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TYNDALL HEADLINE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM JUNE 4, 2013
The biggest scandal of the Obama Administration -- rampant, unpunished rapes of military women by their male comrades in arms -- was the Story of the Day. All three networks assigned their Pentagon correspondent to cover the testimony of military brass before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Some senators want control over the prosecution of rape cases to be ceded to prosecutors; most of the generals want it to remain a disciplinary responsibility of commanders. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and CBS' David Martin each had the lead on his newscast. On ABC, Martha Raddatz was given second slot, following Lisa Stark's lead on the dangers of fuel tank fires in early-model Jeep Cherokees speared by rear-end collisions.
TYNDALL PICKS FOR JUNE 4, 2013: CLICK ON GRID ELEMENTS TO SEARCH FOR MATCHING ITEMS
SHOULD PROSECUTORS PROSECUTE RAPE, OR COMMANDERS? The biggest scandal of the Obama Administration -- rampant, unpunished rapes of military women by their male comrades in arms -- was the Story of the Day. All three networks assigned their Pentagon correspondent to cover the testimony of military brass before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Some senators want control over the prosecution of rape cases to be ceded to prosecutors; most of the generals want it to remain a disciplinary responsibility of commanders. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and CBS' David Martin each had the lead on his newscast. On ABC, Martha Raddatz was given second slot, following Lisa Stark's lead on the dangers of fuel tank fires in early-model Jeep Cherokees speared by rear-end collisions.
The administration's second pressing scandal was the topic of hearings on the House side of Capitol Hill. Leaders of several political-sounding groups testified about the paperwork required of them by the Internal Revenue Service when they applied for non-political social welfare status. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell brought us the Wetumpka Tea Party, the San Fernando Valley Tea Party Patriots, Linchpins of Liberty, and Coalition for Life of Iowa. CBS' Nancy Cordes told us that one third of the 300 applicants who were subject to strict scrutiny were Tea Party affiliates. ABC, which has covered the IRS scandal less heavily than the other two newscasts ever since it broke last month, did not mention the House hearings, even in passing.
ABC anchor Diane Sawyer told us that the Jeep story had been Lisa Stark's specialty for three years. Sure enough, here is Stark's report from 2010; here it is from 2011. Stark now tells us that 51 deaths have been attributed to fuel tank fires. Federal NHTSA regulators want 2.6m vehicles recalled so that the tank can be raised. Chrysler contests its necessity. Neither of the other two newscasts deemed this dispute worthy of a correspondent's attention.
There were, however, two other road-transport features. The inspiration for NBC's Tom Costello was the $92 ticket he had to pay for speeding at 38mph in a 25mph zone in Washington DC. The camera that caught his violation averages $8m annually in assessed tickets; the capital's system of 90 such cameras is credited with reducing annual fatalities from accidents involving speed from 70 to 19. ABC's second highway story was from Paula Faris in her Real Money feature series. Faris offered tips to motorists to reduce the cost of their daily commute: by driving better, by planning better routes, and by car-pooling more often. As she normally does, Faris offered free publicity to mobile phone apps that claim to help achieve these goals: Automatic, Waze, and Lyft, respectively.
TUESDAY’S TIDBITS Never let it be said that the networks always skimp on international coverage. The House of Windsor never fails to find a slot on the news agenda. This is the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. From London, NBC's Keir Simmons filed a dutiful tribute to the loyalty and affection of Her Majesty's subjects. CBS and ABC offered contradictory remembrances of the TV history of that day in 1953. ABC anchor Diane Sawyer told us it was a "global television event." She recalled viewers being terrified on the Queen's behalf as they watched "through the flickering screens." On CBS, Elizabeth Palmer pointed out that in the United States no one watched it live: film had to be rushed by her own network's chartered plane across the Atlantic for delayed transmission, narrated by her own network's Walter Cronkite.
Royalty was not the only international news: NBC's in-house physician Nancy Snyderman brought us the skinny on a study of white-skinned people in Australia. If one daubs with sunscreen on a daily basis, skin becomes less wrinkled.
That Saturday tornado that was Story of the Day on Monday for killing a trio of National Geographic Explorer stormchasers in Oklahoma was again covered by all three newscasts. The twister that touched down in El Reno measured 2.6 miles across at its base, wider than any other funnel cloud in the 60-year record. CBS' Anna Werner told us about it from Dallas; ABC's David Kerley narrated StormChasingVideo from his network's DC bureau; NBC relied on its sibling cable network, the Weather Channel, and meteorologist Kelly Cass.
This is the signature sweetspot of feature reporting on CBS. Take a public policy issue and find an anecdotal example to give it emotional power. Since the New Year, CBS has covered the gun control debate more intensely than the other two newscasts -- although that intensity has subsided since legislation was blocked in the Senate in April. Now Seth Doane travels to Missouri's Polk County to bring us the desperate plight of Blaec Lammers and his parents.
The Governor of Mississippi had no facts to back up his claim that a shortage of stay-at-home mothers accounts for the shortfall in global reading scores registered by American students. ABC's Linsey Davis filed a Mommy-Wars fact-check. She gave a hat-tip to Washington Post for sponsoring the symposium at which the governor blundered, and to Working Mother Media (also her source for last Wednesday's breadwinner-by-gender report) for pointing her to OECD data. Davis did not even dignify Governor Bryant with his first name (although you could see "Phil" signage behind his head in one clip).
Those high-rise window-washers who try to charm pediatric hospital patients by dressing in superhero costumes -- the ones that NBC's Mark Potter found Making a Difference in February. Well, they now appear on ABC, via John Donvan.
The administration's second pressing scandal was the topic of hearings on the House side of Capitol Hill. Leaders of several political-sounding groups testified about the paperwork required of them by the Internal Revenue Service when they applied for non-political social welfare status. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell brought us the Wetumpka Tea Party, the San Fernando Valley Tea Party Patriots, Linchpins of Liberty, and Coalition for Life of Iowa. CBS' Nancy Cordes told us that one third of the 300 applicants who were subject to strict scrutiny were Tea Party affiliates. ABC, which has covered the IRS scandal less heavily than the other two newscasts ever since it broke last month, did not mention the House hearings, even in passing.
ABC anchor Diane Sawyer told us that the Jeep story had been Lisa Stark's specialty for three years. Sure enough, here is Stark's report from 2010; here it is from 2011. Stark now tells us that 51 deaths have been attributed to fuel tank fires. Federal NHTSA regulators want 2.6m vehicles recalled so that the tank can be raised. Chrysler contests its necessity. Neither of the other two newscasts deemed this dispute worthy of a correspondent's attention.
There were, however, two other road-transport features. The inspiration for NBC's Tom Costello was the $92 ticket he had to pay for speeding at 38mph in a 25mph zone in Washington DC. The camera that caught his violation averages $8m annually in assessed tickets; the capital's system of 90 such cameras is credited with reducing annual fatalities from accidents involving speed from 70 to 19. ABC's second highway story was from Paula Faris in her Real Money feature series. Faris offered tips to motorists to reduce the cost of their daily commute: by driving better, by planning better routes, and by car-pooling more often. As she normally does, Faris offered free publicity to mobile phone apps that claim to help achieve these goals: Automatic, Waze, and Lyft, respectively.
TUESDAY’S TIDBITS Never let it be said that the networks always skimp on international coverage. The House of Windsor never fails to find a slot on the news agenda. This is the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. From London, NBC's Keir Simmons filed a dutiful tribute to the loyalty and affection of Her Majesty's subjects. CBS and ABC offered contradictory remembrances of the TV history of that day in 1953. ABC anchor Diane Sawyer told us it was a "global television event." She recalled viewers being terrified on the Queen's behalf as they watched "through the flickering screens." On CBS, Elizabeth Palmer pointed out that in the United States no one watched it live: film had to be rushed by her own network's chartered plane across the Atlantic for delayed transmission, narrated by her own network's Walter Cronkite.
Royalty was not the only international news: NBC's in-house physician Nancy Snyderman brought us the skinny on a study of white-skinned people in Australia. If one daubs with sunscreen on a daily basis, skin becomes less wrinkled.
That Saturday tornado that was Story of the Day on Monday for killing a trio of National Geographic Explorer stormchasers in Oklahoma was again covered by all three newscasts. The twister that touched down in El Reno measured 2.6 miles across at its base, wider than any other funnel cloud in the 60-year record. CBS' Anna Werner told us about it from Dallas; ABC's David Kerley narrated StormChasingVideo from his network's DC bureau; NBC relied on its sibling cable network, the Weather Channel, and meteorologist Kelly Cass.
This is the signature sweetspot of feature reporting on CBS. Take a public policy issue and find an anecdotal example to give it emotional power. Since the New Year, CBS has covered the gun control debate more intensely than the other two newscasts -- although that intensity has subsided since legislation was blocked in the Senate in April. Now Seth Doane travels to Missouri's Polk County to bring us the desperate plight of Blaec Lammers and his parents.
The Governor of Mississippi had no facts to back up his claim that a shortage of stay-at-home mothers accounts for the shortfall in global reading scores registered by American students. ABC's Linsey Davis filed a Mommy-Wars fact-check. She gave a hat-tip to Washington Post for sponsoring the symposium at which the governor blundered, and to Working Mother Media (also her source for last Wednesday's breadwinner-by-gender report) for pointing her to OECD data. Davis did not even dignify Governor Bryant with his first name (although you could see "Phil" signage behind his head in one clip).
Those high-rise window-washers who try to charm pediatric hospital patients by dressing in superhero costumes -- the ones that NBC's Mark Potter found Making a Difference in February. Well, they now appear on ABC, via John Donvan.
