds to the Treasury Department seven months after taking out the loans: $68bn plus $2bn interest. CBS' Anthony Mason listed Goldman Sachs, American Express and JP Morgan as the major former debtors, as $131bn remain outstanding. ABC's Betsy Stark pointed to the "two big names missing from this group"--Citigroup and Bank of America--that together owe TARP $90bn. Stark weighed the pros and cons on whether the financial crisis has been resolved. Banks have increased their lending and started to post profits, she admitted; yet those toxic assets are still on their books and losses are looming from credit cards and commercial real estate.
"How do you know that these banks are not going to come back in the future and need more bailouts?" was the question asked by NBC's Savannah Guthrie in a brief stand-up report. She answered on behalf of the Treasury Department: "It is confident because it has conducted stress tests."
PENDLETON, LEAVENWORTH, SUPERMAX OR THE BRIG? Ahmed Ghailani arrived in New York City to stand trial for the 1998 bombing of the United States' embassies to Kenya and Tanzania. Yet ABC's justice correspondent Pierre Thomas chose not to cover the case against Ghailani--the bombs killed more than 200--but the fate of Ghailani's fellow inmates instead. Ghailani had been detained at the camp at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Thomas quoted "some critics" as claiming that Ghailani's prosecution "has opened the floodgates" to the arrival of 178 other detainees onto the mainland. Thomas offered a shortlist of four venues for their renewed incarceration: Camp Pendleton, Fort Leavenworth, the Florence Supermax in Colorado and the brig at the naval base in Charleston SC
KIM HYUN SUN’S GREEN WELLINGTON BOOTS Ian Williams filed exotic travelogue footage for NBC's In Depth. He sailed to the fog-shrouded "fortress-like sliver of mountainous land" that is Yonpyong Island, a fishing community, population 1,500, two miles south of the border the divides the Korean peninsula. Check out crab fisherman Kim Hyun Sun, bobbing amid the waves in his green Wellington boots. Williams called the 75-year-old one of "the most hardened residents of this frontline island" and the ancient fisherman certainly looked the part.
Williams actually called the island a "fortress-like slither" but I am sure he meant sliver.
FIRST DO NO HARM CBS' in-house physician Jon LaPook completed a disapproving two-part series (here and here) on angioplasty, the surgical procedure for heart disease patients that inserts a stent to keep arteries open. "At about $16,000 a procedure it is a roughly $21bn-a-year industry," LaPook stated. And the doctor is no fan.
What is wrong? LaPook lists the ways. He zeroed in on non-emergency angioplasty, for those patients who are not suffering a heart attack. In such elective cases, one patient out of every 200 ends up dead. Yet medication such as Zocor or Lipitor is just as effective a treatment. An elective procedure neither prolongs the patient's life nor improves the odds of avoiding a heart attack. "The problem starts with consent forms," declared LaPook. They tend to use "confusing language; they are often missing specific risks; and are generally not well explained by doctors."
LaPook concluded with a report from Dartmouth University. It estimates that at least 30% of angioplasty patients would reject the procedure if they were properly informed. "The goal," the doctor told us, is "less risk and less waste."
INCORPORATE ME AND DOUBLE MY TAXES What Works is NBC's series that celebrates success stories. Miami Gardens, population 110,000, is the latest example, brought to us by Mark Potter. It was created by a vote of its residents in 2003 out of "a hodge-podge of blighted neighborhoods in unincorporated Dade County," according to Potter. Since its incorporation as a city, trash has been cleaned, zoning laws enforced, the crime rate has fallen, new businesses have formed and visitors have enjoyed its outdoor jazz festival.
What is the most newsworthy thing about Miami Gardens? "The residents themselves," Potter told us, "who agreed to more than double their own property taxes." This is the sort of pro-tax story that our conservative colleagues at newsbusters.org would normally denounce as liberal propaganda. I checked to link to their complaint but found nary a peep.
NBC's Tom Costello told us Monday that Air France's pilots were refusing to fly A330s or A340s made by Airbus until their Pitot tubes were replaced. Now ABC's Lisa Stark covers the pilots' campaign. The tubes are the instruments used to monitor airspeed and "malfunctioning sensors can cause jets to fly dangerously fast--or slow." Yet NBC's Costello reminds us in his follow-up that there is no proof that a Pitot malfunction caused the crash. That "remains only a theory."
Meanwhile 41 bodies have now been retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean along with the jetliner's tail, whose appearance suggests that the jetliner disintegrated in midair, CBS' Bob Orr told us: "The jet's tail fin is virtually intact, cleanly sheared near the bolts that connected it to the fuselage--a sign it may have been ripped off by strong aerodynamic forces."
SANG FROID MEETS ICY WATER There was not much news about USAirways 1549 emanating from the National Transportation Safety Board hearings. But there was color. The NTSB published transcripts of the cockpit conversation between pilot Chesley Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles during the 210 seconds between takeoff at LaGuardia Airport and landing on the icy Hudson River. ABC's David Kerley and CBS' Nancy Cordes both selected the sang froid of the final 20 seconds. Captain: "Got any ideas?" Co-pilot: "Actually not."
This year's third newsworthy air crash was Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, which left 50 dead. CBS' Cordes reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered stepped-up inspection of the training of pilots at all regional carriers such as Colgan Air, which operated Continental's commuter flight. NBC's Tom Costello noted that the crash has "raised questions about crew experience, training, rest time and pay" at the regional airlines. CBS' Cordes consulted "several" unidentified aviation experts about their safety. The experts would not go so far as to call the regionals unsafe. Put it this way: "If they can fly in those larger jets on those larger airlines, they will."
POST-DEALERS NOW SELL PRE-OWNED Monday's major development in the bankruptcy of Chrysler Motors was the Supreme Court's decision to freeze its merger with Fiat while it considered a lawsuit brought by aggrieved pension funds. CNBC's Phil LeBeau followed up on NBC: "Fiat claimed the deal could unravel if it is not approved by Monday," he warned without affording that scenario too much credence. "Legal experts believe the Supreme Court is unlikely to block the sale."
Back in bankruptcy court, Chrysler was given the green light to cancel its relationship with 789 dealerships. Chrysler had claimed that unprofitable dealers cost the company $1.5bn annually, underinvesting in advertising, facilities, personnel and customer services, ABC's Chris Bury reported. "Half the cut dealers sold fewer than 100 cars" each year. Most of those losing their Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge-Jeep shingles will not go out of business, CBS' Ben Tracy explained, they will just lose the company's rebates and new-car warranties. He introduced us to Star Chrysler-Jeep in the Los Angeles suburbs. "We become Star Pre-owned Super Center," announced the used-car-salesman-to-be.
BIG BANKS GET OUT OF DEBT An investment bank, a credit card company and a financial conglomerate were among the ten big names that repaid TARP funds to the Treasury Department seven months after taking out the loans: $68bn plus $2bn interest. CBS' Anthony Mason listed Goldman Sachs, American Express and JP Morgan as the major former debtors, as $131bn remain outstanding. ABC's Betsy Stark pointed to the "two big names missing from this group"--Citigroup and Bank of America--that together owe TARP $90bn. Stark weighed the pros and cons on whether the financial crisis has been resolved. Banks have increased their lending and started to post profits, she admitted; yet those toxic assets are still on their books and losses are looming from credit cards and commercial real estate.
"How do you know that these banks are not going to come back in the future and need more bailouts?" was the question asked by NBC's Savannah Guthrie in a brief stand-up report. She answered on behalf of the Treasury Department: "It is confident because it has conducted stress tests."
PENDLETON, LEAVENWORTH, SUPERMAX OR THE BRIG? Ahmed Ghailani arrived in New York City to stand trial for the 1998 bombing of the United States' embassies to Kenya and Tanzania. Yet ABC's justice correspondent Pierre Thomas chose not to cover the case against Ghailani--the bombs killed more than 200--but the fate of Ghailani's fellow inmates instead. Ghailani had been detained at the camp at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Thomas quoted "some critics" as claiming that Ghailani's prosecution "has opened the floodgates" to the arrival of 178 other detainees onto the mainland. Thomas offered a shortlist of four venues for their renewed incarceration: Camp Pendleton, Fort Leavenworth, the Florence Supermax in Colorado and the brig at the naval base in Charleston SC
KIM HYUN SUN’S GREEN WELLINGTON BOOTS Ian Williams filed exotic travelogue footage for NBC's In Depth. He sailed to the fog-shrouded "fortress-like sliver of mountainous land" that is Yonpyong Island, a fishing community, population 1,500, two miles south of the border the divides the Korean peninsula. Check out crab fisherman Kim Hyun Sun, bobbing amid the waves in his green Wellington boots. Williams called the 75-year-old one of "the most hardened residents of this frontline island" and the ancient fisherman certainly looked the part.
Williams actually called the island a "fortress-like slither" but I am sure he meant sliver.
FIRST DO NO HARM CBS' in-house physician Jon LaPook completed a disapproving two-part series (here and here) on angioplasty, the surgical procedure for heart disease patients that inserts a stent to keep arteries open. "At about $16,000 a procedure it is a roughly $21bn-a-year industry," LaPook stated. And the doctor is no fan.
What is wrong? LaPook lists the ways. He zeroed in on non-emergency angioplasty, for those patients who are not suffering a heart attack. In such elective cases, one patient out of every 200 ends up dead. Yet medication such as Zocor or Lipitor is just as effective a treatment. An elective procedure neither prolongs the patient's life nor improves the odds of avoiding a heart attack. "The problem starts with consent forms," declared LaPook. They tend to use "confusing language; they are often missing specific risks; and are generally not well explained by doctors."
LaPook concluded with a report from Dartmouth University. It estimates that at least 30% of angioplasty patients would reject the procedure if they were properly informed. "The goal," the doctor told us, is "less risk and less waste."
INCORPORATE ME AND DOUBLE MY TAXES What Works is NBC's series that celebrates success stories. Miami Gardens, population 110,000, is the latest example, brought to us by Mark Potter. It was created by a vote of its residents in 2003 out of "a hodge-podge of blighted neighborhoods in unincorporated Dade County," according to Potter. Since its incorporation as a city, trash has been cleaned, zoning laws enforced, the crime rate has fallen, new businesses have formed and visitors have enjoyed its outdoor jazz festival.
What is the most newsworthy thing about Miami Gardens? "The residents themselves," Potter told us, "who agreed to more than double their own property taxes." This is the sort of pro-tax story that our conservative colleagues at newsbusters.org would normally denounce as liberal propaganda. I checked to link to their complaint but found nary a peep.
