Re: It was a no-brainer for NBC, actually

[Mike Thomas <nostatic@earthlink.net>]

Dib9@aol.com wrote:

> I disagree.  NBC could have cut away and returned to the movie within 10
> minutes without viewers missing anything.  Hasn't everyone seen Titanic by
> now anyway?

Maybe they could have done a split screen.  The ship sinking on one side, and
Katherine Harris sinking to her knees for Dubya on the other.....

> In this case, the certification was breaking news and people watching Titanic
> would only know what's happening if NBC provided the news.

This election "certification" was a staged event.  If Al Gore had pulled ahead of
Dubya at the 5pm mark, Harris would have found some "technicality" with the
absentee ballots to delay the "final results."  The fact she came out last night
everyone knew what the "outcome" was going to be.  It wasn't news.

> I believe NBC and the other networks did provide live coverage of the
> announcement of the Florida Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday night.  I would
> judge tonight's certification to be of greater importance than that event.

The supreme court's ruling was not a pre-planned orchestrated news event, as the
Harris announcement and Dubya's subsequent speech was.  The public did not know
how the court was going to rule, so it was breaking news when the decision was
handed down.  Even people that live under rocks knew that the only outcome Harris
would have announced is that GWB was coronated president. And as we all know,
there is much more litigation to come before this race is truly decided.

Mike Thomas