CONTAINING LINKS TO 58103 STORIES FROM THE NETWORKS' NIGHTLY NEWSCASTS
TYNDALL YEAR IN REVIEW
TOP TWENTY STORIES OF 2009

minsTotalABCCBSNBC
Healthcare reform debate588205205178
Influenza: H1N1 virus outbreak580180178222
Afghanistan fighting escalates556166220170
Economy in recession, stimulus336120103114
Automobile industry bankruptcy2979710891
Financial industry TARP bailout252888777
Unemployment climbs to 10%248908573
Pop singer Michael Jackson dies2376610170
Iran politics: election protests194476682
NYSE-NASDAQ market action165506451
Fort Hood shooting: 13 dead164605351
Obama Presidency under way155555742
Winter weather150444760
Obama Inauguration ceremonies141405248
Israeli-Palestinian conflict132375342
Sen Edward Kennedy dies130444639
Financier Bernard Madoff fraud129406128
USAirways jet lands in Hudson122404240
Justice Sonia Sotomayor named118384139
Pirates operate off African coast112423534
Total Top Twenty Stories4806154817061553




AFGHANISTAN [A] OVERTAKES IRAQ [I]

(mins)20022003200420052006200720082009
A-War43981106103104101126556
I-War0160213538791131115724480
A-Total46081106103104101154735
I-Total817256017001101878731190169


NORMAL POST-ELECTION BELTWAY PEAK

year (mins)19931997200120052009
Politics (non-electoral)36312444326028553533
Preceding 3-year Avg19352692263319302066
Difference+1696-248+627+914+1467


HEALTHCARE, FLU & THE LOUSY ECONOMY

minsTotalABCCBSNBC
Health & Medicine 20091883597636652
Ecomony 200927859051002876
H&M 1988-2008 Annual Avg962328318316
Econ 1988-2008 Annual Avg1483477498509


Barack Obama arrived in Washington and set the year's agenda--his Inauguration, a fiscal stimulus, the bailout of Wall Street banks and Detroit automakers, his Supreme Court pick, the yearlong healthcare reform debate.
After the torpor of the lame duck years of George Bush, the White House beat regained top spot and ABC's Jake Tapper was the busiest correspondent. Such a focus on domestic politics (3533 min v 3260 in 2001, 3631 in 1993) is par for a President's first year--slightly more than Bush's, slightly less than Bill Clinton's.
As the recession dragged on, the Economy (2785 min v 2767 in 2008) again attracted record attention. Also setting records was the Health beat (1883 min v a previous high of 1471 in 1993, the year of Hillarycare), since reform politics coupled with an influenza pandemic. NBC, led by Robert Bazell, spent most time on public health anxieties about the H1N1 swine 'flu virus, an overreaction since the outbreak turned out to be mild.
The stench of stolen elections set the agenda overseas. In Iran, the opposition took to the streets to protest corrupt clerics; in Afghanistan, the United States dispatched troop reinforcements to prop up Hamid Karzai's corrupt regime. After seven years, Afghanistan has finally supplanted Iraq as the networks' hot spot.
CBS covered Afghanistan most heavily with its Road Ahead series yet its hard-news reputation was undermined by a decision to treat pop singer Michael Jackson's untimely death as a major story.
The Most Newsworthy Woman of the Year Sonia Sotomayor; the Man, Stanley McChrystal, who has an Afghanistan Plan.


TOP 20 MOST USED REPORTERS (Anchors excl)

networknameassignmentmins
ABCJake TapperWhite House370
CBSChip ReidWhite House341
NBCRobert BazellMedicine312
NBCChuck ToddWhite House288
NBCTom CostelloDC Bureau242
CBSAnthony MasonEconomy223
NBCSavannah GuthrieWhite House202
ABCDavid MuirDomestic197
CBSNancy CordesCapitol Hill194
NBCPete WilliamsJustice176
ABCJonathan KarlCapitol Hill173
CBSBen TracyDomestic163
ABCBetsy StarkEconomy163
NBCKelly O'DonnellCapitol Hill163
CBSDavid MartinPentagon159
ABCLisa StarkDC Bureau158
ABCBrian RossInvestigative Unit157
NBCLee CowanDomestic153
CBSSharyl AttkissonInvestigative/Capitol152
NBCRichard EngelForeign Bureau152