Thursday, September 15, 2005
It's Katrina vs. Roberts for TV Airtime
Here's an article about how the news channels are juggling the Katrina and Roberts stories. AP's David Bauder writes: "The Roberts hearings would be likely to receive considerably more attention if it hadn't been for the hurricane, and also if there wasn't a general sense that Bush's nominee for chief justice is likely to be confirmed, said Mark Effron, MSNBC vice president of news.
Then again, news executives would have had a much tougher decision last week if the hearings had been postponed, because there was more news unfolding from Katrina, he said.
CNN believes its new daytime program, Situation Room, is perfect for such conflicts because it often shows Wolf Blitzer standing before a video screen split into six pictures.
That still requires CNN executives to decide which screen has an audio accompaniment. But Jonathan Klein, CNN president, said the wall of screens helps convince viewers that the network is keeping them on top of the stories."
Then again, news executives would have had a much tougher decision last week if the hearings had been postponed, because there was more news unfolding from Katrina, he said.
CNN believes its new daytime program, Situation Room, is perfect for such conflicts because it often shows Wolf Blitzer standing before a video screen split into six pictures.
That still requires CNN executives to decide which screen has an audio accompaniment. But Jonathan Klein, CNN president, said the wall of screens helps convince viewers that the network is keeping them on top of the stories."
# posted by ATN @ 8:31 AM 
