Networks Preempt Shows for Markets

Television networks broke into afternoon programming to cover Monday’s abrupt stock market decline, using care in terminology to avoid panicking investors or affecting the outcome of the story.

CBS broke in with the first network special report at 10:38 a.m. Pacific time, nearly an hour before either NBC or ABC interrupted regular programs.

Correspondents assiduously avoided use of the word “crash” to describe the Dow Jones industrial average’s worst single-day point drop in history.

NBC called it “The Big Drop.” CNN instructed its reporters to use the terms “sell-off” and “correction.” Fox called it “Blue Monday.”

“Financial journalism is one of those areas in which one has to be acutely conscious of the consequences of a report,” said Lou Dobbs, CNN’s chief financial correspondent. CNN used the phrase “crash” to describe what was happening in Hong Kong, he said.

ABC first interrupted programming with a special report at 11:38, although it twice flashed a printed notice of the stock market’s decline on the screen before that. NBC’s first report came at 11:45.

NBC waited for the day’s first suspension of trading to break in, NBC News spokeswoman Julia Moffett said. “We weren’t just going to break in and say the market’s been volatile,” she said.

While CBS was very careful in describing what was going on to not panic investors, the network felt it was important to tell people what was going on, CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius said.

“You’re very cognizant of not saying or doing anything to affect the market,” she said, “but clearly there was very much a story developing.”

CBS is also particularly conscious of its responsiveness after being criticized for reacting too slowly on the night Princess Diana was killed.

ABC said it was also careful in its wording not to panic investors. “You want to make sure it’s responsible and not have an undue influence,” said ABC News spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.

Fox let its affiliates decide whether to break into programming with Fox News Channel coverage. The news channel MSNBC took advantage of its partnership with financial news network CNBC, simulcasting CNBC’s coverage for more than 35 minutes Monday afternoon.