• by John Gaffney , March 27, 2003

Changes In Latitudes; Changes In Attitudes: We have had a lot of discussions around the office here about how the war is being presented. A lot of it centers around whether changes in reporting (such as embedded reporters) rates a story in Media Daily News. Is reportage an issue planners and buyers care about? Is it relevant to advertising? The answer is yes, but I just don't see at this point how a news story would tell you anything you don't already know. But I can say this. What I have noticed on air, in print and on the radio is that journalism is re-establishing itself as an invaluable skill. Commentators like James Carvillle or Bill O'Reilly can't bring the attention to detail and sense of urgency that a Fred Francis, Peter Arnett or Dr. Sanjay Gupta can. At first I was disappointed with the coverage of the Iraqi conflict. But now it has shaken the dust off and is rising to the occasion. Planners and buyers should be relieved that network news and cable channels are centering on journalism in this conflict, not on the commentary on inflammatory opinion that surrounds it.

Sporting News: Having said all that, here comes MSNBC with Keith Olbermann, who used to do sports on ESPN and Fox. Olbermann, in my opinion, is an excellent interviewer and I like his presence covering real news.

Last Call: So now that Olbermann has his shot at the big time, when do we see ESPN's Stuart Scott get his? "Ok, here's the Iraqi tank. Here comes our guys. BOOYAH! Got'em. Oh, that's gonna leave a mark."