'NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams' tried an "off the shoulder approach for 20 minutes of their newscast Wednesday. It was widely panned. Chalk it up to trying. Take a look for yourself.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
A quick note..
It felt a bit odd for 'NBC Nightly News' reporter Lee Cowan to use Chuck Todd as an expert interviewee tonight's lead story about the Tea Party rallies. More and more, reporters seem to be "experts" in analysis. I know it happens. But that doens't make it any less odd as a viewer. Plus, while I like Todd... I still can't get my arms around him as the chief White House correspondent.
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If a tree falls in the forest, does anyone here it.
Brian Williams says he's getting pleas from viewers for good news. HHHMMM What a revelation. We have been seeing this for a decade in TV news. Perhaps it is what is leading to the erosion of people from TV news. Or, perhaps it is the lack of insightful journalism that built the foundation for today's flashy-I-look-pretty-on-TV journalism.
From the Boston Herald and AP.
"I’m looking at a stack of printed e-mails," Williams said Friday. "We have more stories than we could humanly cover if we combined all three network newscasts. It’s hit an unbelievable nerve."
Williams said he’s been hearing it repeatedly from people he meets on the street or viewers who send e-mails: The news is so bad every night that it’s a burden to watch. Wrote one viewer: "We all know it’s bad, but the news makes us feel like crawling under a rock."
He recently ran into colleague Al Roker on the street outside Rockefeller Center and was surprised that sidewalks normally crowded with tourists were empty.
So he made a plea seconds before the end of NBC’s newscast on Wednesday: We’re looking for good news. Nominate people doing good work, perhaps a random or regular act of kindness in a cruel economy, and we’ll tell some of their stories.
He’s heard about a man who keeps a full can of gas in his trunk and gives it to people who have run out of gas, asking only that they do the same for someone else. One woman goes up to strangers on the street and gives them money. A man nominated his landlord, saying he reduced the rent and even helps pay his bills.
"It really told me something," he said. "I have learned a lot. I thought I knew all there was about the good nature of Americans, and this was a flood."
Williams was set to read some of the letters on Friday’s newscast and do stories from across the country next week from some of the suggestions. His "good news" idea runs the risk of being cloying, but Williams said a newscast, like a newspaper, has room for a diversity of stories.
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Do we need a full hour of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams? The short answer is: NO. TV is so quick to try to expand on even a modest amount of success. Nightly has surged, somewhat, since the election. Credit the economic crisis if you want. But, that doesn't mean NBC should expand it to a full hour.... then two years later cry about the lack of viewership. On Twitter.com/JeffParsonsDC today I did suggest that a network might consider adding a half hour of news that actually holds the government accountable for getting us out of the mess we are in. The danger is that mainstream media often becomes the mouthpiece of liberal politicians and their agendas. We don't need that. We need solid, information, indepth reporting on a nightly basis. Forget the fluff. Give us substance.
Here's the background on Williams from TVNewser.
But NBC's surge in the evening has been strong enough for the news division president, Steve Capus, to suggest that NBC is positioned to be the first network to expand to a full-hour newscast. (He did not set any timetable for that move.)
In addition to listing some of the reasons behind Nightly News regaining, and holding the #1 spot (was it that SNL hosting gig?), Carter's story reveals what the NBC News stable means to NBC Universal.
Official figures are not disclosed, but a senior NBC executive estimated that NBC News, consisting of the broadcast news division, the all-news cable channel MSNBC and a much-viewed Web site, MSNBC.com, supplied about 13 percent of the overall profit of its parent company, NBC Universal.In January, NBC Universal announced a yearly profit of $3.1 billion. That would put the NBC News contribution at over $400 million.CNBC, the Weather Channel and Telemundo are not counted in the news profits. But with those outlets added, the percentage of contribution to NBC Universal's profits climbs to 25 percent - or about $775 million.
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The headline/cold open of 'NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" teased several stories including the Hillary Clinton confirmation hearings. Before my NBC point, news teases really should engage us the viewer... compel us to watch the broadcast. Don't try to be cute and clever. Don't hide the obvious. Why should I watch? Why should I care? Why should I keep the TV on instead of turning it off. TV news teases are often more a turn-off... than turn-on.
The Williams tease pointed to Hillary's tough questions, including questions "about a family member".
HHHMMM. I wonder which family member.
I wonder... could it be Chelsea? How about her mom? Maybe a cousin? Geez... I have to guess so much. Teasing that she was asked some tough question about BILL CLINTON by leaving Bill's name out of it was nonsense.
I watched the hearing. Two interesting, tease worthy things happened.
1. Hillary was challenged by Senator Lugar to explain why Bill Clinton would NOT stop accepting foreign contributions to his charity. I know this is what 'Nightly' was TRYING to tease... but "questions about a family member". C'mon. Gimme a break.
2. The second interesting part of the hearings was the somewhat combative, prostitution-loving, Louisiana Senator David Vitter. There could have been a whole piece about Hillary's body language during that exchange and the exchange with Lugar.
And we wonder why viewers are clicking off local and national network news programs by the tens of thousands daily.
UPDATE: 18 minutes into the broadcast, this tease... "a war that nobody wanted that had come to our country." HUH? The story turned out to be about the growing drug trade that keeps moving north from the Mexican border. ....Maybe I'm just picky tonight. That, or TV news teases just make me angry.
FOOTNOTE: Before anyone thinks I am picking on NBC, I am not. If you have read my blog much at all, you know that I am a life-long viewer of NBC news broadcasts. Yes, I remember Deborah Norville on "Sunrise" where she made her own suits (long before 'Today' and 'Inside Edition'). I remember Jane, John, Bryant, Tom,etc). I have been a true loyalist. While I am more of an equal opportunity news viewer now, I still generally start with NBC. I am not picking on NBC. I still love the network. Proof that I watch... comes in the blog posts.
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"He's wearing a purple tie." Can you imagine the discussions in newsroom? No one can wear a red or blue tie... to show any bias toward Barack Obama or John McCain. Credit the New York Times for noticing.
White House officials finally realized that TV news crews edit interviews. Today, the White House counsel sent Steve Capus of NBC News a scathing note about Richard Engel's interview with the President over the week. The White House accuses NBC of biased reporting in the way it edited responses about "appeasement", Iran and Senator Barack Obama. There is also a broad slap in the face to anyone who thinks MSNBC is "news", according to the White House. See the Richard Engel story and the complete NBC interview.
By the way, the specific first answer from the President outlined below and in the clip above was shown on Sunday morning's 'Today' show. Engel has just finished the interview and the network turned a quick clip that included "You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the speech. You didn't get it exactly right, either. What I said was is that we need to take the words of people seriously". The Sunday sound bite was also fronted by Engel.
In the end, it appears that the White House may wrongly be attacking NBC News for something that every news organization does. Editing is a tricky process. Any edits raise the possibility of misinterpretation. If the White House questioned every interview this way, I'm sure there would be White House letters to everyone who has interviewed the President.
Read NBC's response:
Richard Engel's interview with President Bush has been available, unedited, in its entirety, for the past day, on our website. Our reporting accurately reflects the interview. Just as the White House does not participate in the editorial process at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal or USA Today, NBC News, as part of a free press in a free society, makes its own editorial decisions.
Read Steve Capus letter:
Mr. Capus:
This e-mail is to formally request that NBC Nightly News and The Today Show air for their viewers President Bush's actual answer to correspondent Richard Engel's question about Iran policy and "appeasement," rather than the deceptively edited version of the President's answer that was aired last night on the Nightly News and this morning on The Today Show.
In the interview, Engel asked the President: "You said that negotiating with Iran is pointless, and then you went further. You said that it was appeasement. Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama?"
The President responded: "You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the speech. You didn't get it exactly right, either. What I said was is that we need to take the words of people seriously. And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you've got to take those words seriously. And if you don't take them seriously, then it harkens back to a day when we didn't take other words seriously. It was fitting that I talked about not taking the words of Adolph Hitler seriously on the floor of the Knesset. But I also talked about the need to defend Israel, the need to not negotiate with the likes of al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. And the need to make sure Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon."
This answer makes clear: (1). The President's remarks before the Knesset were not different from past policy statements, but are now being looked at through a political prism, (2). Corrects the inaccurate premise of Engel's question by putting the "appeasement" line in the proper context of taking the words of leaders seriously, not "negotiating with Iran," (3). Restates the U.S.'s long-standing policy positions against negotiating with al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas, and not allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Engel's immediate follow-up question was, "Repeatedly you've talked about Iran and that you don't want to see Iran develop a nuclear weapon. How far away do you think Iran is from developing a nuclear capability?"
The President replied, "You know, Richard, I don't want to speculate – and there's a lot of speculation. But one thing is for certain – we need to prevent them from learning how to enrich uranium. And I have made it clear to the Iranians that there is a seat at the table for them if they would verifiably suspend their enrichment. And if not, we'll continue to rally the world to isolate them."
This response reiterates another long-standing policy, which is that if Iran verifiably suspends its uranium enrichment program the U.S. government would engage in talks with the Iranian government.
NBC's selective editing of the President's response is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that he agreed with Engel's characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it. Furthermore, omitted the references to al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas and ignored the clarifying point in the President's follow-up response that U.S. policy is to require Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program before coming to the table, not that "negotiating with Iran is pointless" and amounts to "appeasement."
This deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible and I hereby request in the interest of fairness and accuracy that the network air the President's responses to both initial questions in full on the two programs that used the excerpts.
As long as I am making this formal request, please allow me to take this opportunity to ask if your network has reconsidered its position that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war, especially in light of the fact that the unity government in Baghdad recently rooted out illegal, extremist groups in Basra and reclaimed the port there for the people of Iraq, among other significant signs of progress.
On November 27, 2006, NBC News made a decision to no longer just cover the news in Iraq, but to make an analytical and editorial judgment that Iraq was in a civil war. As you know, both the United States government and the Government of Iraq disputed your account at that time. As Matt Lauer said that morning on The Today Show: "We should mention, we didn't just wake up on a Monday morning and say, 'Let's call this a civil war.' This took careful deliberation.'"
I noticed that around September of 2007, your network quietly stopped referring to conditions in Iraq as a "civil war." Is it still NBC News's carefully deliberated opinion that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war? If not, will the network publicly declare that the civil war has ended, or that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?
Lastly, when the Commerce Department on April 30 released the GDP numbers for the first quarter of 2007, Brian Williams reported it this way: "If you go by the government number, the figure that came out today stops just short of the official declaration of a recession."
The GDP estimate was a positive 0.6% for the first quarter. Slow growth, but growth nonetheless. This followed a slow but growing fourth quarter in 2007. Consequently, even if the first quarter GDP estimate had been negative, it still would not have signaled a recession – neither by the unofficial rule-of-thumb of two consecutive quarters of negative growth, nor the more robust definition by the National Bureau of Economic Research (the group that officially marks the beginnings and ends of business cycles).
Furthermore, never in our nation's history have we characterized economic conditions as a "recession" with unemployment so low – in fact, when this rate of unemployment was eventually reached in the 1990s, it was hailed as the sign of a strong economy. This rate of unemployment is lower than the average of the past three decades.
Are there numbers besides the "government number" to go by? Is there reason to believe "the government number" is suspect? How does the release of positive economic growth for two consecutive quarters, albeit limited, stop "just short of the official declaration of a recession"?
Mr. Capus, I'm sure you don't want people to conclude that there is really no distinction between the "news" as reported on NBC and the "opinion" as reported on MSNBC, despite the increasing blurring of those lines. I welcome your response to this letter, and hope it is one that reassures your broadcast network's viewers that blatantly partisan talk show hosts like Christopher Matthews and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC don't hold editorial sway over the NBC network news division.
Sincerely,
Ed Gillespie
Counselor to the President
A quick note... NBC Nightly News' promo for Monday added the tagline: America's Number One Evening Newscast. It's interesting that this tag line pops back into use on ocasion. Of course, NBC and Brian Williams is locked in a tight back and forth battle with ABC News and "World News with Charles Gibson". Earlier in the year, Gibson seemed to be on a roll... but stumbled a bit. I come from a background of local TV news where these types of tagline are added more for concern than anything else. Usually there's a 'fastest growing'" line that comes along at some point in these cycles as well.
I hate to say but it looks tougher and tougher for the 'CBS Evening News' with Katie Couric to stay alive. The show hit another record ratings low last week.. for the second straight week. The show had only 5.34 million people... 50,000 fewer than the preview week. TV Week reports: Finishing first in the broadcast network flagship news race for the week was “The NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” with 8.01 million total viewers.
ABC’s “World News With Charles Gibson” averaged 7.79 million viewers, a quick rebound of some 280,000 from 7.51 million viewers the previous week.
CHECK OUT OTHER CBS NEWS AND COURIC POSTS
Is Katie Couric and 'Evening News' Better Than A Year Ago?
Give Katie Couric Another Chance
CBS "Primary Questions'
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CBS O&O Firings
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SEE MORE KATIE COURIC POSTS BY ENTERING HER NAME IN THE SEARCH BOX IN THE UPPER LEFT.
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'NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" tonight proved just how casual the evening newscast has become. Williams, in his best 'I am your friend" delivery, introduced a 'world exclusive television interview' of Dali Lama by Anne Curry. Coming back from break, Williams said, "Our friend Anne Curry from Today..." He ended the report by saying, "Anne thanks for your good work." The typed words can not relay how folksy Williams was trying to be.
"Our friends"?
Are they reeeeallllyyyy?
"Thanks for your good work"?
Curry flew to Seatle. How about the good work of those embedded in Iraq? Or, those covering the crisis in Tibet?
It just felt fake... and overly dramatic in an attempt to be completely casual.
TV news, now more than eve, is fighting to be relevant by trying to be completely casual in its tone. That's good in so many ways... and bad in many different ways.
Watch More Of The Interview Here -- This Clip is 42 Minutes
UPDATE: Brian Williams anchored the Monday edition of 'NBC Nightly News" live from Cleveland. He was on the set of the Democratic debate there planned for Tuesday on MSNBC. It's the usual NBC backdrop for these things--red and blue 'flag' panels. Today's debate about the Obama pictures from an international trip will provide more fire tomorrow night.
MSNBC will host the next Democratic debate Tuesday night from Cleveland. If you’re MSNBC, you couldn’t be much more lucky. The Democratic debates so far have been among the most watched in history. Now, the Brian Williams – Tim Russert hosted debate will take center stage because of the growing tensions between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The battle heated up this weekend as Clinton laid a challenge of “see you in Cleveland” toward Obama following a spat about health care pamphlets. Look for this debate to be huge in ratings and effects on the campaign.
MSNBC will have a challenge to live up to the debates on ABC and CNN. The two combine for the seven more watched debates so far this year. The ABC debates lead the pack by far. But CNN’s cable debates lead all cable debates. The quality of those debates remains to be seen though. I hope NBC realizes the importance of a serious focus on issues and explanations. I hope producers and planners don’t get tied into the time box and flashing red lights to cut off candidate comments. Let the debate about serious issues drive the time. It will make my time watching much more appreciated.
By the way, here’s the previous debate ratings ranker (fromn TVNewser.com)
Jan. 5 Dems ABC 9,360,000 (total viewers)
Jan. 31 Dem CNN 8,324,000
Jan. 5 GOP ABC 7,350,000
Jan. 21 Dems CNN 4,910,000
Nov. 28 GOP CNN 4,486,000
Nov. 15 Dems CNN 4,036,000
Jan. 30 GOP CNN 4,018,000
Jan. 10 GOP FNC 3,746,000
Sept. 5 GOP FNC 3,207,000
Aug. 19 Dems ABC 2,799,000
June 3 Dems CNN 2,783,000
Jan. 24 GOP MSNBC 2,636,000
July 23 Dems CNN 2,622,000
Jan. 6 GOP FNC 2,576,000
May 15 GOP FNC 2,551,000
Jan. 15 Dems MSNBC 2,498,000
Oct. 30 Dems MSNBC 2,465,000
Oct. 21 GOP FNC 2,462,000
April 26 Dems MSNBC 2,261,000
Sept. 9 Dems Univision 2,194,000
Aug. 5 GOP ABC 2,106,000
June 5 GOP CNN 2,055,000
Dec. 9 GOP Univision 1,822,000
May 3 GOP MSNBC 1,762,000
Sept. 26 Dems MSNBC 1,472,000
Oct. 9 GOP* MSNBC 1,121,000
Oct. 9 GOP* CNBC 1,020,000
Aug. 7 Dems MSNBC 960,000
CHECK OUT POPULAR CANDIDATE SOUNDBITES AT: CampaignBites.com
The nightly news broadcast on NBC celebrates 60 years today.
Here's a history, courtesy of TVNewser.com.
• Feb. 16, 1948 — "NBC Television Newsreel"
• Feb. 16, 1949 — "Camel News Caravan" with John Cameron Swayze• Oct. 29, 1956 — "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (initially called "NBC News," then "The Texaco Huntley-Brinkley Report" became "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" in 1961)
• Sept. 9, 1963 — Huntley-Brinkley Report expands from 15 minutes to a half-hour
• Aug. 3, 1970 — "NBC Nightly News" with David Brinkley, John Chancellor and Frank McGee
• Aug. 15, 1971 — "NBC Nightly News" with John Chancellor• June 7, 1976 — "NBC Nightly News" with John Chancellor and David Brinkley
• Oct. 5, 1979 — "NBC Nightly News" with John Chancellor
• Apr. 5, 1982 — "NBC Nightly News" with Tom Brokaw and Roger Mudd• Sept. 5, 1983 — "NBC Nightly News" with Tom Brokaw
• Dec. 2, 2004 — "NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams
Brian Williams started his final segment by saying I'm told the machine that plays our commercial just broke, 'so you'll see a little more of us." The show then went to a Westmisnter Nats.vo.. and series of closing shots to close the show.. .lots of music and lots of cover shots. It was about a minute of music over a studio shot and sky shots of New York. We've all had this happen to us in local news. Your anchors are left to adlib. As I watched, I didn't get a sense that Williams realized how much time he had to kill. I would think such an experienced anchor could have summarized the top story quickly (Clemens and steriods.. and the presidential race). It didn't happen here. You would alsio think a network would have a backup or a tape to through in to close the show. How about an emergency exit plan to go to a separate source for commercials or content.
Of course you won't find that nasty final segment online. NBC posted a re-cut (or a West Coast) final segment for the close of the show.
I decided to flip on the TV this afternoon to ‘NBC Night News’ and Brian Williams after getting home from work. I wondered how much had changed, if any, and how NBC’s evening jewel is doing. Williams seems to be having a stronger start to 2008 than his show had at the end of 2007.
Here are some of my takeaways:
Michael Douglas as the new voice of NBC Nightly News is still not grabbing me. It’s just too flat… too basic. There is nothing commanding. There is nothing really engaging. The delivery does not pull you into the news.
Williams opened the show with an umbrella lead that included the Democratic debate, the Microsoft-Yahoo takeover attempt, big business profits and the economy. After a short on camera, the show went to a quad-split of “live” shots with reports on each of the top four stories. Williams then read a sentence or two about each of the stories…over the quad-split before finally tossing to Lee Cowan for the Democratic debate story. It was just too long on this graphic element. Everyone look uncomfortable. It made me look away and then look back..
In the second segment, Williams introduced a piece by NBC News contributor Simran Sethi. She apparently will be contributing stories about the environment. I have no idea of her experience or background, but her story from Phoenix felt like a small market delivery and presentation. There was a basic reading of the script, a “standup” while she drove a car on a Phoenix highway and the little to no energy in the delivery.
As it happens, she is an experienced environmental expert with new media experience. For 'Nightly', young “reporters” won’t always attract young demos that everyone wants. Content will always be foremost.
Finally, I always seem to sample the network on Friday. That’s when Williams does a viewer email segment. I hate the attempts at creative production value. Scrolling the viewer email text on the right third of the screen is distracting. It forces Williams to truly read text on camera. What’s worse is that producers give him 4, 5 or 6 emails to read. It’s endless, on-camera. Tonight, Williams had to transition from email to an NASA over the shoulder. It was another awkward viewer experience.
I have posted before that I am a lifelong viewer of NBC News. It is most often still a first choice. But in the last 5 years or so, I have found myself drifting from NBC News, ‘Night’ and ‘Today’ to Charlie Gibson, “Good Morning America’ and ABC News. I still like to come back to NBC though. Perhaps, if the content and presentation are ever more focused, I’ll stay… the way my family and I have for decades. For now, I’m forced to continue to surf.
SPECIAL NOTE: Simran Sethi commented about the blog post below. I give her a lot of credit for even reading bloggers like me. No matter my opinion of her first performance on NBC (delivery, style, tone), she has a great new role on 'Nightly' and I wish her luck. ADD YOUR COMMENTS BY CLICKING BELOW
NBC News has two great ‘gets’ after President Bush’s State of the Union, ‘Nightly News’ anchor Brian Williams interviewed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama back to back. Williams targeted his questions to Hillary Clinton toward Sen. Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama today. I was excited to hear her response. But, Clinton stayed focused on her message that she is the best person to step into the Office of the President on the first day. There was not real answer.
After about two minutes, Williams switched to Obama. He responded to questions about the major endorsement by saying, “Ted Kennedy is a historic leader in the Senate. He is going to be active in our campaign.” Obama stressed that his campaign includes many other high profile people who will be a part of his campaign. (Get more soundbites and quotes from candidates at Campaign Bites)
Again, it was nice hustle and planning by NBC News to get both of these top candidates to commit to an interview immediately after the speech.
CHECK OUT OTHER POSTS
Why Must Anchors RUSH To D.C. For The State Of The Union
Oh Yeah We Forgot, The State Of The Union
YOUTUBE selected videos with about Clinton and Obama
Charlie Gibson debuted his new set on ‘World News’ tonight. (We had a sneak peak on New Year’s Eve). The show opened with Gibson standing at a large, angled flat screen for the tease rotation. After the show open, there was a wide shot of the set. We saw bright oranges and hints of red. There was nothing grand or spectacular about this set. It is very functional. Gibson feels comfortable. The viewer feels at ease because he and his surroundings are at ease. ABC didn’t try too hard to make a set that didn’t fit their anchor. The set should never compete with an anchor’s ability to communicate the news. It should compliment the anchor. By the way, in great contrast to the wide swooping explainer when Brian Williams and ‘NBC Nightly News’ introduced his set (my post about that), Charlie Gibson made not mention of his new set. Both the set and his lack of attention to it were a subtle reminder that as anchor, Charlie Gibson’s steady, controlled, responsible communicative style is in charge of this show. It is… after all… about the content and not the set.
It’s tough to determine which is better: Gibson’s or Willians’ set. Both are designed to play to different strengths of their anchors (ABC) and their news operation (NBC).
Speaking of content, I had just made a few notes about a great, seemingly-casual interview Gibson conducted with Hillary Clinton to lead the broadcast. His style and his phrasing of questions were very engaging for the viewer. But just as I was finishing notes, Gibson tossed to a reporter on the Obama campaign. He delivered a simple ‘looklive’ from a crowed Obama event. It seemed such a letdown. There was great potential with both Clinton and Obama’s stories just hours after a surprise twist in the campaign. This effort missed the mark in an attempt to be different from every other TV news ‘package’. Different isn’t always better. Great storytelling is.
CHECK OUT THIS OTHER STORY: 10 Predictions for TV News in 2008
As the year comes to a close, I have to reflect on my short few months of blogging about TV news. So what worked? Here are the TOP 10 posts that generated the most page clicks. There’s a common theme here that really surprised me. Please add your comments to any of these stories.
1. ‘Weekend Today’ – Robach Back, Wolfe Back On The News Desk
2. Endless Fascination With Jenna Wolfe on Weekend 'Today' This post just went up a few days ago but already has generated a ton of clicks for a new blog.
3. Jenna Wolfe & ‘Weekend Today’ – Is OK Enough?
4. Weekend ‘Today’ Challenges; Jenna Wolfe, Amy Robach, Others
5. Anderson Cooper LIVE in Pakistan in front of Some Shrubs – This is another recent post that has generated a lot of clicks.
6. ‘NBC Nightly’ News New Announcer – Michael Douglas
7. CNN, Rick Snachez: ‘Out in the Open’ Really Out of Control
8. Russert Challenges Rudy on ‘Meet the Press’
9. Stephen Colbert on ‘Meet the Press’
10. ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ in Prime Time, 10 Things I Liked
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR VISITING THE BLOG. Your visits and time are appreciated. Have a happy and safe time venturing into the new year!
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto marked a significant world event. Bhutto was a central figure in the fight for Democracy in a country that is potentially dangerous for the U.S and fights against terrorist groups. So, in an era of very competitive ratings for ‘Nightly News’ and ‘World News’, I thought it would be interesting to see them head to head on the big story.
First, here is a quick comparison of coverage/format.
NBC 
Lester Holt anchoring
Summary package – Andrea Mitchell in Washington
Eyewitness Own Words – Getty Image photographer
Prior Bhutto interview – Ann Curry
Holt debriefs Curry and reporter Richard Engel
Presidential candidates react package – Lee Cowan
**Returned to the story at the end of the newscast for a debrief with Jim Maceda in London..
ABC 
George Stephanopoulos substituting
Summary package – Gretchen Peters in Islamabad
Bhutto biographer – Stephanopoulos taped Q&A
Bush reaction SOT
Bhutto’s U.S. Alliance - Jonathan Karl in Washington
Brian Ross debrief about Al Quaeda
NOW SOME OPINIONS
What struck me most about this coverage was that none of the major networks had main anchors or even second team anchors in place. Lestor Holt who’s anchored most of the week (and has to be one of the hardest working anchors at the Peacock) led coverage over at NBC. Geroge Stephanopoulus. who normally does the weekend talker ‘This Week’ and files reports from DC as the chief correspondent, sat in at ABC. Even CBS had Russ Mitchell anchoring. No Brian. No Charles. No Katie. None of the top three anchors thought this was a big enough story to come off vacation for a day. Admittedly they may have been out of the country for the holiday or out of position to get back to New York in time (although the story broke at 8:30am Eastern). But, the lack of leadership from a front line anchor on this story was clear. The anchor story is different on cable tonight. More here from TVNewser.com
As for the information and context in coverage, ABC edged out NBC with one notable exception. First, ABC’s top story was reported from Pakistan (imagine that), the biographer added memorable details about Bhutto as a person, President Bush’s reaction was given appropriate presence and Karl’s report provided some insight into the U.S. alliance. The debrief with Ross lacked a punch. Ross even looked uncomfortable talking about the terrorism connection. Finally, ABC did misstep with absolutely no reaction regarding foreign policy from U.S. presidential candidates. One of them will step into power at a very difficult time for our country. While I would never get depth from each candidate in the 22 minutes evening news, ABC’s coverage just felt like it skipped an important point.
Meanwhile, Holt at NBC seemed to have greater control than Stephanopoulus as an anchor for the big story. But NBC seemed to rely too heavily on its own personalities. Mitchell’s report, while filed from Washington, was comparable in content to ABC’s top story. Both made liberal use of great still photos. But the following piece with Ann Curry seemed to want to capitalize on her interview more than great content for the story. In fact, in an interview taped in October, Bhutto gave a great answer to whether she felt her efforts would be worth losing her life. That question and answer was buried :30 into the package with Curry. The debrief with Engel that followed was too long, lacking a focal point It was obvious that the control room was trying to push the momentum along with quick camera changes between solo shots and reaction shots. Finally, the last segment of the show included another debrief with Maceda. Again, there was a lack of clear focus.
At the end of the day, will this story determine the fates of the anchors or their broadcasts? No. But can you image a world leader being assassinated and Walter Cronkite not anchoring during his era? I can’t. In general, TV news is teetering on disaster with viewers. Every chance lead anchors and networks get to connect thorough, insightful coverage with viewers, they should seize the opportunity. From local to national news, front line anchors should lead the coverage. That’s what they’re there to do.
So…I still wonder where Brian, Charles and Katie really were tonight at 6:30?
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OK, so we all saw it happen when NBC dumped John Seiganthawler from the weekend edition of ‘NBC Nightly News.’ Lester Holt assumed the helm for the weekend editions of ‘Nightly News’ plus continues his weekend duties on versions of ‘Today.’
This weekend, Holt anchored Saturday and Sunday editions of ‘Today’, the weekend editions of ‘Nightly News’. Then Monday, he co-anchored ‘Today’ with Ann Curry and sailed solo on ‘Nightly News’ on Christmas eve. (I was traveling, so I missed Christmas morning news… and am not THAT geeky to DVR it) As I'm writing this post, Lester's opening the Christmas Day edition of 'Nightly News.' It always happens at holiday times: weekend anchors pull double even triple duty.
show. Prime time magazines are in trouble on NBC. About the only logical home for him could be helping to add a bit of younger flare to CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ or primetime on CNN. 
Michael Douglas is the new announcer of 'NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams'. My first take is that the delivery is less than spectacular. Watch the clip on the NBC player (by the way NBC does not provide embed video code yet... 'coming soon' it says). I've heard similar reaction tonight from fellow TV news junkies. Douglas' delivery is too flat. It doesnt seem to compare to the great commanding voices that once drove evening news show openings. Walter Cronkite now voices Katie Couric's open. His delivery, while not booming, does command attention.
From Brian Williams blog Monday afternoon. "I appealed to his sense of history and tradition and his love of the medium — and he said yes without hesitation."
Listen to 'Nightly's previous open voiced by Howard Reig. Reig retired in 2005 after more than 60 years with NBC. He welcomed 'Nightly News' viewers for over 25 years. Reig voiced opens through the era of John Chancellor, Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams.
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