TV Struggles as News Focus Shifts

As television viewers focused on Friday’s high drama in Washington, broadcasters struggled to cover a news day that was mind-boggling in its rapidly shifting focus.

Some gave nonstop coverage to the twin stories of impeachment in the House and American missiles raining down on Baghdad. Others initially televised the debate and carried Pentagon bulletins, but went back to soap operas by noon.

Meanwhile, CBS wrestled with this vexing question: Should the network cover the historic House vote on Saturday, or let its affiliates cut away to the New York Jets-Buffalo Bills football game? Gil Schwartz, head of network corporate public relations, said CBS was considering how to handle the conflict, and would “do its very best.” Executives were considering several options, including a “picture-in-picture” transmission.

Anchor Dan Rather, who was reportedly irked by the network’s indecision, acknowledged the day’s unique twin focus, saying, “We’re all entering new territory . . . this is new to us.” Indeed, the shifting television images mirrored the nation’s split-screen mood. Throughout the day, viewers were whipsawed by events, political rhetoric and the usual talking heads.

“We’ve had eloquent comments from House Republicans,” CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer said, just as his network switched to a rooftop in Baghdad, showing an incoming attack. Minutes later,536870913ABC repeated Hillary Rodham Clinton’s remarks defending her husband during a White House ceremony, then abruptly cut away to a recorded statement by Saddam Hussein on Iraqi TV.

During the early minutes of debate, most networks trained their cameras on a nearly empty House chamber. The scene in the cavernous room, which filled up 30 minutes later, prompted Rather to quip that “you’d find more people at a high school basketball game than you’d find in the House as these proceedings begin.”

Later in the afternoon, the chamber emptied again, and many TV commentators noted that only a handful of Congress members were present to debate what was arguably the biggest issue ever to come before them. Most failed to point out, however, that this was customary for a marathon congressional debate, especially one that was scheduled to last 13 hours.

Some networks arrived late. At 9 a.m. EST, for example, NBC affiliates cast the opening of “Leeza,” a talk show featuring an author who had written “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Impeachment.” As members debated procedure, PBS stayed with Shari Lewis and Lambchop. By 10 a.m., all were on the story.

Yet their attention span seemed to wane. By midafternoon, only cable networks were providing full-time coverage. “America is finally tuning into all of this; they’re seeing what Congress looks like on a real-time basis,” said MSNBC’s Brian Williams. It was unclear, however, how many were watching.

Even the cable networks cut away to present the usual parade of pundits, some predicting what would happen after the House votes today, as expected, on the impeachment of President Clinton. But reality kept intruding. Shortly after noon, as a flurry of news began breaking, the networks switched from the White House briefing room to the Pentagon briefing room, from the House floor to a press conference by Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, and then back to the House debate--all in the space of five minutes.

“Bear with us,” said CNN anchor Bernard Shaw. “We’re trying to keep all of these stories in line for you.”