Day Two Of AC360's Coverage Of The Unfolding Disaster In Haiti

Hi everyone. Tonight CNN and the 360 kids produced another stellar broadcast. The magnitude of the situation in Haiti is still almost too much to really get a handle on. Anderson Cooper himself alluded to this today in an interview with the Huffington Post's Danny Shea. It's worth a read, especially the part about Pat Robertson's despicable comments. Our anchor is nothing if not classy and diplomatic.

Despite 360's minor technical problems at the top of the first hour, I've been impressed at their ability to keep things running smoothly. I know a lot of newsers have been having problems. CNN had a lot of issues earlier yesterday, and today Brian Williams had to do part of his Nightly News broadcast by talking into a satellite phone. So kudos to whoever are the technical whiz kids.

As far as the show goes, all the reporting stood out. But I guess if I had to pick one image that will stick with me, it's seeing the unidentified bodies literally dumped from a truck, as if they were just construction waste or something. Former human beings treated like trash. Sickening, yet understandable. People going to their grave forgotten is something that obviously especially bothers Anderson--it's a theme that's been evident in his prior reporting on other stories. His piece tonight was pretty heartbreaking.

Ivan Watson continues to impress me enormously. He needs to be on CNN Domestic more. I watched a lot of his reporting earlier today and couldn't turn away from his story about the trapped little girl. Another one of those kind of must-watch stories was Sanjay Gupta treating that 15 day old baby. We got to see the correspondent in Doctor Mode, and if you watched how sweet he was to that little girl, I'd guess we saw a little bit of Dad Mode too.

Thank God for Gary Tuchman bringing us some positive news. It was nice to see a rescue with no injuries. Also, though I know he was hesitant to bring it up, I very much appreciated the humor regarding the woman being trapped in the candy aisle. If I am ever God forbid trapped in a horrible disaster, the candy aisle would totally be one of my top location choices.

Anderson's piece from the prison was really interesting. I like how they went a little C.S.I. on us, determining by the hand prints and rope that prisoners had escaped down the side of the building. Finally, also notable in the broadcast was Joe Johns' "Keeping Them Honest" reporting about Haiti. It kinda made me dread where we'll be at with this story in the coming months. Will there be a political fight about aid? Will the country be abandoned once the cameras leave? Only time will tell.

I realize these blog posts might be a bit of a disappointment to my regular readers, but I just can't fathom doing a review right now. I'm actually finding Twitter to be a more desirable medium when it comes to covering this story. I've been doing a lot of Haiti-related tweeting, so give me a follow if you're not already (@newsjunkie365). I've also set up a special Twitter List of journalists and a few others on-the-ground in Haiti. And as always, check out CNN Impact to learn how to help.

Most of us have probably already heard a variation on this, but here's Anderson talking to Charlie Rose. Below are some of Thursday's most noteworthy videos, beginning with Sanjay Gupta treating a baby with a severe head laceration:



Ivan Watson reports live on the attempted rescue of a young girl trapped under rubble. We learn on 360 that the rescue had finally occurred:



Anderson Cooper's piece on the cemetery, as well as Gary Tuchman's live report about the rescues he witnessed and his interview with rescue workers:



Finally, at the risk of up-ending the universe, I'm posting a clip from Fox News--yes, Fox News (ZOMG!)--that I think you should see. I've always liked Shepherd Smith, and Steve Harrigan's reporting here is pretty incredible to watch:



That's all for now. Let's hope tomorrow is a little bit better for Haiti.

CNN Delivers Excellent Coverage From On-The-Ground In Haiti

Hi everyone. Wow. As noted in my last post, I do a lot of criticizing on this blog (well-deserved, in my opinion), but boy did our CNN friends kick some major ass tonight. To put it simply, the broadcast was riveting--each piece seemed to be more heartbreaking than the next. Given the circumstances, I'm afraid a review in my snarky blog voice would seem wildly out-of-place, and even a general recap wouldn't do the reports justice.

So really, I don't have a huge amount to say. A couple of references were made to Hurricane Katrina during the broadcast, and watching all of today's coverage, I was really struck at how similar the situation felt to me as a viewer. There was even a moment earlier today where Anderson Cooper said the word "devastating" in such a way that my mind instantaneously flashed back to a moment during Katrina. A different setting (and perhaps now a bit more muscle bulk on our anchor), but disturbing similarities.

Even some of the players are the same. It was actually during the aftermath of Katrina that I learned the names of Gary Tuchman and Chris Lawrence. Then here they were tonight, again producing impressive reporting that surely made some other viewer pay attention to them for the first time. It was also great to see Ivan Watson, who rarely gets to appear on CNN domestic. And of course I always love Sanjay Gupta.

Regarding the chaos that broke out behind Anderson Cooper's live shot, instances like those are what I refer to as "true reality TV." We live in a world where 99.9 percent of what we see--even news--is packaged and filtered for our consumption. But every once in a while (moments during 9-11, Katrina, Sago, even Nic Robertson fleeing his live shot in Iraq), something raw and astonishing occurs. What happened tonight was amazing, though beyond disconcerting, especially given the likelihood that it will be a very long time before many Haitians are helped. I thought CNN/Anderson handled a very uncertain situation well.

As noted in my last post, CNN has set up a page that lists organizations offering Haiti relief. Help if you can! Also, like with the Iran uprising, Twitter is proving to be pretty huge regarding this story. I've set up a special Twitter List of journalists (and a few others) tweeting from on-the-ground in the country. Also, I've been doing a lot of tweeting myself, so...follow me (@newsjunkie365). That about does it. Below are some of the videos I've been able to find from tonight's broadcast. Keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.


True reality TV. False rumors of flooding and a possible tsunami cause panicked chaos behind Anderson Cooper's live shot. Later we would learn the rumors were started to get people to drop their belongings and flee. Horrible.:



Ivan Watson's heartbreaking report from a medical clinic:



Gary Tuchman's amazing report from the streets of Haiti, as well as him talking with Anderson afterward:



Anderson's intro of the broadcast, and his piece on the rescue of a 13-year-old girl from beneath the rubble: