CONTAINING LINKS TO 58103 STORIES FROM THE NETWORKS' NIGHTLY NEWSCASTS
     TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM APRIL 11, 2011
The economy dominated the headlines at the end of last week with deadline coverage of the federal government's budget. The late night compromise Friday over a formula to fund its operations through the end of the fiscal year defused that story. The new week started with a different economic worry--the rising price of oil. All three newscasts led with the Story of the Day: NBC and ABC, with substitute anchor George Stephanopoulos, chose the gasoline angle, now averaging $3.79 per gallon, even before the peak summer driving season begins. CBS took the broader view, with the impact of rising oil commodity prices on the economy as a whole.    
     TYNDALL PICKS FOR APRIL 11, 2011: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
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video thumbnailABCOil, natural gas, gasoline pricesPrices spike even before peak driving seasonJim AvilaNew York
video thumbnailCBSOil, natural gas, gasoline pricesRipple of higher costs slows economic recoveryAnthony MasonNew York
video thumbnailCBSFederal budget deficit spending continuesCuts for this year's spending to be itemizedNancy CordesCapitol Hill
video thumbnailABCFederal budget deficit spending continuesNext legislative battle will be on debt ceilingJake TapperWhite House
video thumbnailNBCJapan earthquake triggers killer tsunami, N-accidentFukushima nuclear plant evacuation zone expandedJohn YangTokyo
video thumbnailCBSJapan earthquake triggers killer tsunami, N-accidentPersonal mementos still found in village rubbleCelia HattonJapan
video thumbnailNBCLibya politics: Moammar Khadafy is longtime rulerCeasefire proposal rejected by oppositionStephanie GoskLibya
video thumbnailNBCMoslems represent rapidly-growing minority in EuropeFrance bans women wearing devout full-cover veilGeorge LewisParis
video thumbnailABCSerial murders of prostitutes on Long IslandSearch for bodies in brush along Atlantic coastAndrea CanningLong Island
video thumbnailCBSPolo is elite sport, rarely played in inner cityUrban teen trio wins national HS championshipSteve HartmanPhiladelphia
 
TYNDALL BLOG: DAILY NOTES ON NETWORK TELEVISION NIGHTLY NEWS
STILL THE ECONOMY: FROM BUDGET TO BLACK GOLD The economy dominated the headlines at the end of last week with deadline coverage of the federal government's budget. The late night compromise Friday over a formula to fund its operations through the end of the fiscal year defused that story. The new week started with a different economic worry--the rising price of oil. All three newscasts led with the Story of the Day: NBC and ABC, with substitute anchor George Stephanopoulos, chose the gasoline angle, now averaging $3.79 per gallon, even before the peak summer driving season begins. CBS took the broader view, with the impact of rising oil commodity prices on the economy as a whole.

Anthony Mason was assigned the lead spot by CBS and--just as his colleague Nancy Cordes did here and here in a couple of federal budget stories last week--his package include a spin across the country with stand-ups by a trio of correspondents offering vignettes on the impact of the price hike. Dean Reynolds in Chicago showed us how inflation turns up at the supermarket aisle; Bill Whitaker in California covered the increased cost of deliveries; Mark Strassmann in Atlanta told us that fewer office workers are driving to restaurants during the lunch hour. I like the wheel. It adds pace and variety to a regular package. Using correspondents in the field to illustrate a trend story with concrete examples tends to be pithier than unscripted soundbites.

The orthodox posting-that-giant-4-at-the-filling-station story was filed by Kristen Welker on NBC and Jim Avila on ABC. All three newscasts followed up on the federal budget story too: CBS' Nancy Cordes looked backwards to the cuts agreed on last Friday; White House correspondents Jake Tapper on ABC and Chuck Todd on NBC looked forward to the next big countdown showdown--the Congressional vote to raise the borrowing limit for the National Debt.


MONDAY’S MENTIONS Reporter rotation on the Japan beat: John Yang replaces Lee Cowan for NBC; Bob Woodruff replaces Neal Karlinsky for ABC. CBS' Asia-based Celia Hatton remains…

Hatton and Woodruff remind us it was the tsunami, not radiation, that caused heartbreaking devastation. See Rikuzentagata and Minamisanriku

Groundhog Day for Barbara Pinto on ABC, wading again through soggy North Dakota: 4 in '09; 3 in '10; Red River redux in '11

There is something about that veil that intrigues NBC. George Lewis files its third piece from Paris on banned burqas in two years

Brace yourselves. Michelle Kosinski's precious musings for NBC on the British hoi polloi's affection for their princess-to-be is just a taste of all that treacle to come

Enough of obsequious praise for aristocratic pursuits! For CBS' Assignment America, an egalitarian Steve Hartman shows how the bro's from the 'hood win a chukka