By MERVIN BLOCK
November 2003

When a correspondent says her network has "learned" something, what do you think that means?

Her story is exclusive?

She did some original reporting?

She found something special?

She did learn something or other?

Well, let’s see what we can learn. We’ll focus on the 6:30 p.m. edition of NBC’s "Nightly News" on Saturday, Oct. 18, when the anchor said:

"Back in this country, new information tonight about the man who may be responsible for planting box cutters and other banned items on passenger jets, and his warning that airport security doesn’t work. NBC’s ___________ has that story." Then the correspondent spoke:

"Tonight, N-B-C News has learned that F-B-I investigators have questioned and released a 20-year-old college student suspected of breaching airline security. He was not charged, but he will appear in court on Monday. [Excuse me: he’s scheduled to appear.] Government sources tell N-B-C News that Nathaniel Heatwole, whose parents live here in Damascus, Maryland, is responsible for placing the modeling clay and box cutter knives [a box cutter is a knife] like these on board two Southwest Airlines planes. The items, discovered on Thursday, led the Transportation Security Administration to order an immediate inspection of the nation’s seven-thousand passenger planes."

Next, the correspondent said:

"Tonight [if you have short-term memory loss, you might be grateful for that reminder] W-N-B-C-T-V is reporting that this may not be the first time Heatwole has carried items like these on Southwest Airlines. The station reports that in April of this year Heatwole allegedly passed the security screeners at two different airports [all airports are different] with similar items and left them on the planes. The items were found by Southwest Airlines maintenance workers, who reported them to security, including T-S-A officials, and an investigation was launched. W-N-B-C-TV reports that Heatwole does [why the present tense?] the same thing again at the same airports in September, but officials say this time he sent [why the abrupt shift in tense?] what they characterized as a ‘polite e-mail’ to the T-S-A…."

Sounds as if NBC News and NBC’s flagship O&O (owned-and-operated station), WNBC-TV, have this story alone, that they own it. But before we bestow any laurels, let’s root around a little. And let’s see whether the "Nightly News" story is new, true and exclusive.

Twenty-two hours before NBC’s network newscast, The Associated Press moved a story—at 8:23 p.m., Oct. 17—about a new development in the case. The story said the FBI announced it had found the person who planted box cutters and other items on Southwest Airlines planes. The story said he was a 20-year-old North Carolina man and that an FBI statement said agents had interviewed him. The FBI did not disclose his name.

More than ten hours before "Nightly News" went on the air: a CNN correspondent said, at 8:01 a.m., "The F-B-I and Transportation Security Administration officials say that [delete that] they were able to find a 20-year-old North Carolina student that [who] actually [adds nothing] put these devices onto Southwest Airline planes." He told about the flights, the box cutters and the clay, and he said a Bush administration official asserted the e-mails "detailed locations, times, and places where the contraband was put on board the airplanes."

The CNN correspondent also reported, "They say there is no terrorist threat at all...." Then the anchor said, "Very serious matter." To which the correspondent responded, "Very serious matter." Seriously.

Five hours before the broadcast of NBC’s "Nightly News," The Associated Press moved a story at 1:25 p.m. that began:

"The man suspected of hiding box cutters on two airline flights warned the government in an e-mail of his intention to conceal similar suspicious items on six planes and provided dates and locations for the plan, but was not considered a threat, a senior Bush administration official said Saturday."

The AP said the Web site of a North Carolina newspaper, Greensboro’s News & Record, quoted a 20-year-old man as saying the FBI had questioned him the previous day about the case. The AP went on to give the man’s name, age, hometown, the name of his college and his court date.

At 2:12 p.m., the CNN anchor said they now had the man’s name, and the correspondent credited an article posted at the Web site of the News & Record. At 4:06 p.m., he reported the name of the man’s college (in Greensboro), his hometown and other elements of the story.

At 5:29 p.m., an hour before "Nightly News" went on the air, the AP moved its fourth story that afternoon about the man, corrected its misspelling of his first name and provided additional details.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m., a correspondent on the CBS "Evening News" delivered the essentials. He said the FBI had questioned the man and gave his name and age and the name of his college.

As for ABC News, two days later, "World News Tonight" led with the story of the student: "We’re going to begin tonight [as soon as an anchor opens his mouth, I know he’s beginning] with an F-B-I document that landed with a thud in newsrooms all across America today. [Sounds ominous.] In this job, we see a lot of F-B-I material. [Hmm.] But today, when the government charged a young man, Nathaniel Travis Heatwole, with carrying concealed weapons onto two Southwest Airlines flights some time ago, the F-B-I’s affidavit tells a remarkable story...." The FBI affidavit landed with a thud in newsrooms all across America? Let’s get real. Did it even land with a thud in the only room it was presented, the courtroom? In any case, that script may help us: now that we know the man’s middle name, we won’t confuse him with any other Nathaniel Heatwole.

If you go back to the top for a minute and re-read the "Nightly News" script, you’ll see that the stories run by the AP, CNN and CBS make it clear that the NBC story was not new or exclusive. And that NBC’s original reporting, if any, was negligible. New information? Almost none. Certainly, none of any consequence. The anchor’s lead-in provided nothing new, and the correspondent’s first 190 words offered only one tidbit I found nowhere else: "a polite e-mail." Later, she quoted a note found on a plane: "Ha, ha. I did it again." I couldn’t find that quotation anywhere else. As far as I could tell, those were the only possibly new bits of information.

The NBC correspondent said the TSA had ordered an immediate inspection of the nation’s 7,000 planes. But the order had been canceled. That very morning, on NBC’s "Today," a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration told an anchor about the cancellation. The TSA had announced the cancellation the night before.

Even so, a wrap-up of the Heatwole case was certainly news worth using, but not in language suggesting that NBC had done something special. It’s true, as the correspondent said in her script, that NBC did learn something (by reading the wires and newspapers?). But so did we.

We see—despite NBC’s chest-thumping presentation— there’s a lot less to the script than meets the ear. As is sometimes the case there and elsewhere, the newscast seemed more intent on promoting the story and itself than in reporting it.

Lesson learned.

Letters responding to "Network Script Gets a Hard Look — and Crumples"

Send yours to merblo@aol.com

Greg Meriwether, WAFB TV (Baton Rouge, Louisiana):
You are way off on your story about "Exclusives." The NBC story NEVER says or implies that their story is exclusive. Just because they say "learned" doesn't mean they believe the story is exclusive. There are much better examples out there. I am a television reporter and I have used those terms many times. I never use it to mean, "we only have this story."

I think you should leave out "learned" because it is not conversational. Also your other example on NBC says they quoted WNBC-TV in their story. Again, that does not mean they had the story exclusively.

I know that you were implying that NBC made it appear as if they had the story exclusively, because, after your example of NBC news, you go on to show that other news organizations "moved" the story sooner.

I usually enjoy your columns. This one however, was way off base. You are smarter than this!

* Mark Schnyder, WBIR-TV (Knoxville, Tennessee):
Enjoyed your comments on the NBC piece. I hate it when reporters try to fool the viewer into thinking their stories are bigger than they are. The fact is, though, the average viewer doesn't have the time or interest in doing the research you did and would probably walk away from watching that story thinking, "Wow, NBC was all over that one." It's sad.

A reader:
I just discovered your site and want to say thank you for trying to make things better.

Concerning your most recent article, I would like to point out a couple of things. I wonder if you saw these and felt they weren't writing about, or if I'm helping by showing them to you. I promise I'm not going to do this with every article of yours.

"Back in this country, new information tonight about the man who may be responsible for planting box cutters and other banned items on passenger
jets .... Nathaniel Heatwole, whose parents live here in Damascus, Maryland, is responsible for placing the modeling clay and box cutter knives [a box cutter is a knife] like these on board two Southwest Airlines planes."

The first sentence says "box cutters and other banned items ...." Later, box cutters and modeling clay are mentioned together. Modeling clay is not a banned item. Were there other banned items NBC didn't mention? If so, that's bad writing. If not, grouping modeling clay with banned items is bad research.

Later, it's reported the guy's parents live in Damascus, Maryland. Who cares? That's 340 miles from where the suspect lives. I suppose it was easier and cheaper for the network to have a reporter drive from DC to Damascus in about an hour rather than fly someone to Greensboro, North Carolina. But the end result made them look stupid to me.