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>>> BACK TO "THE LEAD" NOW.
THE BURIED LEAD.
IT WAS AN HISTORIC FAREWELL,
COMPLETE WITH A PHALANX OF
CAMERA CREWS, CELEBRITIES, MORE
THAN 100 WORLD LEADERS PAST AND
PRESENT, BUT A NOTABLE NO-SHOW
AT TODAY'S MEMORIAL FOR NELSON
MANDELA, NETWORK NEWS ANCHORS.
ONLY NBC'S BRIAN WILLIAMS WAS ON
HAND TO WITNESS HISTORY.
WAS IT A MEDIA SNUB OR WAS IT
JUST A SIGN OF THE TIMES?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITES
QUOTE, THE MOOD SHOWS HOW
ECONOMICS AND A DWINDLING
INTEREST IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS
ARE CHANGING THE BIGGEST
BROADCAST NETWORKS.
WHERE A DECADE AGO THERE WOULD
HAVE BEEN LITTLE QUESTION THAT
THEIR MOST PROMINENT FACES WOULD
BE ON HAND FOR SUCH A BIG STORY.
JOINING ME TO DISCUSS, SENIOR
CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, BRIAN
STELTER.
I SHOULD NOTE OUR COLLEAGUES
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, ANDERSON
COOPER, CHRIS CUOMO, ALL MADE
THE TRIP.
THIS OBVIOUSLY ISN'T ABOUT
BRAGGING RIGHTS, IT'S ABOUT THE
CHANGING FACE OF NEWS.
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THIS
NOTABLE ABSENCE?
>> THERE WAS A TIME AND AN AGE
WHEN ALL THREE NIGHTLY NEWS
ANCHORS WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE.
WHERE ANCHORS GO, ATTENTION
FOLLOWS, AND I WAS PRETTY
SURPRISED TO SEE THAT DIANNE
SAWYER DID NOT TRAVEL TO SOUTH
AFRICA FOR THE MEMORIAL SERVICE
OR FOR THE OTHER SERVICES THIS
WEEK.
BUT ABC AND CBS, FOLKS THERE
WOULD SAY IT'S A DIFFERENT TIME
AND DIFFERENT AGE NOW, AND THAT
IT'S BETTER TO HAVE REPORTERS
WHO HAVE COVERED MANDELA ALL HIS
LIFE ACTUALLY THERE WHILE HAVING
THE ANCHORS BACK IN STUDIO.
THEY SAY THIS ATTITUDE THAT I'M
EXPRESSING IS KIND OF OBSOLETE.
>> LET ME PLAY DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
WITH YOU.
DIANE IS A FRIEND.
I UNDERSTAND THEIR ARGUMENT.
THERE JUST ISN'T THE INTEREST IN
WORLD NEWS AMONG THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE AND THERE ISN'T THE
MONEY, IT'S INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE
TO BROADCAST FROM A PLACE LIKE
JOHANNESBURG.
>> OR ANY OF THE WAR ZONES THAT
THE UNITED STATES FINDS ITSELF,
YOU KNOW, INVOLVED IN RIGHT NOW.
I SOMETIMES THINK TO MYSELF IF
ONE OF THE NIGHTLY NEWS ANCHORS
WHO HAS EIGHT OR NINE OR TEN
MILLION VIEWERS A NIGHT WENT TO
AFGHANISTAN EVERY FEW MONTHS AND
GAVE US AN UPDATE ON THE WAR
THERE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MIGHT
REMEMBER THE WARS IN THE SAME
WAY THAT IF THEY WERE TO GO TO
SOUTH AFRICA, WE WOULD BE MORE
AWARE OF THE MANDELA MEMORIAL
SERVICE.
BUT YOU KNOW, THAT MIGHT BE AN
ARGUMENT THAT WAS MORE TRUE TEN
YEARS AGO THAN IT IS NOW.
AFTER ALL, IF YOU WANT TO LEARN
ABOUT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE
TODAY, THERE IS ENDLESS AMOUNTS
OF INFORMATION ABOUT IT ONLINE,
ON THE INTERNET, INCLUDING FROM
ARTICLES FROM ABC AND CBS AND
OTHER OUTLETS THAT DIDN'T SEND
ANCHORS THERE.
THIS IS MAYBE AN EXAMPLE OF THE
CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE, WHERE
THE INTERNET IS PROVIDING MOST
INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND WHERE
TELEVISION IS MORE FOCUSED ON
DOMESTIC NEWS.
>> I WONDER IF ANYONE IS WILLING
TO SUGGEST THAT MAYBE THE
VIEWERS ARE JUST NOT AS
INTERESTED IN THE WARS,
AFGHANISTAN OR BEFORE THAT,
IRAQ, OR INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
AND ULTIMATELY, THIS BEING A
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, WE'RE
BEHOLDEN TO THEM IN WHAT THEY
WANT.
>> THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT PART
OF THAT THAT IS TRUE.
I FOUND MYSELF THINKING EARLIER
TODAY WHEN I READ THAT
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE YOU
QUOTED, IF AMERICAN VIEWERS
REALLY WANTED MORE COVERAGE OF
AFRICA, THEN THERE WOULD BE MORE
COVERAGE OF AFRICA.
RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE VERY SMALL
BUREAUS IN AFRICA AMONG THE
THREE MAJOR NETWORKS, ABC FOR
EXAMPLE HAS SOMEONE IN NAIROBI
BUT NO ONE IN JOHANNESBURG, JUST
TO GIVE ONE EXAMPLE.
IF AMERICAN VIEWERS REALLY,
REALLY WANTED MORE COVERAGE,
THERE WOULD BE MORE COVERAGE
BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE REACTING
TO THE MARKET DEMAND.
INSTEAD, WHAT AMERICAN VIEWERS
ARE MORE INTERESTED IN, IT SEEMS
LIKE, IS COVERAGE OF ISSUES HERE
IN THE UNITED STATES.
OF COURSE, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED
IN WORLD NEWS, THERE HAS NEVER
BEEN MORE OF IT ONLINE.