Saturday, September 24, 2005
LIVE or Memorex
A local tv station carrying wall-to-wall coverage of Rita is carrying the same pictures right now of the Galveston area that CNN and FNC are carrying. My local station has the pictures dubbed LIVE while CNN and FNC have the pics dubbed at NEW VIDEO. So are the pics LIVE or on tape?
# posted by ATN @ 2:29 PM 
Time to Roll Out the Welcome Mat for Rita
According to this graphic, Rita should be in my town on Sunday. That 'D' is right where I live.
# posted by ATN @ 1:22 PM
Covering Rita
Below are a handfull of pics from CNN's Hurricane Rita coverage. Gotta love those red CNN slick suits. I wonder if they sell them in the online Turner store?
# posted by ATN @ 11:57 AM
At TWC, Weather is Their Only Business
Great article by LA Times writer Lynn Smith profiling The Weather Channel. Below is an excerpt from the article with TWC Network President Patrick Scott on what sets TWC apart from the news channel's coverage of big weather events:"For most of its 23-year history, the Weather Channel, one of several media entities owned by Landmark Communications, has had a low profile. Since Scott arrived five years ago, it has moved away from the "standardized wheel" of topical and local forecasts and picked up the pace. Most of the changes will take place in the evening and aim to provide "knowledge seekers" with information. Morning programs will stick to the facts. A rolling presentation of the latest information will still continue 24/7.
According to its own research, viewers give the channel high marks for credibility.
"People believe we are trustworthy because that's all we do. It's our sole focus," said Cindy Jones, vice president of consumer marketing.
It's difficult to prove, of course. But unlike weather segments on other news channels, Scott said, TWC has its own "proprietary forecasting system and 23 years of institutional knowledge about how to present weather to people." It has a staff of more than 120 degreed meteorologists. Besides the balding Lyons, many in-studio meteorologists are becoming glamorously dressed, bejeweled and made up. A few long-standing reporters, Scott would not divulge their names, are actually not meteorologists, but TWC's research shows that the audience can't tell the difference.
One criterion for on-air reporters, he said, is a sense of passion for the weather. "One characteristic that is universal is when you ask them about their interest in weather, they say, 'You know what, I can't explain it, but it's been this way since I was 5, watching lightning from my grandmother's porch in Oklahoma.'
While other networks have attempted to send anchors into extreme weather, Scott said, "they often run out of things to say. They don't know enough about it. You can only say, 'My gosh, it's windy' so many times. Jim Cantore has been doing it for 12-plus years."
Read the complete article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 1:03 AM
Friday, September 23, 2005
FYI....
Please excuse my sparse blogging the next couple of days as the area in which I live will be getting hit with the remnants of Hurricane Rita. My area is said to be under the gun of getting up to 20-30 inches of rain, tornadoes and high winds the next couple of days. I am monitoring my local stations closely but will be switching over to CNN every now and then.
BTW, I am blogging my local news station's coverage on my Arkansas TV News blog.
BTW, I am blogging my local news station's coverage on my Arkansas TV News blog.
# posted by ATN @ 11:15 PM
No Rather This Weekend
This from the tip box: "So much for RUMORS. Larry King, who's back in NYC, announced he'll be LIVE both Saturday and Sunday nights."
# posted by ATN @ 11:03 PM
The Hidden #'s FNC Don't Want You to See
This from the tip jar: "Fox may be trashing the Situation Room but CNN is regularly beating FNC in the 25-54 demographic between 3 and 6pm.Wednesday, CNN won the 4pm hour and tied the 5pm hour. Thursday, CNN won both the 4 and 5pm hours."
AND on the subject of demo #'s, HERE's a pretty interesting post on TV Newser.
Additional: The blogs that post the ratings numbers don't regularly disclose the provider of the numbers BUT the provider is FNC!
AND on the subject of demo #'s, HERE's a pretty interesting post on TV Newser.
Additional: The blogs that post the ratings numbers don't regularly disclose the provider of the numbers BUT the provider is FNC!
# posted by ATN @ 8:29 PM
CNN President On The Fonts Rita Needs
CBS News' Public Eye blog analyzes an e-mail CNN President Jon Klein sent to several staffers concerning the graphics to be used during the coverage of Hurricane Rita. Below is the e-mail:" The term CATEGORY 4=viewership. (Everbody knows the cateogires [sic] after Katrina) We need to put it on the screen all the time (in addition to radar). Before it becomes cat 4. PREDICTION: RITA CATEGORY 4. Could replace the generic "Hurricane Rita" lower-third banner. Or better still we could flash the status top left where we put "New Video" in the same large font. Mike, can your guys design something arresting? Wil and David, pls figure out something for tonight in the meantime."
Public Eye continues with its comments: "The sentence, "The term CATEGORY 4 =viewership" may strike some as on hypish side of programming instructions. But Klein doesn't think so at all and says he was trying to make sure CNN used language that would properly inform his audience that Hurricane Rita was a big, dangerous storm.
"In the wake of Katrina," Klein told me, "the public became highly aware of the distinctions between categories. They know that a Category 4 is an especially strong hurricane." He wanted the CNN audience to have that information clearly and forcefully, and so he told his staff, "let's make sure to use that term and use it constantly." He says using that precise term -- Category 4 -- was the best way, post-Katrina, "to indicate to the viewer that is important."
Klein also said he "sent it from my Blackberry as I was driving" (come on, Jon, safety first) and that he wasn't as precise or complete with his language as he would have been otherwise.
And he noted, "When everyone is covering the same story, it makes a huge difference how you cover it."
What do you think?"
# posted by ATN @ 6:02 PM
Weatherscan Rolled Out for Rita
Source: Broadcasting and Cable The Weather Channel isn’t expected to relaunch its all-local Weatherscan service until Sept. 27, but the cable network has decided to roll it out early in those areas that could be affected by Hurricane Rita.
The Weatherscan service, carried by cable operators like Comcast, Cox and Insight, delivers a dedicated 24/7 local weather service to cable headends, complementing The Weather Channel’s traditional network.
Storm watches, warnings or advisories will crawl across the bottom of the screen in addition to road closures, evacuation notices and shelter information. When its fully launched next Tuesday it will be available in 23 million homes.
The Weatherscan service, carried by cable operators like Comcast, Cox and Insight, delivers a dedicated 24/7 local weather service to cable headends, complementing The Weather Channel’s traditional network.
Storm watches, warnings or advisories will crawl across the bottom of the screen in addition to road closures, evacuation notices and shelter information. When its fully launched next Tuesday it will be available in 23 million homes.
# posted by ATN @ 5:45 PM
CNN Weekend Rita Coverage Plans
The schedule is subject to change.
> Aaron Brown and Anderson Cooper will co-anchor a 4-hour NewsNight special tonight(Friday) from 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. (ET).
> Recording artist Stevie Wonder offers a world premiere performance of his newest song, "Shelter in the Rain," in an exclusive appearance on CNN's Live From today at 2 p.m.(ET). Wonder, who dedicated the song to victims of Hurricane Katrina, performs the song live from Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles. The performance will also air on Headline News’s Showbiz Tonight, CNN International and CNNRadio. Video of the segment will be available on CNN.com.
> Anderson Cooper and John King are enroute to Port Author, Texas.
> CNN/US will follow the weekday program schedule Saturday. Tony Harris and Catherine Callaway will anchor coverage from 2am ET until 6am ET early Saturday morning.
> American Morning will air Sunday morning beginning at 7am ET.
> CNN/Headline News will offer special coverage. CNN met Galen Crader will provide LIVE weather cut-ins during the 1-6am ET time frame; A special edition of Robin & Company will begin at 6am; Christie Paul will take over at at 9am ET; Renee San Miguel and Kathleen Kennedy will anchor beginning at noon eastern; Susan Hendricks takes over at 3pm eastern; A Special edition of Prime News Tonight will air at 9pm ET; and PNT will replay from 10pm-6am ET with Virginia Cha on set.
> Aaron Brown and Anderson Cooper will co-anchor a 4-hour NewsNight special tonight(Friday) from 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. (ET).
> Recording artist Stevie Wonder offers a world premiere performance of his newest song, "Shelter in the Rain," in an exclusive appearance on CNN's Live From today at 2 p.m.(ET). Wonder, who dedicated the song to victims of Hurricane Katrina, performs the song live from Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles. The performance will also air on Headline News’s Showbiz Tonight, CNN International and CNNRadio. Video of the segment will be available on CNN.com.
> Anderson Cooper and John King are enroute to Port Author, Texas.
> CNN/US will follow the weekday program schedule Saturday. Tony Harris and Catherine Callaway will anchor coverage from 2am ET until 6am ET early Saturday morning.
> American Morning will air Sunday morning beginning at 7am ET.
> CNN/Headline News will offer special coverage. CNN met Galen Crader will provide LIVE weather cut-ins during the 1-6am ET time frame; A special edition of Robin & Company will begin at 6am; Christie Paul will take over at at 9am ET; Renee San Miguel and Kathleen Kennedy will anchor beginning at noon eastern; Susan Hendricks takes over at 3pm eastern; A Special edition of Prime News Tonight will air at 9pm ET; and PNT will replay from 10pm-6am ET with Virginia Cha on set.
# posted by ATN @ 5:16 PM
Goo Goo Dolls Lend ‘Better Days’ for Promotion of CNN.com Help Center
Source: CNN Press Release Warner Bros. recording artists Goo Goo Dolls recently donated the use of their latest single “Better Days” for Public Service Announcements promoting the CNN Hurricane Victims Help Center, an online site designed as a comprehensive information source for those seeking help and those offering help after Hurricane Katrina.
“People continue to seek ways to help victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Scot Safon, senior vice president of marketing and promotion for CNN. “‘Better Days’ is a perfect musical backdrop for our efforts directing viewers to CNN.com’s extensive relief resource.”
The CNN Hurricane Victims Help Center, located at CNN.com/helpcenter, provides information about people listed missing or safe as well as about volunteer and donation opportunities. The site also provides advice about dealing with financial and personal matters after a disaster and compiles links and information for numerous databases, organizations and government agencies designed to help people in such situations.
The Goo Goo Dolls, its record label, Warner Bros. Records, and the song’s publisher, EMI, offered the song to CNN to help viewers find hurricane relief resources. John Rzeznik, guitarist and vocalist for the Goo Goo Dolls, wrote the song weeks before Katrina but felt it appropriately depicted volunteer efforts to help those displaced by Katrina.
“We are so honored and grateful that CNN found a way to use our song and hope it can help make a difference in people’s lives,” Rzeznik said.
The Warner Bros. Records song “Better Days” is available now on all major digital music services and will appear on the next Goo Goo Dolls album, due out in early 2006.
“People continue to seek ways to help victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Scot Safon, senior vice president of marketing and promotion for CNN. “‘Better Days’ is a perfect musical backdrop for our efforts directing viewers to CNN.com’s extensive relief resource.”
The CNN Hurricane Victims Help Center, located at CNN.com/helpcenter, provides information about people listed missing or safe as well as about volunteer and donation opportunities. The site also provides advice about dealing with financial and personal matters after a disaster and compiles links and information for numerous databases, organizations and government agencies designed to help people in such situations.
The Goo Goo Dolls, its record label, Warner Bros. Records, and the song’s publisher, EMI, offered the song to CNN to help viewers find hurricane relief resources. John Rzeznik, guitarist and vocalist for the Goo Goo Dolls, wrote the song weeks before Katrina but felt it appropriately depicted volunteer efforts to help those displaced by Katrina.
“We are so honored and grateful that CNN found a way to use our song and hope it can help make a difference in people’s lives,” Rzeznik said.
The Warner Bros. Records song “Better Days” is available now on all major digital music services and will appear on the next Goo Goo Dolls album, due out in early 2006.
# posted by ATN @ 5:02 PM
Former HLN Anchor Now Co-host of Atlanta TV Program
Keminications Media Gossip Cafe reports former CNN Headline News anchor/current Atlanta radio personality Holly Firfer is co-host of Atlanta and Company. The program airs on WXIA-TV 11 in Atlanta. Atlanta radio personality Ryan Cameron hosts the program with Firfer. Show features local flair and mix of guests from businesses, entertainment and non profits.# posted by ATN @ 12:14 AM
Katrina in Mind as TV Plots Storm Coverage
Source: Assoicated Press David Bauder writes,"Television networks are plotting their coverage of Hurricane Rita with the lessons of Katrina fresh on their minds.
As cable news screens repeatedly showed satellite views of Rita as a swirling orange blob in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, network stars like Brian Williams, Charles Gibson, John Roberts, Matt Lauer, Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper and Stone Phillips were either in place or traveling to where the storm might make landfall.
"Just as the enormity of Katrina has created a new context for Rita, it has also done so for us," CBS News President Andrew Heyward said.
Katrina's lessons changed planning in both practical ways - field technicians at CNN have learned how to build showers for its workers - and strategic: networks are making sure their stars will play a prominent role.
Fox News Channel is sending about two dozen more people into the field this time and is spending more time on the air talking about the story than it did before Katrina, said John Stack, vice president of newsgathering.
"We would likely be covering this story in a large way anyway, but the interest has been enhanced because of the experience of Katrina," he said.
CNN is taking more satellite phones because cellulars became unreliable after Katrina, said Jack Womack, who's handling the network's logistics. Crews have a lot more equipment - from chainsaws to clear blocked roads to bed linens.
The most mundane lesson CNN learned through its hours of Katrina coverage? On-air correspondents aren't allowed to drink red or purple Gatorade because it shows up on their lips, Womack said."
Read the full article HERE.
As cable news screens repeatedly showed satellite views of Rita as a swirling orange blob in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, network stars like Brian Williams, Charles Gibson, John Roberts, Matt Lauer, Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper and Stone Phillips were either in place or traveling to where the storm might make landfall.
"Just as the enormity of Katrina has created a new context for Rita, it has also done so for us," CBS News President Andrew Heyward said.
Katrina's lessons changed planning in both practical ways - field technicians at CNN have learned how to build showers for its workers - and strategic: networks are making sure their stars will play a prominent role.
Fox News Channel is sending about two dozen more people into the field this time and is spending more time on the air talking about the story than it did before Katrina, said John Stack, vice president of newsgathering.
"We would likely be covering this story in a large way anyway, but the interest has been enhanced because of the experience of Katrina," he said.
CNN is taking more satellite phones because cellulars became unreliable after Katrina, said Jack Womack, who's handling the network's logistics. Crews have a lot more equipment - from chainsaws to clear blocked roads to bed linens.
The most mundane lesson CNN learned through its hours of Katrina coverage? On-air correspondents aren't allowed to drink red or purple Gatorade because it shows up on their lips, Womack said."
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 12:04 AM
Thursday, September 22, 2005
CNN Weekend Schedule
It looks as though CNN will be LIVE for most of the weekend. According to the program schedule, CNN will be LIVE all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday. No word on who will anchor what shifts.
Additional: An e-mailer notes that the regular weekday prime-time programs will air Saturday evening. AC 360, PZN, LKL and a 2-hour NN.
Additional: An e-mailer notes that the regular weekday prime-time programs will air Saturday evening. AC 360, PZN, LKL and a 2-hour NN.
# posted by ATN @ 11:51 PM
FNC Imitating CNN
Me oh my, could it be FNC is looking to CNN on how to do NEWS? Check out THIS POST on TV Newser in which says FNC has started using a video wall just like CNN uses during The Situation Room. Hmmm...and to think FNC Head Roger Ailes said not too long ago the video wall wasn't a good idea. I guess FNC knows where to look to learn how to do NEWS.UPDATE: 10:53pm ET An e-mailer says MSNBC is now using a video wall: "You mentioned that FNC had adopted the muti-screen style, and I thought that I'd mention that I noticed MSNBC doing the exact same thing as FNC today--creating a pseudo-videowall."
# posted by ATN @ 4:30 PM
Hurricane Rita Coverage Plans
Schedule for Thursday September 22 and 23rd.
Schedule is subject to change.
> Recently, CNN opened a Gulf Coast bureau based in New Orleans, enabling CNN to cover Rita's arrival and impact on the region.
> Rick Sanchez will file live reports from Hurricane One.
> Anderson Cooper and Aaron Brown will co-anchor a 2-hour NewsNight special from 10 p.m. – 12 a.m. (ET)
> Approximately 100 CNN personnel deployed in Texas and Louisiana to cover the landfall and aftermath of Hurricane Rita.
> CNN correspondents in Galveston: Anderson Cooper, Sean Callebs, Rob Marciano, John Zarrella, David Mattingly, Deborah Feyerick, Harris Whitbeck (CNN en Español), Miles O'brien enroute
> Randi Kaye and Rick Sanchez on the Texas Coast
> Reporting from Corpus Christie will be: Chris Lawrence, Bob Franken, John King
> Reporting from Houston will be: Sanjay Gupta, Ed Lavandera, Dan Simon, Chris Wolfe, Sumi Das
> Jeanne Meserve will be reporting from Austin
> Reporting from New Orleans will be: Jeff Koinange, Drew Griffin, Mary Snow, Jonathan Freed, Adaora Udoji, Jason Carroll, Keith Oppenheim, Carol Costello, Thomas Roberts
> Ted Rowlands will report from Grand Isle, LA; Dan Lothian will report from Fort Chafee, AR and Gary Tuchman will file reports from Lake Jackson, TX.
> Catherine Callaway will be LIVE in Atlanta filing updates along with CNN's weather team during the overnight hours.
Schedule is subject to change.
> Recently, CNN opened a Gulf Coast bureau based in New Orleans, enabling CNN to cover Rita's arrival and impact on the region.
> Rick Sanchez will file live reports from Hurricane One.
> Anderson Cooper and Aaron Brown will co-anchor a 2-hour NewsNight special from 10 p.m. – 12 a.m. (ET)
> Approximately 100 CNN personnel deployed in Texas and Louisiana to cover the landfall and aftermath of Hurricane Rita.
> CNN correspondents in Galveston: Anderson Cooper, Sean Callebs, Rob Marciano, John Zarrella, David Mattingly, Deborah Feyerick, Harris Whitbeck (CNN en Español), Miles O'brien enroute
> Randi Kaye and Rick Sanchez on the Texas Coast
> Reporting from Corpus Christie will be: Chris Lawrence, Bob Franken, John King
> Reporting from Houston will be: Sanjay Gupta, Ed Lavandera, Dan Simon, Chris Wolfe, Sumi Das
> Jeanne Meserve will be reporting from Austin
> Reporting from New Orleans will be: Jeff Koinange, Drew Griffin, Mary Snow, Jonathan Freed, Adaora Udoji, Jason Carroll, Keith Oppenheim, Carol Costello, Thomas Roberts
> Ted Rowlands will report from Grand Isle, LA; Dan Lothian will report from Fort Chafee, AR and Gary Tuchman will file reports from Lake Jackson, TX.
> Catherine Callaway will be LIVE in Atlanta filing updates along with CNN's weather team during the overnight hours.
# posted by ATN @ 4:16 PM
Debut of TWC's Weekend Talk Show Delayed AGAIN
Journal Sentinal Online is reporting the debut of The Weather Channel's new weekend talk show 'Weekend View' has been delayed yet again. The program was suppose to debut earlier this month BUT Hurricane Katrina spoiled it. This time around Hurricane Rita is getting the blame. October 1st is the new date for the new program to debut.# posted by ATN @ 12:11 AM
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Budget-Busting News Teams Prepare for Rita's Fury
Just how are the news organizations preparing to cover Hurricane Rita with a dwindling budget? An article in the Hollywood Reporter runs down how:> We're taking it very seriously," CNN senior vp newsgathering Jack Womack said. He said that planning for a Category 2 hurricane is different from a Category 4 or 5; Rita became a Category 5 hurricane late Wednesday.
"There's been an enormous commitment of resources," CNN's Womack said. "You're right, it's a lot of money. But (cover the news is) what we do."
> "We're keeping the same level of folks in New Orleans to tell the ongoing recovery and the rebuilding and all the things that have been dominating the screen for the last 3-1/2 weeks," said John Stack, senior vp newsgathering at Fox News Channel.
> "We are early enough to get the people in the area that we need to get," ABC News senior vp newsgathering Paul Slavin said. And it's more than just people, he said. There are trucks, supplies and provisions for health and safety -- the latter being among the lessons of Hurricane Katrina.
"It's a challenge for the (news) budget this late in the budget year," ABC's Slavin said. He said it's so important in quieter times of the year to be "intelligent and parsimonious" with the budget so that when a big story comes, they're able to cover it.
> CBS News was planning to send Harry Smith and John Roberts, both veterans of Katrina, to the region as well as others. ABC was sending Bob Woodruff with others to follow. NBC anchor Brian Williams rode out the storm and then spent a week doing some of the most affecting coverage of the aftermath. It wasn't clear late Wednesday whether he was going to go to the region.
Read the complete article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 10:38 PM
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Dan to CNN? Let the Rumors Begin
These CNN fans got the scoop Tuesday night when Larry King announced former CBS anchor Dan Rather would be hosting Larry King Live this Saturday night. I bet this opens up a big can of worms.
Additional: 4:25pm ET Here's what actually was said on LKL Tuesday night:
KING: Very proud to announce that Dan Rather has sat on this side of the chair hosting this program. And he will host one of the weekend shows this weekend, when we cover Rita live. It will either be Saturday or Sunday. We hope it's not necessary, but it looks like it's going to be covering.
AND this from a tipster: "For the record, Dan is STILL UNDER CONTRACT TO CBS for "60 Minutes" but don't let the actual facts get in the way of a rumor!"
Additional: 4:25pm ET Here's what actually was said on LKL Tuesday night:
KING: Very proud to announce that Dan Rather has sat on this side of the chair hosting this program. And he will host one of the weekend shows this weekend, when we cover Rita live. It will either be Saturday or Sunday. We hope it's not necessary, but it looks like it's going to be covering.
AND this from a tipster: "For the record, Dan is STILL UNDER CONTRACT TO CBS for "60 Minutes" but don't let the actual facts get in the way of a rumor!"
# posted by ATN @ 11:30 PM
AC: Is He or Isn't He?
Seattle Weekly columnist Steve Wiecking suggests in an article Anderson Cooper should 'come out' and " inform an ignorant nation of news that millions have already died or been killed trying to convey: that homosexuals can "adapt with any group [they're] in," that we have, in fact, adapted and are (horrors!) living among you—shedding the same tears, expressing the same moral outrage over an administration's inexcusable incompetence."Wiecking continues," Hurricane Katrina will probably be the story of Cooper's life. I fail to see how one little "Yep, I'm Gay" will threaten him more than the storm he has already weathered. On the contrary, unashamed voices are what it will take to quell the gales that set Gov. Ahnuld to quaking and may menace a vulnerable Supreme Court into ruling that gay men and women aren't really citizens, that we aren't due the same rights as the rest of the nation we've helped build and will help rebuild. Does such a burden fall squarely on Cooper's impeccable shoulders alone? No, of course not. But doesn't he get the anger that is out here?"
# posted by ATN @ 10:17 PM
Carl Edwards to Sport CNN Paint Scheme for Nextel Cup Event
Starting with this weekend’s Busch Series event at Dover International Speedway, the No. 60 Ford driven by Carl Edwards will be sporting a different look. For the Dover Race weekend (September 24), Charter Communications will take an associate role on the car with CNN’s red & white logo appearing along with the car’s usual purple and yellow colors. CNN will be the primary sponsor on the car for this event, featuring a dedicated paint scheme with prominent CNN branding.
“We are thrilled to serve as the primary sponsor of Charter’s No. 60 car to show our support of an important affiliate partner and NASCAR,” says Scot Safon, senior vice president of marketing and promotion for CNN.
In addition, CNN is premiering a Dr. Sanjay Gupta prime-time special on Sunday, October 16 at 10 p.m. (ET) entitled “Driven to Extremes,” in which CNN’s senior medical correspondent examines safety and athletic performance in America’s No. 1 spectator sport.
“We are thrilled to serve as the primary sponsor of Charter’s No. 60 car to show our support of an important affiliate partner and NASCAR,” says Scot Safon, senior vice president of marketing and promotion for CNN.
In addition, CNN is premiering a Dr. Sanjay Gupta prime-time special on Sunday, October 16 at 10 p.m. (ET) entitled “Driven to Extremes,” in which CNN’s senior medical correspondent examines safety and athletic performance in America’s No. 1 spectator sport.
# posted by ATN @ 10:09 PM
The Heroes Behind the Cameras
The DC Post's Eugene Robinson writes," You wouldn't think that the longest ovation at the Emmy Awards, an annual celebration of trendiness, would go to three such trend-averse men -- Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, who stood awkwardly on stage, and the late Peter Jennings, whose image appeared behind them on a giant monitor. But the audience rose and clapped in one of the dreary telecast's few moments of genuine electricity, and the tribute made sense coming so soon after the latest reminder of television's power not only to describe the world but to shape it as well.
I'm a print-media guy to the bone, but I have to give props to the way my colleagues in television have covered Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. (Note to Tom and Dan: "Props" is a good thing.) Television rose to become a force for good instead of a force for the evil of happy-faced oversimplification, to which the medium so frequently succumbs.
The gold-star heroes were the men and women who operate the cameras, because they vaulted logistical hurdles that stymied hapless federal, state and local officials and found a way to do what only television can: Show us what's happening as it happens. Anchors and correspondents reported with urgency and emotion, abandoning the safe convention of an "on the other hand" qualifier for every declarative statement. They saw that there was no other hand in this story. MORE
I'm a print-media guy to the bone, but I have to give props to the way my colleagues in television have covered Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. (Note to Tom and Dan: "Props" is a good thing.) Television rose to become a force for good instead of a force for the evil of happy-faced oversimplification, to which the medium so frequently succumbs.
The gold-star heroes were the men and women who operate the cameras, because they vaulted logistical hurdles that stymied hapless federal, state and local officials and found a way to do what only television can: Show us what's happening as it happens. Anchors and correspondents reported with urgency and emotion, abandoning the safe convention of an "on the other hand" qualifier for every declarative statement. They saw that there was no other hand in this story. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 4:20 PM
Reporters Changed by Horror
AP's David Bauder writes,"Jeanne Meserve is haunted by voices in the dark pleading for help. John Roberts won't forget the woman whose husband of 53 years died at her feet. Shepard Smith remembers seeing bodies on highway ramps around the stadium where he had often driven to football games. Campbell Brown never wants to lose track of the 9-year-old who scavenged for water to keep his grandmother alive.
The horror of Hurricane Katrina will stay with the television journalists who covered it long after the story moves on, and some say it will profoundly influence how they work in the future.
"I'll never forget those mothers and daughters, the elderly, who swam out of their neighborhoods looking for life's basic necessities of food and water, hoping to walk on the road to somewhere and find it and couldn't for days," said Fox News Channel's Smith. "It was the most helpless feeling I've ever encountered."
Smith, Fox's chief anchor, reported on the plight of people stuck on the highway seeking help that took days to come. As their anger increased, so did his.
It was that emotion, and the angry confrontations with public officials by familiar faces like ABC's Ted Koppel, NBC's Tim Russert and CNN's Anderson Cooper, that made clear to viewers how desperate things had become in New Orleans.
So did Meserve's halting voice when she described a late-night boat ride through flooded neighborhoods to CNN's Aaron Brown. She told of the cries from people who couldn't be rescued.
"People have made a lot of the emotion that was in my voice that night," she said. "It was totally spontaneous, it was totally unrehearsed. It was simply a human reaction to what I was hearing and what I had seen."
Besides those voices, Meserve won't forget the woman she saw pleading with a police officer to help her mother who was overdue for dialysis. There was nothing he could do." MORE
The horror of Hurricane Katrina will stay with the television journalists who covered it long after the story moves on, and some say it will profoundly influence how they work in the future.
"I'll never forget those mothers and daughters, the elderly, who swam out of their neighborhoods looking for life's basic necessities of food and water, hoping to walk on the road to somewhere and find it and couldn't for days," said Fox News Channel's Smith. "It was the most helpless feeling I've ever encountered."
Smith, Fox's chief anchor, reported on the plight of people stuck on the highway seeking help that took days to come. As their anger increased, so did his.
It was that emotion, and the angry confrontations with public officials by familiar faces like ABC's Ted Koppel, NBC's Tim Russert and CNN's Anderson Cooper, that made clear to viewers how desperate things had become in New Orleans.
So did Meserve's halting voice when she described a late-night boat ride through flooded neighborhoods to CNN's Aaron Brown. She told of the cries from people who couldn't be rescued.
"People have made a lot of the emotion that was in my voice that night," she said. "It was totally spontaneous, it was totally unrehearsed. It was simply a human reaction to what I was hearing and what I had seen."
Besides those voices, Meserve won't forget the woman she saw pleading with a police officer to help her mother who was overdue for dialysis. There was nothing he could do." MORE
# posted by ATN @ 4:17 PM
A Bureau? Office With Reporters? Let The Parsing Begin
Philadelphia Inquirer's Gail Shister writes,"When is a news bureau a news bureau? When a network says it is.
NBC and CNN's announcements last week that they had set up bureaus in post-Katrina New Orleans have been met with skepticism by their competitors.
"CNN's doing it because NBC did it first," says ABC's Paul Slavin, senior vice president, worldwide newsgathering. "NBC did it because it's a nice PR gesture."
Slavin hesitates to call ABC's presence a bureau, which he defines as "a place we intend to be for many years to come."
"There's no reason we couldn't call what we're doing a bureau if we wanted to, but that would be a little disingenuous. We do make efforts to be sincere and truthful."
What say you, acting NBC News chief Steve Capus?
"I'm entirely sincere and truthful about this," says Capus, a Warminster native and Temple alum. "This is a serious commitment. We've got more demands on this division than the other guys" because of MSNBC and CNBC.
NBC has set up shop within its New Orleans affiliate, WDSU.Frieda Morris is bureau chief, Martin Savidge the first correspondent. Both were based in Atlanta. Investigative ace Lisa Myers will also work out of the bureau.
ABC has been operating out of RVs and hotel rooms in New Orleans. It's looking to rent office space, and Slavin estimates a permanent staff of about 30, the size of the Jerusalem bureau.
As it does in Baghdad, ABC will rotate chiefs and correspondents in and out of New Orleans every six weeks, Slavin says.
CNN has rented office space in downtown New Orleans, and expects a permanent staff of 15 to 20, according to Jack Womack, senior v.p., operations.
To Womack, the litmus test for a bureau is whether you have staffers living in the community, and the size of your capital investment in equipment and facilities.
Resident staffers create "a higher degree of story sensibility. They have a better understanding of the issues in the community."
For CNN, the New Orleans bureau "is the real deal, not a marketing ploy." MORE
NBC and CNN's announcements last week that they had set up bureaus in post-Katrina New Orleans have been met with skepticism by their competitors.
"CNN's doing it because NBC did it first," says ABC's Paul Slavin, senior vice president, worldwide newsgathering. "NBC did it because it's a nice PR gesture."
Slavin hesitates to call ABC's presence a bureau, which he defines as "a place we intend to be for many years to come."
"There's no reason we couldn't call what we're doing a bureau if we wanted to, but that would be a little disingenuous. We do make efforts to be sincere and truthful."
What say you, acting NBC News chief Steve Capus?
"I'm entirely sincere and truthful about this," says Capus, a Warminster native and Temple alum. "This is a serious commitment. We've got more demands on this division than the other guys" because of MSNBC and CNBC.
NBC has set up shop within its New Orleans affiliate, WDSU.Frieda Morris is bureau chief, Martin Savidge the first correspondent. Both were based in Atlanta. Investigative ace Lisa Myers will also work out of the bureau.
ABC has been operating out of RVs and hotel rooms in New Orleans. It's looking to rent office space, and Slavin estimates a permanent staff of about 30, the size of the Jerusalem bureau.
As it does in Baghdad, ABC will rotate chiefs and correspondents in and out of New Orleans every six weeks, Slavin says.
CNN has rented office space in downtown New Orleans, and expects a permanent staff of 15 to 20, according to Jack Womack, senior v.p., operations.
To Womack, the litmus test for a bureau is whether you have staffers living in the community, and the size of your capital investment in equipment and facilities.
Resident staffers create "a higher degree of story sensibility. They have a better understanding of the issues in the community."
For CNN, the New Orleans bureau "is the real deal, not a marketing ploy." MORE
# posted by ATN @ 4:10 PM
CNN Monday Overnight
CNN is staffing late Monday night/early Tuesday morning with Catherine Callaway at the anchor desk in Atlanta AND former full-time CNN meterologist Jill Brown. What a great choice to pair together. NOW if we could just get CNN to hire them back full-time and give them a weekday gig.
# posted by ATN @ 12:02 AM
Monday, September 19, 2005
CNN #'s Steady; LKL Beat FNC at 9pm Friday
Friday's Nielson numbers show CNN is still holding on to its audience it gained versus pre-Hurricane Katrina #'s. Inside Cable News notes for the first time in a long time a CNN prime-time program beat an FNC prime-time program. During the 9pm hour Larry King Live garnered 1,800,000 viewers while Hannity and Colmes on FNC had 1,586,000 viewers. But of course the FNC people are claiming the loss was due because Sean Hannity had the night off.
All the other numbers were pretty good too. Check them out HERE.
All the other numbers were pretty good too. Check them out HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 10:54 PM
CNN Radio Hires Capitol Hill Correspondent
Source: CNN Press Release Lisa Goddard has been named the new Capitol Hill correspondent for CNN Radio, it was announced today by Jerry DeMink, vice president of CNN News Services. Goddard will primarily report on Capitol Hill and national political stories for the approximately 2,000 CNN Radio affiliates.“CNN Radio affiliates will benefit from Lisa’s considerable skills in her daily reports, network and affiliate live shots,” DeMink said. “She lives and breathes political news, and will hit the ground running with already well-established contacts in the D.C.-area.”
Goddard comes to CNN Radio after two years with the Associated Press Radio Network where she covered major D.C. stories such as the 2004 presidential election and the Social Security debate. Prior to working at AP, she was a political reporter at NBC and CNN affiliate WIS-TV in Columbia, S.C., covering statehouse issues. Goddard holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Fluent in Russian, Goddard also studied at Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia.
# posted by ATN @ 5:15 PM
Your World Today Gone Forever?
A blog reader asks: "When is CNN bringing back Your World Today? Its been preempted for so long, I don't even recall them mentioning it lately."
# posted by ATN @ 4:59 PM
Children United with Parents Thanks to CNN/NCMEC
Miles O'brien has announced several times this morning that some 23 cases of missing children have been resolved thanks to the CNN/National Center for Missing & Exploited Children partnership over the weekend. O'brien said some 15 of the cases were directly related with CNN's displaying of information on the screen over the course of the weekend. Maybe CNN PR will send out some official info today.
# posted by ATN @ 8:02 AM
Microsoft+ AOL?
Source: Variety In a move that could deal a blow to MSNBC, Microsoft is in talks with Time Warner's America Online to join forces against the might of Yahoo! and Google.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is negotiating a possible stake in AOL as part of a broader deal that would place Microsoft's search technology on AOL.com and tie up their ad sales networks.
Such a deal could give the two companies a big leg up in the increasingly competitive online media world. But it might also spell trouble for the ailing MSNBC.
The cable newsie is funded in part by Microsoft and linked to the software giant through its MSN portal, which provides much of the traffic to MSNBC.com.
If the Microsoft-AOL talks pan out, they could create a portal even bigger than Yahoo! with search provided by the tech giant, ending AOL's lucrative deal with Google. MORE
MSN and AOL might then both get their news from Time Warner's CNN, ending MSNBC's contract with Microsoft that has kept it as the most popular news Web site, with 27 million visitors in August compared to CNN.com's 24 million.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is negotiating a possible stake in AOL as part of a broader deal that would place Microsoft's search technology on AOL.com and tie up their ad sales networks.
Such a deal could give the two companies a big leg up in the increasingly competitive online media world. But it might also spell trouble for the ailing MSNBC.
The cable newsie is funded in part by Microsoft and linked to the software giant through its MSN portal, which provides much of the traffic to MSNBC.com.
If the Microsoft-AOL talks pan out, they could create a portal even bigger than Yahoo! with search provided by the tech giant, ending AOL's lucrative deal with Google. MORE
MSN and AOL might then both get their news from Time Warner's CNN, ending MSNBC's contract with Microsoft that has kept it as the most popular news Web site, with 27 million visitors in August compared to CNN.com's 24 million.
# posted by ATN @ 8:00 AM
Racism Real, if Not Intentional
Source: TV Week CNN "American Morning" co-anchor Soledad O'Brien threw the question out to the panel during the closing session of the 2005 National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications Conference last week in New York. She wanted to know "Who is behind what we see on television?"
"The white man," snapped Reginald Hudlin, getting a big laugh from the multiracial audience.
The quip by Mr. Hudlin, a veteran producer who earlier this year was named head of entertainment for Viacom's BET Network, was funny. But it also made an important point. It was a reminder about the symbolic elephant in the room that nobody talked much about during what the Walter Kaitz Foundation had dubbed Diversity Week. Still, it couldn't be denied.
After two days of NAMIC workshops, what came out again and again was that the extent of diversity in the real world is still an issue. Out among the office workers, technicians, managers, engineers and executives, diversity is still mostly a goal, not a reality.
With the exception of Richard Parsons at Time Warner, the top executive suites in cable, and on Wall Street where it gets financed, and in the law offices that do the transactions, and the accounting firms who track them, and even the media companies who write about them, are still mainly white and mostly male. MORE
"The white man," snapped Reginald Hudlin, getting a big laugh from the multiracial audience.
The quip by Mr. Hudlin, a veteran producer who earlier this year was named head of entertainment for Viacom's BET Network, was funny. But it also made an important point. It was a reminder about the symbolic elephant in the room that nobody talked much about during what the Walter Kaitz Foundation had dubbed Diversity Week. Still, it couldn't be denied.
After two days of NAMIC workshops, what came out again and again was that the extent of diversity in the real world is still an issue. Out among the office workers, technicians, managers, engineers and executives, diversity is still mostly a goal, not a reality.
With the exception of Richard Parsons at Time Warner, the top executive suites in cable, and on Wall Street where it gets financed, and in the law offices that do the transactions, and the accounting firms who track them, and even the media companies who write about them, are still mainly white and mostly male. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 7:42 AM
CNN Hacks New TV Technology
Wired News does a pretty good profile of The Situation Room and how it is using technology. Below is an excerpt from the article in which CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman comments about the technology used on TSR: "In January 2000, Bohrman left an earlier stint at CNN for Pseudo, which was known at the time for surreal, Warholian mega-parties that defined the Silicon Alley scene.
"The party stuff was interesting, but what lasted is that we defined a new form of participatory programming that fused TV and internet," Bohrman told Wired News. "That's what I brought back with me when I returned."
After coming back to CNN, Bohrman produced presidential convention coverage for the network in 2004.
"We had Wolf walking out on the convention floor, paying attention to what was circulating on the blogs, and we tried an experiment with (blog search service) Technorati," Bohrman said. "Not everything worked perfectly, but we learned a lot."
For election night coverage in November 2004, the network rented out Nasdaq headquarters in New York, and displayed data on a wall of screens throughout the broadcast.
"It worked, and that taught us something about spatial display of information -- it's possible to do things that aren't linear," said Bohrman. "
Read the full article HERE.
"The party stuff was interesting, but what lasted is that we defined a new form of participatory programming that fused TV and internet," Bohrman told Wired News. "That's what I brought back with me when I returned."
After coming back to CNN, Bohrman produced presidential convention coverage for the network in 2004.
"We had Wolf walking out on the convention floor, paying attention to what was circulating on the blogs, and we tried an experiment with (blog search service) Technorati," Bohrman said. "Not everything worked perfectly, but we learned a lot."
For election night coverage in November 2004, the network rented out Nasdaq headquarters in New York, and displayed data on a wall of screens throughout the broadcast.
"It worked, and that taught us something about spatial display of information -- it's possible to do things that aren't linear," said Bohrman. "
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 7:35 AM
CNN Strikes a Blow for 1st Amendment
Source: TV Week Anger and frustration over the handling of the Katrina relief effort have been so overwhelming in the weeks since the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast that one of the government's many blunders almost slipped under the radar. But when officials tried to restrict journalists' coverage of recovery efforts, a single news organization, CNN, stood up to the bullies and reminded them that the First Amendment still guarantees the public has a right to know what's going on.......
Let's move down several of paragraphs now:
It is alarming that CNN had to fight this battle alone. Other news organizations appeared to take a more forgiving posture when the government began clamping down on access. We hope they're not getting soft in their vigilance, and hope they will re-examine their roles and be prepared to make a vigorous defense of press freedom next time.MORE
Let's move down several of paragraphs now:
It is alarming that CNN had to fight this battle alone. Other news organizations appeared to take a more forgiving posture when the government began clamping down on access. We hope they're not getting soft in their vigilance, and hope they will re-examine their roles and be prepared to make a vigorous defense of press freedom next time.MORE
# posted by ATN @ 7:26 AM
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Journalists Comment on Covering the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
On Sunday's one-hour special edition of "Reliable Sources," Howard Kurtz looked at the media’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Did the emotions of journalists interfere with their reporting? Joining him were Lee Cowan of CBS News, Chris Rose from the "New Orleans Times-Picayune" and Alina Cho, a CNN correspondent. Below are excerpts from the program:
Cowan on whether he became angry in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and whether that anger was incorporated into his reporting
"Sure, it does make you angry. But I think you do have to take a step back and make sure that you're not preaching about what's wrong here."
Cho on mixing emotions into one's reporting
"At the end of the day, Howie, you are still a human being. You try not to inject that into your reporting, but you know, sometimes I think it is OK for your emotions to come out. I think Anderson Cooper proved that. And I think viewers appreciate that.
Rose on coping when the story is personal
KURTZ: Now, Chris Rose, you are in a whole different situation. You can't go home right now because there's no power, and no water, no electricity where you live in New Orleans. You have got your family up here temporarily, you've got your kids going to school in the Washington area temporarily.Could you possibly separate your emotions about this from your writing, and should you?
CHRIS ROSE, NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE: I think it would be impossible. You know, reporters are trained to go do this in other places, to go respond to what happens in Oklahoma City, 9/11, the tsunami. Other -- other natural... disasters, other places. There is no handbook that prepares you to cover this in your hometown. So that while we have to do the day-to-day journalism, be on the front lines, getting the story out; at the same time, we're wondering, where are our relatives, is my house under water? Trying to put my kids in school 1,000 miles away. It becomes a very emotional, very personal story. It's impossible.
Cowan on whether the media was too focused on assigning blame
"The unique part of this story is that we were actually part it as well, for better or for worse. We were sleeping out on the freeway when everybody else was sleeping out on the freeway... And there were times in my reporting that I thought, I've got to be in the wrong place. I have got to just be in some small pocket somewhere that the rescuers haven't gotten to yet... And the more I talked to my colleagues elsewhere around the city, we realized, it wasn't just some small pocket. It was the entire area that wasn't getting help right away. And I think it was just sort of a natural question for all of us to ask as to why. Where is it?
"I felt being -- I went to the -- to cover the tsunami in Banda Aceh, was there about four days after the storm, after the waves. And I felt that there, aid was getting there faster than it was getting here."
You'll find the complete transcript of the program HERE.
Cowan on whether he became angry in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and whether that anger was incorporated into his reporting
"Sure, it does make you angry. But I think you do have to take a step back and make sure that you're not preaching about what's wrong here."
Cho on mixing emotions into one's reporting
"At the end of the day, Howie, you are still a human being. You try not to inject that into your reporting, but you know, sometimes I think it is OK for your emotions to come out. I think Anderson Cooper proved that. And I think viewers appreciate that.
Rose on coping when the story is personal
KURTZ: Now, Chris Rose, you are in a whole different situation. You can't go home right now because there's no power, and no water, no electricity where you live in New Orleans. You have got your family up here temporarily, you've got your kids going to school in the Washington area temporarily.Could you possibly separate your emotions about this from your writing, and should you?
CHRIS ROSE, NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE: I think it would be impossible. You know, reporters are trained to go do this in other places, to go respond to what happens in Oklahoma City, 9/11, the tsunami. Other -- other natural... disasters, other places. There is no handbook that prepares you to cover this in your hometown. So that while we have to do the day-to-day journalism, be on the front lines, getting the story out; at the same time, we're wondering, where are our relatives, is my house under water? Trying to put my kids in school 1,000 miles away. It becomes a very emotional, very personal story. It's impossible.
Cowan on whether the media was too focused on assigning blame
"The unique part of this story is that we were actually part it as well, for better or for worse. We were sleeping out on the freeway when everybody else was sleeping out on the freeway... And there were times in my reporting that I thought, I've got to be in the wrong place. I have got to just be in some small pocket somewhere that the rescuers haven't gotten to yet... And the more I talked to my colleagues elsewhere around the city, we realized, it wasn't just some small pocket. It was the entire area that wasn't getting help right away. And I think it was just sort of a natural question for all of us to ask as to why. Where is it?
"I felt being -- I went to the -- to cover the tsunami in Banda Aceh, was there about four days after the storm, after the waves. And I felt that there, aid was getting there faster than it was getting here."
You'll find the complete transcript of the program HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 5:48 PM
Hurricane Reporting Changes TV Journalists
Source: Associated Press David Bauder writes: "Jeanne Meserve is haunted by voices in the dark pleading for help. John Roberts won't forget the woman whose husband of 53 years died at her feet. Shepard Smith remembers seeing bodies on highway ramps around the stadium where he had often driven to football games. Campbell Brown never wants to lose track of the 9-year-old who scavenged for water to keep his grandmother alive.
The horror of Hurricane Katrina will stay with the television journalists who covered it long after the story moves on, and some say it will profoundly influence how they work in the future.
"I'll never forget those mothers and daughters, the elderly, who swam out of their neighborhoods looking for life's basic necessities of food and water, hoping to walk on the road to somewhere and find it and couldn't for days," said Fox News Channel's Smith. "It was the most helpless feeling I've ever encountered."
Smith, Fox's chief anchor, reported on the plight of people stuck on the highway seeking help that took days to come. As their anger increased, so did his.
It was that emotion, and the angry confrontations with public officials by familiar faces like ABC's Ted Koppel, NBC's Tim Russert and CNN's Anderson Cooper, that made clear to viewers how desperate things had become in New Orleans.
So did Meserve's halting voice when she described a late-night boat ride through flooded neighborhoods to CNN's Aaron Brown. She told of the cries from people who couldn't be rescued.
"People have made a lot of the emotion that was in my voice that night," she said. "It was totally spontaneous, it was totally unrehearsed. It was simply a human reaction to what I was hearing and what I had seen."
Besides those voices, Meserve won't forget the woman she saw pleading with a police officer to help her mother who was overdue for dialysis. The officer said he couldn't take her anywhere, and his radio was broken. There was nothing he could do."
Read the full article HERE.
The horror of Hurricane Katrina will stay with the television journalists who covered it long after the story moves on, and some say it will profoundly influence how they work in the future.
"I'll never forget those mothers and daughters, the elderly, who swam out of their neighborhoods looking for life's basic necessities of food and water, hoping to walk on the road to somewhere and find it and couldn't for days," said Fox News Channel's Smith. "It was the most helpless feeling I've ever encountered."
Smith, Fox's chief anchor, reported on the plight of people stuck on the highway seeking help that took days to come. As their anger increased, so did his.
It was that emotion, and the angry confrontations with public officials by familiar faces like ABC's Ted Koppel, NBC's Tim Russert and CNN's Anderson Cooper, that made clear to viewers how desperate things had become in New Orleans.
So did Meserve's halting voice when she described a late-night boat ride through flooded neighborhoods to CNN's Aaron Brown. She told of the cries from people who couldn't be rescued.
"People have made a lot of the emotion that was in my voice that night," she said. "It was totally spontaneous, it was totally unrehearsed. It was simply a human reaction to what I was hearing and what I had seen."
Besides those voices, Meserve won't forget the woman she saw pleading with a police officer to help her mother who was overdue for dialysis. The officer said he couldn't take her anywhere, and his radio was broken. There was nothing he could do."
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 3:45 PM
