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Breaking News Stories: As They Happened


Jess

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With upload limits loosening on the video sites, more and more uploads of breaking news coverage have been uploaded to the Internet. I've started to do that myself, having located video coverage of the Cory Lidle Plane Crash from 2006 and uploading it to the HulkieD YouTube. (I have another on the way.)

 

I think it's a good thing that coverage makes its way onto the internet. That way we have examples of initial reports coming in, initial confusion about what is going on, followed by the actual story getting hammered into place as the event progresses. It is like this in almost every major news story. From the first reports of the Kennedy Assassination. To the attempted assassination of Reagan where they were initially reporting he wasn't hit, and then Frank Reynolds freaking the hell out when it turned out he was hit. Peter Jennings breaking away from World News Tonight into a full-network Special Report as Desert Storm began, in a way that felt like he was stopping time. Challenger, where they initially didn't know what the hell happened. Columbine, Aurora, and Sandy Hook, which took hours to get straight.

 

And, yes, 9/11. No, I don't have conspiracy theories about what happened. I don't believe the government was behind it because frankly I don't think they're that smart. But the widescale confusion is understandable. When Peter usually anchored from his chair there was maybe a bit of ambient noise, but not much. At the height of 9/11 you can hear and see people running around and a very, very high volume of ambient noise. It's a wonder Jennings was able to think.

 

Anyway, here's the Cory Lidle tragedy:

 

And KOMO helicopter tragedy coverage from WCAU:

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I've said this before, and it bears repeating...

 

The severity and tragic nature of the material notwithstanding, Peter Jennings on 9/11 should go down as the greatest, most impressive anchor shift in the history of the medium. Period. More than forty years of experience, both Peter's and the industry's as a whole was all in preparation for that day.

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Absolutely agreed. Jennings during 9/11 and Cronkite during JFK are the two most impressive examples of breaking news coverage out there. (Jennings' finest performance was probably ABC 2000, but that doesn't count as breaking news.)

 

I try to rewatch 9/11 footage regularly. Not out of morbidity, mind you, but because it's a healthy reminder of how breaking news unfolds and how to cover it. The confusion that day is astounding and, unfortunately, not all that uncommon these days.

 

I have thought I had NBC's breaking news report on the Boston Marathon bombings. I'm gonna try and get that one up.

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My understanding of the Kennedy assassination coverage is that it's a miracle that the footage was captured on tape at all. WFAA had brand new VTR equipment and it happened to be recording as the first reports came out. I believe WBAP (KXAS) recorded the Ruby incident as it happened and it's the famous video we debate about today and will for decades.

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Looking at that montage of WBZ's excellent coverage reminds me how good those CBS O&O graphics really were when it came to breaking news. No flashy animations, no "red mode", just the relevant facts of the story being covered, periodically updated, entirely readable. The package needed an overhaul, yes, but I don't think the new look does that yet.

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