Monday, July 11, 2005
Will Storm Raise News Nets Ratings?
Source: IMDB.com The television networks had considerably more resources at their disposal for coverage of Hurricane Dennis in the Florida panhandle. TV anchors braved the high winds on Sunday, seemingly looking for the Dan Rather effect. In particular Anderson Cooper on CNN called in the network's correspondents while being pelted with heavy rain. When at one point, CNN's Miami correspondent John Zarella shouted, "We're not protected," Cooper shot back. "My mom is watching. Chill out on that a little bit!" (Cooper's mom is Gloria Vanderbilt.) In the background trees could be seen snapping in the wind and flying through the air. "You have a leaf on your eye," Cooper remarked to Zarella at one point, then removed it. At another point, a hotel sign crashed near where the men were standing. "Look out! Get back!" yelled Zarella. By contrast, Fox News Network was struck by a series of technical glitches and shaky images. FOX News Live (weekend edition) host Brian Wilson reported at one point, "We actually lost a satellite truck today as the winds blew it over on its side." Fox correspondent Steve Harrigan's reports were frequently interrupted by signal failures, causing Wilson to remark repeated, "Please bear with us."
All networks invited people in the area to send them home video from their vantage points, with MSNBC setting up a
separate address for the "citizen journalists" -- cj@msnbc.com. With rumors continuing to spread that Chief Justice William Rehnquist may announce his resignation from the Supreme Court this week, CNN/U.S. chief Jon Klein told USA Today: "I feel like we're fighting a war on three fronts and maybe four."# posted by ATN @ 10:43 PM 
