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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM JANUARY 04, 2011
On the eve of the swearing-in ceremonies for the 112th Congress, ABC sent Diane Sawyer to Washington to anchor her newscast from Capitol Hill. ABC and NBC both led with a preview of soon-to-be-divided government, which was the Story of the Day. NBC covered it from the White House while ABC chose the Congressional end of Pennsylvania Avenue. CBS chose to follow-up on Monday's top story for its lead: Capt Owen Honors, star of his own raunchy homevideos, is no longer the commander of the USS Enterprise.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR JANUARY 04, 2011: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
GEARING UP FOR THE GAVEL TRANSFER On the eve of the swearing-in ceremonies for the 112th Congress, ABC sent Diane Sawyer to Washington to anchor her newscast from Capitol Hill. ABC and NBC both led with a preview of soon-to-be-divided government, which was the Story of the Day. NBC covered it from the White House while ABC chose the Congressional end of Pennsylvania Avenue. CBS chose to follow-up on Monday's top story for its lead: Capt Owen Honors, star of his own raunchy homevideos, is no longer the commander of the USS Enterprise.
ABC's Sawyer was on the Hill to tape a roundtable interview with eight freshman representatives and two incoming senators--all Republicans, all aligned with the Tea Party. She offered a brief preview of her roundtable while NBC's Andrea Mitchell offered an overview of the likely impact of the Tea Party on the 112th with this summary of its platform, courtesy of Moline's Bobby Schilling, pizzeria operator turned Solon: "If you are asking me if I believe that we are taxed enough already, I would say yes. Do I believe in a smaller, limited government giving power back to the people? Yes. Less spending? Yes. So I line right up with the Tea Party folks, yes."
As for the agenda of the new House of Representatives, that was covered by ABC's Jonathan Karl and CBS' Nancy Cordes from the Hill, and NBC's Savannah Guthrie from the White House. First, the House will vote to repeal last year's healthcare reform legislation. Next, comes a plan to cut annual federal spending by $100bn: Karl and Cordes were skeptical about the details. Third, comes a vote to increase the amount that can be borrowed for the National Debt: Guthrie called that an "early test" of Speaker-to-be John Boehner's "ability to satisfy his base and keep the government running" while Karl was unphased by he debt ceiling vote: "I had a conversation today with a top Republican leader here on Capitol Hill, who said, point blank, that the Republicans will not allow a default on the debt. There will not be a government shutdown."
JUVENILE JINX LACK JUDGMENT All three correspondents who covered Capt Owen Honors' juvenile seaboard homevideos on Monday followed up with his punishment Tuesday--relieved of command for a "profound lack of good judgment and professionalism." This "effectively ends" his career, CBS' Bob Orr concluded. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reported on the next step: "Investigators now want to know why Honors' senior commanders, who knew about these videos four years ago, did not take formal disciplinary action against him at the time." Martha Raddatz' report on ABC included Honors shutting the door in the face of a camera crew from its affiliate in Norfolk--but her package was not posted as a videostream online.
SHORT-HANDED DOWN UNDER It is rare for any story from Australasia to qualify for a correspondent's assignment on the nightly newscasts. In the four years of Tyndall Report's online database, there have only been 42 reports before this week with a down-under topic--and only eight of those with an actual Australian dateline, as opposed to a remote voiceover. So when poisonous snakes and maneating crocodiles swam into the flood waters in Queensland, the American networks had none of their own resources to call on to show us breaking news. NBC used Talitha Cummins of Australia's 7News on Monday; CBS also turned to an Australian partner, Tim Collits of News Ten; ABC had its longstanding relationship with its British partner the BBC and Nick Bryant.
How do the Americans plan to cover England winning the Ashes?
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT The ghastly tale of Cornelius Dupree, exonerated by a DNA evidence test after serving 30 years in a Texas penitentiary for arape robbery (see UPDATE below) he did not commit, was covered by CBS and NBC. The two correspondents had different takes on the campaign of the Innocence Project to ensure that justice be done. NBC's Lee Cowan learned a universal lesson from the project's Barry Scheck: "It could happen to anybody…whether you are white, black, brown, whether you are rich or poor. Anybody can be mistakenly identified." CBS' Don Teague learned a political one: 21 of the 41 DNA exonerations in Texas have been granted in a single county "in large part because the District Attorney [in Dallas County] has made setting the innocent free a priority." CBS, whose primetime dramatic hit CSI specializes in DNA forensics, has filed as many of these exoneration stories over the past four years as NBC and ABC put together.
UPDATE: Norman Charles factchecks Cowan's NBC story on his blog Nightly Daily. He points out that Dupree was convicted of robbery not rape--the rape was an accusation that did not go to trial--and that Dupree was already released from prison on parole when he was exonerated, so the judge did not "free" him as Cowan reported. CBS' Teague made neither of those errors. It should be noted that Teague was reporting from Dallas, while Cowan filed a narrated voiceover from Los Angeles.
CONTENT CREEP FROM THE AYEM TIMESLOT The flacks at Consumer Reports had a good day, picking up free cross-promotional publicity for the publication's research on both CBS and ABC. In truth, neither story really belonged on a nightly newscast. ABC's Andrea Canning told us how toilet paper and peanut butter and other packaged goods are surreptitiously raising prices by shrinking their products; CBS' Michelle Miller compared diners' perceptions of the calories content of food with reality. Air both packages on the morning shows where they belong.
Steve Osunsami's contribution could not even be called News You Can Use--more like News Whose Odds of Applying to You are Vanishingly Microscopic. At odds of 176m-to-1, why would any of us need to consult, in advance, the advice of a financial planner in the event that our MegaMillions lottery ticket hit the $355m jackpot? So why did Osunsami on ABC take professional advice for the quandary: "Should you take the annuity or the much lower one time payment?" At least John Blackstone on CBS stipulated: "The odds against winning are as long as ever." Osunsami actually ended his report by encouraging us: "Play on!" At least NBC merely mentioned the drawing in passing. It would have been more responsible to have avoided such moneywasting foolishness altogether.
TAKE THE (NON)-MONEY & RUN When the currency crisis hit Argentina, many savers abandoned cash deposits and turned to valuables, storing them in bank safety deposit boxes instead, ABC's David Muir told us. Guess what thieves in Buenos Aires targeted over the New Year's holiday when they tunneled into a bank vault. No, it was not the cash.
ABC's Sawyer was on the Hill to tape a roundtable interview with eight freshman representatives and two incoming senators--all Republicans, all aligned with the Tea Party. She offered a brief preview of her roundtable while NBC's Andrea Mitchell offered an overview of the likely impact of the Tea Party on the 112th with this summary of its platform, courtesy of Moline's Bobby Schilling, pizzeria operator turned Solon: "If you are asking me if I believe that we are taxed enough already, I would say yes. Do I believe in a smaller, limited government giving power back to the people? Yes. Less spending? Yes. So I line right up with the Tea Party folks, yes."
As for the agenda of the new House of Representatives, that was covered by ABC's Jonathan Karl and CBS' Nancy Cordes from the Hill, and NBC's Savannah Guthrie from the White House. First, the House will vote to repeal last year's healthcare reform legislation. Next, comes a plan to cut annual federal spending by $100bn: Karl and Cordes were skeptical about the details. Third, comes a vote to increase the amount that can be borrowed for the National Debt: Guthrie called that an "early test" of Speaker-to-be John Boehner's "ability to satisfy his base and keep the government running" while Karl was unphased by he debt ceiling vote: "I had a conversation today with a top Republican leader here on Capitol Hill, who said, point blank, that the Republicans will not allow a default on the debt. There will not be a government shutdown."
JUVENILE JINX LACK JUDGMENT All three correspondents who covered Capt Owen Honors' juvenile seaboard homevideos on Monday followed up with his punishment Tuesday--relieved of command for a "profound lack of good judgment and professionalism." This "effectively ends" his career, CBS' Bob Orr concluded. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reported on the next step: "Investigators now want to know why Honors' senior commanders, who knew about these videos four years ago, did not take formal disciplinary action against him at the time." Martha Raddatz' report on ABC included Honors shutting the door in the face of a camera crew from its affiliate in Norfolk--but her package was not posted as a videostream online.
SHORT-HANDED DOWN UNDER It is rare for any story from Australasia to qualify for a correspondent's assignment on the nightly newscasts. In the four years of Tyndall Report's online database, there have only been 42 reports before this week with a down-under topic--and only eight of those with an actual Australian dateline, as opposed to a remote voiceover. So when poisonous snakes and maneating crocodiles swam into the flood waters in Queensland, the American networks had none of their own resources to call on to show us breaking news. NBC used Talitha Cummins of Australia's 7News on Monday; CBS also turned to an Australian partner, Tim Collits of News Ten; ABC had its longstanding relationship with its British partner the BBC and Nick Bryant.
How do the Americans plan to cover England winning the Ashes?
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT The ghastly tale of Cornelius Dupree, exonerated by a DNA evidence test after serving 30 years in a Texas penitentiary for a
UPDATE: Norman Charles factchecks Cowan's NBC story on his blog Nightly Daily. He points out that Dupree was convicted of robbery not rape--the rape was an accusation that did not go to trial--and that Dupree was already released from prison on parole when he was exonerated, so the judge did not "free" him as Cowan reported. CBS' Teague made neither of those errors. It should be noted that Teague was reporting from Dallas, while Cowan filed a narrated voiceover from Los Angeles.
CONTENT CREEP FROM THE AYEM TIMESLOT The flacks at Consumer Reports had a good day, picking up free cross-promotional publicity for the publication's research on both CBS and ABC. In truth, neither story really belonged on a nightly newscast. ABC's Andrea Canning told us how toilet paper and peanut butter and other packaged goods are surreptitiously raising prices by shrinking their products; CBS' Michelle Miller compared diners' perceptions of the calories content of food with reality. Air both packages on the morning shows where they belong.
Steve Osunsami's contribution could not even be called News You Can Use--more like News Whose Odds of Applying to You are Vanishingly Microscopic. At odds of 176m-to-1, why would any of us need to consult, in advance, the advice of a financial planner in the event that our MegaMillions lottery ticket hit the $355m jackpot? So why did Osunsami on ABC take professional advice for the quandary: "Should you take the annuity or the much lower one time payment?" At least John Blackstone on CBS stipulated: "The odds against winning are as long as ever." Osunsami actually ended his report by encouraging us: "Play on!" At least NBC merely mentioned the drawing in passing. It would have been more responsible to have avoided such moneywasting foolishness altogether.
TAKE THE (NON)-MONEY & RUN When the currency crisis hit Argentina, many savers abandoned cash deposits and turned to valuables, storing them in bank safety deposit boxes instead, ABC's David Muir told us. Guess what thieves in Buenos Aires targeted over the New Year's holiday when they tunneled into a bank vault. No, it was not the cash.
