Is the News Worthy or Not?
The national news was on at 6:30pm on April 8th. The introduction is the studio. It is in black and white. Then they go to color. They show us a clip of a wrecked building. It had the title “Crisis in Kosovo”. Then they show three soldiers. The announcer says “second thoughts of releasing soldiers”. Next we see a telephone. It has the title “Calling Costs”. Who are George Washington’s cherry trees are being chopped by? We seethe trees. A black and white world graphic fly’s across the screen. A color shot of the studio appears. The announcer says “From ABC world headquarters in New York, this is world news tonight with Peter Jennings”. This introduction lasts 30 seconds.
We see Peter Jennings. He introduces the Kosovo topic. We see the damaged buildings with the title “Pristina, Kosovo”. “Who is responsible for the damage in the capitol of Kosovo?” asks Peter Jennings. He tells us “there has been a delay at least for winning freedom for the three American soldiers”. Jennings leads us to the Pentagon. This lasts 20 seconds.
John Macrepe tells us a story on the F-16 planes. They show the plane in color. After we see the view from the plane in black and white. He talks about the missiles they have seen. “Bridges have been attacked reducing road traffic”, says John Macrepe. That story was the beginning of several graphics. The next is fuel storage cut by 20% and Serbian refineries were put out of business. This story lasts a minute and one half.
“NATO wants more fire power,” says Jennings. They show shots of planes firing. John McWethy reports “the first helicopters could be flying in just ten days but because support equipment must come through Albania’s Trenta Airport…. It could take a month or more before all the apaches are in operation”. This story lasts thirty seconds.
Mortan Deed reports “Spyros Kyprianou’s meeting with Malosovich is scheduled for tomorrow”. They show shots of Spyros Kyprianou. The story goes on about freeing the American soldiers. It shows various Kosovo shots. This lasts one minute and fifteen seconds.
Peter Jennings segways to Mike Lee. They show a map of Kosovo. Lee shows us clips of the streets in Kosovo. There are no people. “Pristina is also heavily damaged,” says Lee. Air commander, David Wilby says, “NATO has not caused the damage what is believed to be done by Serbian forces”. Shots are of the people who did stay in Pristina, are shown. They say that they can’t go to the store. The Serbian’s go and buy food for them. This story lasts two minutes.
An eighty-three year old man walked barefoot for three days in order to get out. They show footage of the man. This story is use for fill in. It lasted thirty seconds.
The next story is of students dancing. They are welcoming the new arrivals in Corce, Albania. This is where people are staying. They show shots of people’s beds and the food they eat. This story lasts one minute.
Peter Jennings tells us what is coming up and goes to commercial. The announcer says “This is world news tonight with Peter Jennings. Brought to you by Boost bars and drinks”. This lasts twenty seconds.
The first commercial is on Boost. They show the milky chocolate drink. In the middle of the chocolate drink are pictures of people. They encourage you to drink it to “take care of yourself”. This commercial lasts thirty seconds.
The next commercial is on contact lenses. It shows us different people doing activities. Then the box comes through the water. It gives a phone number to call. It also lasts thirty seconds.
“Three cups of cheerios a day can help lower your cholesterol,” says the announcer. We see the cheerios box and it being poured into a bowl. They show it as being a life preserver in a bowl of milk. This lasts thirty seconds.
Peter Jennings comes back and tells us about the President and China’s President. He introduction to the topic lasts twenty seconds.
At a conference the Chinese President was asked if China “stole military secrets from the United States”? The Chinese President said “I don’t think so…..”. Pictures show the Presidents greeting and then in conference. A lot of red was used to symbol Presidency. Clinton was trying to keep piece with the questions. A New York Times article was shown. It had a picture of Samuel Berger. It said that there are on going nuclear efforts for stealing a neutron bomb. At an earlier conference, Clinton said that “no one had suggested to him Chinese Espionage had taken place. They show scenes from Clinton’s conference. Sam Donaldson, at the White House, tells us the “strong but dangerous disagreements were there for everyone to see”. This took two minutes and ten seconds.
Peter Jennings comes back to say “US airplanes were very active over Iraq today. They bombed an anti-ship missile battery. There was no provocation”. Then he goes to commercial. We see the studio with Peter Jennings name. He talks for thirty seconds.
The first commercial is on Staples. It is set in an office. Then it goes on to show items and what they cost. This lasts thirty seconds.
They show two people talking in an office. They are talking about the future and how to spend money. It goes on to show clips of the book they are selling, schools, and businesses. Then it shows a graph on how to build your money. The product is Axa. It lasts thirty seconds.
A military guy is talking to us. Then some pictures of the military and what they do. They show a clip of food. The man says “You gotta eat right but sometimes you can’t. I rely on doctor recommended Medamusal”. We see the product and how to use it. This takes thirty seconds.
A car drives through dirt roads. It is an open area. The graphics say “Bring your to do list and use it to start a campfire”. This commercial is for the “rugged Mitsubishi Montero Sport”. They show the Mitsubishi graphic symbol at the end. This commercial lasts thirty seconds.
Peter Jennings says “Is it our imagination or are there ever more ads. out there for cheaper and cheaper telephone service”? AT&T is making customers pay a three dollar minimum. Betsy Stark reports on it. It shows us pictures of a person on the phone and how to use the phone. Gene Kimmelman says “This is an enormous burden on people of modest means who don’t use the phone a lot but don’t have the money to throw away”. A graphic is shown how the prices have gone up. It shows part of an AT&T commercial for discount prices. They discount in one area and take from another. Lastly Betsy Stark says “AT&T promises to wave the three dollar minimum for customers who can’t afford it”. This segment lasts one minute and thirty seconds.
Next Peter Jennings talks about the Dow Jones. We see a graphic. He goes on to talk about the Japanese stock market. They show a picture. Jennings then says “the Wall St. Journal shows the average CEO pay…is more than two hundred million dollars”. It has a graphic in green to represent money. Jennings says “ the number of young people owning homes is increasing”. They show property with a sold sign on it. 36% of people between 25-29 years old are homeowners, shows the graphic. This lasts a minute.
Peter Jennings tells us what is coming up. We see the studio with his name. They go to commercial. It lasts fifteen seconds.
We see someone in black and white washing there hands. In color we see the vacuum vacuuming. Seeing the Bissell logo we hear “life is messy, clean it up”. It lasts thirty seconds.
A man and a woman are playing in a hot tub. The announcer says “Hot tubs everywhere will be overflowing make sure your deck can take the heat with Thompson’s Wood Protector”. The shot pans to the product on the deck.
This takes thirty seconds.
“Tylenol house call. Information for healthy living”. Those words are used in the graphic. The show people with problems and how they get help. We see a graphic of a joint. The product is shown on a shelf. They compare it to other products. This commercial lasts thirty seconds.
A man is driving a red car on a paved open street. The scene turns into a calendar in his office with a note on the door saying “out sick”. The graphic Civic Coupe Honda appears. This takes thirty seconds.
Peter Jennings comes back. He says “Something is eating Washington”. Barry Serafin covers the story. We see the trees, water, and people. He says “four cherry trees have been killed so far”. They talk to National Park Service woman, Julia Long. She describes what did it. We see the beaver in the water holding the twigs. Barry Serafin shows the fencing that they are now using. The Park Service is trying to capture them and move them away. This story lasts two minutes.
Peter Jennings gives us a brief review. He tells us about the “Serbian and Albanian leaders meeting tomorrow, Spyros Kyprianou’s is still trying to free the soldiers, and the Pentagon says the NATO air strikes will go on with no interruption”. We see the clips of each item he talks about. Jennings says “That’s our news tonight. I hope you will join me later. He says what is coming up later. He ends with “This is Peter Jennings. I hope to see you tomorrow. Goodnight”. Last we see the studio with his name.
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