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From its inception in 1975, the MacNeil-Lehrer Report was seen by ABC, NBC and CBS as a noncompetitive follow-up to their newscasts. Indeed, some ads for the PBS show even urged viewers to watch a network newscast first. But now, in cities including New York, Washington, Miami and New Orleans, the NewsHour airs at the same time as the network shows and seeks to steal some viewers away. Says MacNeil: "We got tired of being only a supplement to the networks, and wanted to become an alternative...
...network news casts, second-half ratings rose substantially. The show has funds to last a year, with $13 million of the $22 million budget coming from A T & T grants. Says Senior Producer Phil Garvin: "We do not know if the hour show will even exist next year." ABC's Nightline, which initially borrowed the MacNeil-Lehrer Report's single-topic approach, emphasis on interviews and simple visual style, this April outpaced MacNeil and Lehrer in expanding to a multitopic hour; its ratings have dropped as much as 30%, and its focus has blurred...
...faces are different, though not very: the macho Texan on CBS, the winsome South Dakotan on NBC and the urbane Canadian on ABC are all white, lean and youthfully middleaged; all part their dark, wavy hair on the left. They do vary somewhat in manner: Dan Rather of CBS is intense, Tom Brokaw of NBC is quick to laugh or lament, and Peter Jennings of ABC is elegantly detached. The newscasts that they anchored last week, in heavily promoted head-to-head competition, were almost exactly alike, not only in content but in specific imagery...
...ABC News-Washington Post poll shows that when there are conflicting versions of events in Central America, 49% believe TV and newspaper reports, while 37% believe Reagan. Kristol regards Central America as "perhaps the most flagrant case" of polk confusing the public and inhibiting proper presidential action: "If the Administration believes it is crucial that Central America not go Castroite, it should say so emphatically, argue the case clearly, and then do what has to be done swiftly and successfully." Such macho rhetoric often goes flabbily vague at the critical moment: Does "what has to be done" mean overthrowing Castro...
...Says Reporter Zoe Levin, 36, of Kansas City's WDAF: "Today the emphasis on cosmetics applies to men as well.'' At the networks, some older male correspondents, including CBS Veterans George Herman, 63, and Robert Pierpoint, 58, have been pushed into secondary roles. When ABC and NBC realign their evening newscasts next month, the average age of the three lead network anchormen will be a relatively youthful 46. Says ABC News President Roone Arledge: "It is a fact of life-when your face is out there as your byline, cosmetic factors are involved." Arledge's attitude...