The 6th.
CNN Gains on Fox During Katrina
CNN made significant ratings gains on Fox News during the networks’ coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.From a rating of 0.5 before the hurricane, CNN rose to a 2.0 – although it still lagged behind Fox’s 2.3 rating.
A particularly poignant moment in CNN’s coverage came on the Monday night following landfall, when veteran reporter Jeanne Meserve was interviewed by Aaron Brown after she had gone out into the flooded streets of New Orleans with rescuers.
Meserve broke down in tears as she described hearing "people yelling for help and no one can get to them.”
Said Brown: "Jeanne Meserve has been on the team for almost 15 years, I think. She is a very tough, capable, strong reporter, and she met her match on a story tonight.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper also left an impression on viewers when, during an interview with Sen. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, he seemingly lost his temper and told her, "I’ve been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry and very frustrated.”
The New York Times reported: "Mr. Cooper’s well-shaded outrage – he stopped just short of editorializing – elicited the kind of anger that has been mostly missing from a toothless press.”
