Posted on 07/26/2004 11:29:25 PM PDT by ambrose
Hard to Follow Convention During 1st Night
Tuesday July 27, 2004 7:01 AM
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - If the nation's biggest broadcasters have chosen to make the political conventions at most a one-hour show, their smaller competitors and the Democrats seemed determined Monday not to cast doubt on that judgment.
On the opening night of the Democratic convention, the party ensured the most emotional moments would occur during the 10 p.m. ET hour when ABC, CBS and NBC were on the air.
They included a fiery speech by former President Clinton that ended just in time for the late local news, an introduction by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and a somber remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The big broadcasters plan no Tuesday convention coverage, returning Wednesday and Thursday for speeches by nominee John Kerry and running mate John Edwards.
Even though the cable news networks promised more thorough coverage than their broadcast brethren, they spent much of their extra hours on Monday off the convention floor.
``Somebody's out there screaming about something,'' Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said while, over his shoulder, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski addressed the convention. ``I don't know what it is and it really doesn't matter at this point.''
During the convention's first hour, Fox turned away for a report on a missing Utah woman and O'Reilly interviewed Ralph Nader about his failed attempt to attend the Democratic meeting.
Later, Fox commentator Sean Hannity interviewed Bill Bennett while former President Jimmy Carter was speaking.
Hannity also turned away from the podium to interview conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who said, ``If I were the Democratic party, I don't think I'd want Jimmy Carter on the stage talking about how we won the Cold War. What's this we, paleface?''
MSNBC's Chris Matthews spent considerable time interviewing guest panelists on an outdoor set in downtown Boston, surrounded by onlookers.
``Let's do a survey,'' Matthews asked the audience around him, trying to gauge the decibels. ``Was Gore robbed in 2000?''
In contrast to its rivals, CNN spent more time in the Fleet Center, showing off a set built on the floor of the convention instead of in skyboxes overlooking it. That already seemed to influence the networks, where ABC's Peter Jennings and NBC's Tom Brokaw both opened their reports from down on the floor.
CNN mixed rounds of serious interviews with self-conscious attempts to be hip. Its ``delegate cam'' segment featured a convention delegate equipped with a small camera who reported on his day. Unsurprisingly, he listened to speeches and attended a party on a boat sponsored by lobbyists.
CNN's Jeff Greenfield reported on Web logs - ``the buzz of the convention'' - and talked to a reporter who said that ``a tremendous amount of excitement'' was generated on the Web by former Vice President Al Gore's speech.
Finally, CNN also hired yellow-jacketed, deadpan comedian Mo Rocca to prowl the convention floor.
``If you say Iran very quickly, it starts to sound like Iraq. It's a very understandable mix-up,'' Rocca said, as Larry King guffawed.
By contrast, PBS spent more time on what was actually happening at the convention. When it left the podium, it was for serious analysis or a lengthy interview with Carter, for instance.
David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times and PBS commentator Monday, noted how measured Gore's speech was after the former vice president had attacked President Bush harshly earlier in the year. He predicted it would set a tone for the evening. ``This was reaching across party lines,'' he said.
Only dependable C-SPAN actually covered the convention gavel-to-gavel, documenting without commentary speeches by lesser-known politicians and sticking with musical interludes. Its affiliate, C-SPAN2, showed clips of convention speeches from the past.
Hooo boy. That's entertainment. <|:/~
Sounds like this is one giant snoozefest. Most of the "coverage" is just pundits hyperventilating with their own breathless spin on what is taking place.
No sane person could sit through this bout of sheer boredom. The only highlight was the speech given by "911" causer and murderer of American innocents, Bill Clinton. Carter, Gore and Hillary were trash! He was very good. He might be the best con man the world has ever seen. Some Americans are just plain clueless. And....the media, buffoons all! I watched a bit on Fox News and could not take it. Would love to see the viewership numbers and related breakdown by network and cable stations. I suspect Monday night with the Clinton traitors will be the highlight night of the convention with the most viewers. I predict this convention will have the lowest viewership of any in modern history. We'll soon see.
``This was reaching across party lines,'' he said.
What? To the communist party?
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