Friday, April 08, 2005
Pope Funeral: Coverage of the Coverage
Source: Associated Press The funeral of Pope John Paul II was both a solemn ritual and a news event _ and television networks that brought it live into American homes hours before the sun rose struggled to reconcile the two.
> Fox News Channel helpfully used graphics to detail the hymns and readings during the Mass. The network also removed the fluttering American flag graphic that's usually a fixture in the upper left-hand corner of its screen.The networks all employed translators to cover a Mass celebrated mostly in Italian, but were inconsistent in how often they were used. And some appeared completely flummoxed at times when other languages were used.
> Both CNN and CBS saw symbolism in a brisk wind closing the pages of the book of the Gospel that had been placed on the top of the pope's simple wooden coffin.
> "This Mass is about to begin," CBS anchor Harry Smith said at the outset. "We're going to try to stay as much out of it as possible."
> NBC's Katie Couric also couldn't resist talking about NATO warplanes during the litany of the saints. But, in general, NBC and the cable news networks _ outlets often used to a torrent of words _ showed more restraint and willingness to let the events unfold.
Networks had so much expertise on hand they sometimes couldn't resist using it, even when their observations added little. "I sense both the presence and absence of Pope John Paul II," Notre Dame professor Scott Appleby said on ABC.
# posted by ATN @ 11:54 AM 
