Word: msnbc
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Step 1 is now complete," a portentous voice proclaims in one oft-run commercial for MSNBC, the all-news channel from Microsoft Corp. and NBC that debuted to much fanfare last week. But Step 1--putting a professional-looking news operation on the air, with plenty of glitz and gab and good-looking TV personalities--was easy. The hard part came when news broke...
...when reports began filtering in about an aircraft exploding off the coast of Long Island, New York. It was one of those defining moments for a TV news organization: trying to make sense of a big breaking story from the first sketchy information without making a fool of yourself. MSNBC won the initial bragging rights: it aired the first bulletin on the crash a full eight minutes before CNN did. After that, however, 16-year-old CNN proved more resourceful and surefooted...
...Guard, had telephone accounts from eyewitnesses earlier (courtesy of two of its New York TV affiliates), and brought a former National Transportation Safety Board official, Vernon Grose, into the studio for some valuable perspective. CNN showed a tape of TWA's first press conference at 11:30 p.m. EST; MSNBC didn't get to it until an hour later. Anchor Williams, meanwhile, was forced to pause at regular intervals, compose himself for the camera and start all over again--to provide updates for NBC affiliates picking up MSNBC's feed. The new channel's one coup: stunning live pictures...
...earlier, calmer part of the week, MSNBC had made a creditable debut. The well-hyped challenger to CNN brought some big guns to the competition: top NBC correspondents like Andrea Mitchell and Gwen Ifill contributed updates on major stories during the day, and network stars like Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric and Bob Costas took turns as host of a nightly interview show called InterNight. (Just how long they will continue to do double-duty for MSNBC remains to be seen.) With its pleasantly bustling set, slick presentation and hot-wired anchors, MSNBC made CNN look a little dowdy...
...News president Andrew Lack blamed some of MSNBC's difficulties after the crash on the fact that so much of NBC's production resources are in Atlanta for the Olympics. Still, he praised the channel's performance. "We were working in an emergency situation with a group of people who have known each other for barely 90 days," he said, "and I thought we did a remarkable job. Frankly, I can't conceive being tested under more adverse conditions. And the system held...