Major networks keep anchors home for Gaza story

ABC, CBS and NBC haven't sent their top news anchors to the Middle East to cover Israel's conflict with Hamas, even though each network did so in 2006 when Israel fought a war with Hezbollah. The networks said their decisions had nothing to do with economics, even though it comes at a difficult time when the news divisions are making retrenchments in overseas coverage. Rather, they said it had more to do with a busy news period and restrictions placed on coverage of the fighting. CNN sent its top personality, Anderson Cooper, to Israel for the story. He returned to the United States on Wednesday after two days in Israel, in part because of access questions. Sending a top anchor out into the field is how TV news organizations traditionally define a major story. ABC's Charles Gibson and NBC's Brian Williams both anchored evening newscasts from the Middle East in mid-July 2006 when Israel invaded Lebanon. CBS' Bob Schieffer, predecessor to Katie Couric, spent two days there. July is often a relatively quiet period for news. But now the United States is two weeks away from inaugurating a new president, the economy is in crisis and progress is being made in Washington on a stimulus package, said Jon Banner, executive producer of ABC's "World News." When Gibson goes on location, it generally means the bulk of the broadcast is devoted to that story. There's too much going on right now to do that, Banner said. With Israel not permitting print or TV correspondents to enter Gaza to see the conflict, CBS figured Couric wouldn't be able to accomplish much by being there. Any interviews she gets could easily be done by satellite, said Paul Friedman, CBS News senior vice president. Better access would make it a tougher decision, he said. "It's just not value-added," he said. "It's just not worth it." The Associated Press has been able to get past some of the restrictions because it has a reporter who lives in Gaza. The Israeli army on Wednesday also permitted two TV crews to accompany soldiers on patrol on a deserted street in an unidentified part of Gaza. Cooper complained about the restrictions in a blog entry for CNN's Web site. "It's an odd routine, covering this conflict," Cooper wrote. "On a hilltop overlooking Gaza, dozens of journalists gather each day, training their lenses on a battle they can barely see. It's not how we would choose to cover this conflict, but ... this is as close as most of us can get." The broadcast networks insisted finances had nothing to do with their decisions on Couric, Gibson and Williams, pointing out that each of them had their top overseas correspondents on the story–as did Fox News Channel. "This is an editorial decision at this point," said Bob Epstein, executive producer of NBC's "Nightly News." "We have a big investment in there now. To put Brian in there is a marginal cost." With the bad economy, the networks have looked overseas for cost savings. In recent weeks, before the Gaza conflict started, CBS laid off staff in foreign bureaus, including Tel Aviv. ABC News said on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the BBC to have the British broadcaster supply breaking news coverage of Iraq. ABC said it would still send reporters such as Martha Raddatz in for specific stories, but no longer will a full-time ABC correspondent–most recently Terry McCarthy–be stationed in the country. One indication that budgetary questions weren't keeping Couric out of Israel is that it is the beginning of a fiscal year, Friedman said. "If it were late in the year, I might answer differently," he said. "But right now we've got new budgets and I can send her in and worry about it later. I'm being dead serious."