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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MARCH 18, 2011
Even though, technically speaking, continuing coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan was Story of the Day for the sixth straight weekday (22 min), there was no doubt that Libya (19 min) was the day's headlinegrabber. All three newscasts led with President Barack Obama's response to the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing military force to protect opposition civilians against violence from the forces of Moammar Khadafy's regime. CBS, anchored by substitute Harry Smith, led from the Pentagon; ABC from the White House; NBC from the State Department.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR MARCH 18, 2011: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
WAR ON LIBYA…OR MAYBE HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION. WHO KNOWS? Even though, technically speaking, continuing coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan was Story of the Day for the sixth straight weekday (22 min), there was no doubt that Libya (19 min) was the day's headlinegrabber. All three newscasts led with President Barack Obama's response to the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing military force to protect opposition civilians against violence from the forces of Moammar Khadafy's regime. CBS, anchored by substitute Harry Smith, led from the Pentagon; ABC from the White House; NBC from the State Department.
No surprise, in the absence of any Congressional debate or any coverage from the United Nations, there was no unanimity across the three newscasts about whether a war had just been started. CBS' David Martin saw the developments as most unilateral and most bellicose, portraying President Obama as having made a commitment to use force of arms to replace Khadafy as Libya's ruler. ABC's Jake Tapper, by contrast, emphasized the regional coalition of Mediterranean Europeans and Arab powers and Obama's insistence on a ceasefire rather than regime change. On NBC, Andrea Mitchell steered a middle course.
CBS has covered the Libyan story most heavily over the last four weeks (98 min v NBC 88, ABC 58) and continued that commitment: Mandy Clark filed her 13th report on the opposition, filing from Benghazi; her colleague Mark Phillips has arrived more recently to cover the government from Tripoli. "Confounding…confusing…confrontational," was how he described Khadafy's decision to declare a ceasefire while, apparently, breaching it. NBC had Jim Maceda file a brief stand-up from Tripoli. ABC relied on a debriefing by This Week anchor Christiane Amanpour in the New York studio.
FRIDAY’S FINDINGS The US claims to protect civilian protestors in Libya: NBC's Richard Engel pointed to US allies killing protestors in Yemen, Bahrain
Firefighters made strides in subduing the Fukushima nuclear crisis: NBC and CBS from Tokyo; ABC narrating from New York
Forget Aceh…Port-au-Prince…Chernobyl: in Japan NBC's Ann Curry found "grief and loss unlike any nation has ever seen"
Chernobyl: CBS' Bill Plante dug out file footage, NBC's Michelle Kosinski joined frozen-in-time tourists. See Lenin in the schoolroom
Indian Point to Dresden to San Onofre, ABC's reporting whip continued a weeklong worry: could N-disaster happen here?
It seemed CBS' kids-for-quakes by mawkish Mark Strassmann would rival Diane Sawyer's saccharine entry on ABC--until RYOT's rescue
No surprise, in the absence of any Congressional debate or any coverage from the United Nations, there was no unanimity across the three newscasts about whether a war had just been started. CBS' David Martin saw the developments as most unilateral and most bellicose, portraying President Obama as having made a commitment to use force of arms to replace Khadafy as Libya's ruler. ABC's Jake Tapper, by contrast, emphasized the regional coalition of Mediterranean Europeans and Arab powers and Obama's insistence on a ceasefire rather than regime change. On NBC, Andrea Mitchell steered a middle course.
CBS has covered the Libyan story most heavily over the last four weeks (98 min v NBC 88, ABC 58) and continued that commitment: Mandy Clark filed her 13th report on the opposition, filing from Benghazi; her colleague Mark Phillips has arrived more recently to cover the government from Tripoli. "Confounding…confusing…confrontational," was how he described Khadafy's decision to declare a ceasefire while, apparently, breaching it. NBC had Jim Maceda file a brief stand-up from Tripoli. ABC relied on a debriefing by This Week anchor Christiane Amanpour in the New York studio.
FRIDAY’S FINDINGS The US claims to protect civilian protestors in Libya: NBC's Richard Engel pointed to US allies killing protestors in Yemen, Bahrain
Firefighters made strides in subduing the Fukushima nuclear crisis: NBC and CBS from Tokyo; ABC narrating from New York
Forget Aceh…Port-au-Prince…Chernobyl: in Japan NBC's Ann Curry found "grief and loss unlike any nation has ever seen"
Chernobyl: CBS' Bill Plante dug out file footage, NBC's Michelle Kosinski joined frozen-in-time tourists. See Lenin in the schoolroom
Indian Point to Dresden to San Onofre, ABC's reporting whip continued a weeklong worry: could N-disaster happen here?
It seemed CBS' kids-for-quakes by mawkish Mark Strassmann would rival Diane Sawyer's saccharine entry on ABC--until RYOT's rescue
