Hurricane Blows Networks' Convention Coverage Off Course
Anchors Go 'Where The Big News Is'

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 1, 2008

ST. PAUL, Aug. 31 -- On the eve of what was supposed to be the Republicans' week in the media spotlight, every network is suddenly turning into the Weather Channel.

Hurricane Gustav, sweeping its way toward the Gulf region, blew away most of the political coverage here Sunday as many of the assembled journalists turned their attention away from the Republican National Convention. And with the star anchors -- NBC's Brian Williams, ABC's Charlie Gibson, CBS's Katie Couric, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Fox's Shepard Smith-- being dispatched to the Gulf, it is already clear that Sen. John McCain's convention will receive considerably less television exposure than the Democrats did when they nominated Sen. Barack Obama in Denver last week.

"It's kind of a no-brainer," Kate O'Brian, ABC's senior vice president, said of the decision to send Gibson to New Orleans. "Charlie goes where the big news is. . . . I don't think it's going to be looked at as a fairness issue when the Republicans are making the same decisions we are."

By suspending all but minor business functions for Monday's session, McCain's team essentially ratified the media's decision that the mass evacuation ordered in advance of a life-threatening hurricane is, for the moment, a more compelling story.

"Is life fair?" asked Paul Friedman, CBS's senior vice president. "The Republicans clearly are going to be losing the opportunity for at least one hour of prime-time coverage. We delayed the decision until we did enough reporting in both places to know that the Republicans are dialing back and it became apparent that this thing was really going to hit" the Gulf Coast.

NBC News President Steve Capus said that "striking a balance" was on his mind when he encouraged Williams to fly from Minneapolis to St. Louis, where he interviewed McCain for Sunday's "NBC Nightly News," before his charter continued on to Baton Rouge.

"There's a tremendous amount of interest in the Republican convention," Capus said. "The selection of Governor Palin has captured the nation's attention and imagination, and they're desperate for more information about her. There's no way we're going to abandon the Republican convention."

Some GOP officials are privately telling network executives that the bulk of the four-day extravaganza could be compressed into a single night on Thursday, when McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, would make their acceptance speeches. If that happens, and Gustav does not reach the destructive fury of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the networks could recoup millions of dollars in advertising revenue by airing their usual entertainment fare instead of hourlong prime-time specials on the convention or the storm.

For the 24-hour cable networks, which thrive on what is dubbed "extreme weather," covering a hurricane could produce a bigger audience than a series of speeches at the Xcel Energy Center.

"Look, there are lives at stake," said David Bohrman, CNN's Washington bureau chief. "There is interest when tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated and there's a very large storm headed yet again into New Orleans. People who love politics understand what is happening. You can't be seen having a party while fellow Americans are fighting for their lives down in the Gulf."

Still, said Marty Ryan, Fox News's executive producer, the fairness question "is a real issue. Everyone covered the Democratic convention full tilt last week. The Republicans made it easier for everyone by canceling things for the next 24 hours." At the moment, he added, "they're certainly on the short end of it."

Even if there had been no hurricane, McCain was unlikely to match the 38 million people who watched Obama last week, the highest Nielsen ratings since convention audiences began to be measured in 1960. But even an audience half that size offers McCain the best opportunity of the campaign to deliver an unfiltered message. When party infighting delayed George McGovern's acceptance speech until 3 a.m. at the 1972 Democratic convention, it was seen as a major blow to his candidacy.

The temporary suspension of this week's convention speeches, however, does not mean McCain has been shut out in the coverage. The Arizona senator was carried live on the cable networks Sunday when he announced that Gustav was too dangerous to proceed with politics as usual.

Given that Monday's scheduled speeches by President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been canceled, "this is an easy way to show how different McCain is from Bush," said Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, a veteran Republican strategist. "Everyone at the convention is having a heart attack, but I'm not sure it hurts politically to have a hurricane right now."

Amanda Carpenter, managing editor of the conservative Web site Townhall.com, said of McCain's aides: "If there's any angle they want the media to cover, it's putting country first. That's going to be a lot different than 80,000 screaming fans at Invesco Field," where Obama made his acceptance speech. The danger, she added, is if journalists begin to question "whether McCain is using this for opportunism."

While television always plays up hurricanes, Gustav carries special resonance because of the potential similarities to Katrina, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, which also became a symbol of the Bush administration's lack of competence in dealing with the aftermath. "There are so many levels to it," said ABC's O'Brian. "The timing, the place, the lessons learned from three years ago, versus a convention where arguably there is no breaking news."

Television executives stressed that they will cover what remains of the convention. But with no presidential nominating convention ever having been delayed for external reasons, they were poised to make decisions on an hour-by-hour basis.

"It's completely uncharted territory for everyone here," Bohrman said.

Howard Kurtz hosts CNN's weekly media program, "Reliable Sources."