For Once, They're on The Same Wavelength

[BEER980]

For Once, They're on The Same Wavelength

Is it possible for the nation's TV network behemoths to put aside ego and ultra-competitive impulses in the service of -- gasp! -- the common good?'
Tom Ridge evidently believes so. Tuesday night in New York, the secretary of homeland security dined with anchors Peter Jennings of ABC, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Aaron Brown of CNN, as well as CBS News President Andrew Heyward, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and ABC News President David Westin. The moguls convened at the home of Steven Brill, founder of Court TV, chairman of the nonprofit America Prepared Campaign and author of "After," a book about the nation's recovery from Sept. 11, 2001. The session was off the record, but one goal was said to be improving reporting after a devastating attack by making immediate information more helpful to the public. One novel approach: Put on "terrorism experts" who are actually experts. Instead of filling air time, they could talk about the impact of, say, radiological devices or poisons like ricin.
"The dinner was a wide-ranging discussion about international terrorism and domestic security," Jennings told us yesterday. "The topics included the challenge for the networks if, God forbid, there was ever another catastrophe similar to 9/11."

Ridge spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the meeting had been in the works since last spring and described it as "an opportunity for the secretary to seek the advice of those in the news business on how we can better provide them with information in times of crisis."

Source