They've gone back to the archives, to repackage the old coverage, to seek out officials now mellowed, protesters grown to pillars of respectability. While Vietnam-era Republican conventions never quite generated such footage, preparations for San Diego also require a trip down archival lane. Network planners assume Buchanan will be a force in San Diego. It's possible we'll assign a reporter to him. Some things, seemingly, never change when the media tribes converge at party time.
Television has the choicest work spaces, the largest staffs, the best buffets.
Worse for ABC News' image and its esprit, parent Disney Company killed plans for an all-news cable channel. Still, O'Neill promises a committment of money and people to match the 400-plus crew deployed in Houston and New York four years ago. Peter Jennings and the World News Tonight staff will arrive the week prior to each convention and stay through the next Friday. As he did in 1992, Dan Rather will anchor CBS' coverage from a floor position. We're not closed off.