CNN GOES TO COMMERCIAL DURING LIVE OBAMA ADDRESS

CNN appeared to be asleep at the wheel on Saturday when it failed to provide live audio coverage of President Obama’s statement in Brazil about the U.S.’s planned intervention in Libya. While Fox News and MSNBC aired it live, CNN was broadcasting a commercial and made no mention of it until after the president had finished speaking, when it went to a report from correspondent Ed Henry, who was traveling with the president. On its website on Saturday, Broadcasting & Cable commented: “How bad does it look for a network that prides itself on its breaking news coverage to be on commercial when the President of the United States is announcing U.S. military action against another Muslim country? Pretty darn bad.” Meanwhile ABC’s Diane Sawyer interrupted coverage of the Indian Wells tennis tournament to provide a live report on President Obama’s remarks and later CBS apparently had no reluctance to break into its coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament for a special report on the U.S. action to create a “no fly” zone.