So, I had all three major network affiliates taped from 11am to 1pm. Only the major three, because they are typically the channels people in the Capital Region turn to, to receive their information. It is important to point out I had all intentions of taping FOX23 News’ coverage, however Sunday, not Monday, was taped from 11am to 1pm (because of human error). It is also important to note that my critiques are strictly from 11am on, so if the coverage started before 11am, which they all did, it was note taped, so I will not be critiquing it. And finally, my notes are strictly from the live coverage, not the evening newscasts or online coverage of the President’s visit.
CBS6 News:
CBS6 had their 5pm anchors Liz Bishop and Jerry Gretzinger anchor the coverage live from their Niskayuna studios, with many reporters live on location throughout the region. At the airport, CBS6 morning anchor Teresa Priolo was doing live reports, as the President arrived.
Also live in studio, before the President spoke, Jerry and Liz were joined by Jeff Lawrance, from the Center for Economic Growth. This was smart of channel 6, because they knew they would have to fill time while the President was getting a tour of an HVCC classroom. Their conversation with Lawarnce was focused more on the economic side of it (obviously), and less the political side. During this waiting period, they also used a report that CBS 6 reporter Randy Simons filed earlier in which he gauged peoples’ reaction about the President’s visit. Also, Ashe Reardon’s report (which was re-used from the Sunday night newscasts) was used in this waiting period, to help explain what it took, logistically, for the president’s trip to go off smoothly. Thankfully, CBS6 had all of these reports and guests ready before the speech, seeing as how the President didn’t speech until closer to noon. 
Greg Floyd, along with Marci Natale, stationed inside HVCC, talked about politics (amongst other things) while showing a live picture of the Governor, Andrew Cuomo and other politicians. Greg also brought up the fact that NYS’s two senators weren’t there, saying maybe it was because they wanted to shine the light on Scott Murphy and Paul Tonko. Greg, Liz and Jerry also spoke about reports that were leaked about Obama’s supposed discouragement of Governor Patterson’s run at the 2010 NYS gubernatorial race. 
While watching CBS6’s coverage, around 11:48am, Jim Kambrich from NewsChannel 13 was in the view of channel 6’s camera, and was actually on channel 6; which I thought was interesting, eventually this blooper was realized and the camera got tighter on Greg Floyd.A little before noon, Jill Biden came onto the podium to introduce Obama, who then gave his speech. After the speech, around 12: 32 Jerry, alongside Liz, talked about how great it was to cover the President’s visit on channel 6 and then CBS6 went back to regular programming, which I didn’t think was a good idea, and never came back on until the 5pm newscasts, not covering the President’s departure live on air. Because they did this, CBS6 came in last, in my opinion, of how they covered Obama’s visit, on air. It is important to note that for the hour plus CBS6 was on air, their coverage was very comprehensive.
News10
(NOTE: unfortunately WTEN doesn’t have the time associated with their lower right hand corner logo, so, because I was watching it on tape, I can’t compare WTEN’s coverage with the other stations –based on the time)
News10’s Elisa Streeter and Annie Scholz, (who has been at WTEN, and presumably in the Capital Region, for less than a year –she started at WTEN in May, according to her online bio) were anchoring the coverage live from their Northern Blvd. studios.
Also on air live during the special report was evening anchor, Steve Ammerman; he was stationed at the airport (here it should be noted that the quality of the mic Steve had was very poor).
He narrated the arrival of the president, including Obama/Patterson’s awkward handshake and hug. Of course, Monday was Lydia Kulbida’s first day at WTEN; she was at HVCC. News10’s coverage basically consisted of Lydia, Annie, and Elisa having conversations live on News10, they also had no reporter at the motorcade, like WNYT did, they did have live video; as did all of the other stations. For most of their coverage, News10 used a two box/split screen format, with Annie and Elisa
in a big box, and the live picture of the events in the smaller box. WTEN, unlike WRGB & WNYT had no ‘experts’ in their studio. Interestingly, News10 inserted a taped interview with Joe Bruno into their coverage before the President's speech; they also noted that is currently under investigation. They also re-aired the landing of air force one, before the speech, in case someone missed it; however, the should have put a “moments ago” graphic up because if someone really was just tuning in they may have been confused about why there were two boxes with video on the screen. Like WRGB, WTEN also had interviews of HVCC students in the time leading up to the President’s speech. 
During the speech, like NewsChannel 13, News10 also put quotes from the President on their lower 3rds during the speech. After the speech News10 didn’t really have an analysis from any ‘experts,’ but Elisa and company re-capped what Obama said in his speech. They also spoke about how Joe Bruno and NYS’s two senators were noticeably absent. John McLoughlin was not a part of WTEN’s live coverage, but was on News10’s evening newscasts. After Elisa, Lydia, and Annie were done re-capping the speech, they went to Steve Ammerman back at the airport and then they stopped their special report and went back to regular programming. Unlike CBS6, News10 did come back to cover Obama’s departure from the Albany International Airport, again, with Steve Ammerman. This time with major mic issues, so much so that they had to leave Steve, but he did come back on air with an apology as soon as the issue was fixed. The constant talking between the three (very talented) ladies was a little boring, and awkward because sometimes they would talk over each other. While ‘The News Stations’ live coverage was a little lax, they sort of made up for it on the latter newscasts; though one had to wonder if it was more important to have better coverage at 4pm or during the live special coverage? Also while watching, I wondered what it must have been like for Lydia to be working so close to her former co-anchor Jim Kambrich, still at NewsChannel 13 –because all of the media were corralled (as it seemed) into one area at HVCC.
NewsChannel 13
NewsChannel 13 did something I thought was very interesting, and not in a good way, they only had one anchor, Benita Zahn, in the studio. While that didn’t work, what did work was the thee in-studio ‘experts’- Joe Bruno; Dr. Edward Cupoli, Prof of Nanoeconomics, from UAlbany; and Hugh Johnson. NewsChannel 13 also had a fleet of reporters scattered throughout the Capital Region.Abigail Bleck was along the motorcade route (NewsChannel 13 was the only station that had a reporter stationed in such a location). Jessica Layton, ‘Live at 11’ co-anchor, was stationed at the airport. Inside HVCC, Jim Kambrich. Outside of HVCC, in the parking lot, NewsChannel 13’s Sabrina Dhammi was stationed. When all of these reporters were on air, the reports were very shot and to the point, which was good because it is better then listening to reporters blab about nothing.
Because there was down time before the President spoke, Benita Zahn talked about every and anything related to the President’s visit with her three studio guests. She talked about the unemployment numbers with Hugh Johnson. She also asked Joe Bruno what he would talk about/ask the President, which I thought was a great question. She also asked Hugh Johnson about what he thought Obama had to say, dealing with the economic side of the speech. Then, 11:41am Benita Zahn asked the question “Why HVCC?”, she then explained with a sound bite and more details about HVCC, with aid of a graphic.
One of the best parts of NewsChannel 13’s coverage was their use of Twitter. The only other station do anything like this is CBS6; they use people’s comments from Liz and Jerry’s Facebook pages, during their 5:30pm newscast. I was really impressed with NewsChannel 13’s use of Twitter during their live, special report.
At 11:54am, Jill Biden introduced Obama, who then spoke. During Obama’s speech NewsChannel 13’s lower 3rds had quotes of what Obama said; which was a good idea.
After the speech, while CBS6 left coverage Sabrina Dhammi had live interviews with Ron Canestrari (D - Cohoes) Congressmen Paul Tonko (D - Amsterdam) in her HVCC parking lot location. They also went back to Jim K. in HVCC, and had more tweets from viewers. Interestingly, while the President was visiting, another major story broke. And at 12:43, NewsChannel 13 reported the breaking news, that three people were arrested in connection to Richard Bailey’s murder (News10 also reported this breaking news, I just can not give an exact time). A little before one, NewsChannel 13 Education reporter, Elaine Houston did a report about Obama’s tour of the campus. NewsChannel 13 also covered Obama’s departure, which CBS6 did not, live on air. Jessica Layton was stationed at the airport. Showing that she grew up in the Capital Region, Jess talked about how impressed she was that Obama mentioned Schenectady and all of the industries associated with the electric city.
Overall, NewsChannel 13 had the best coverage of the three affiliates, despite that fact that the set up of NewsChannel 13’s coverage, only one anchor, the odd arrangement of the ‘experts’ on the set; was a definite fail, yet the fact they had so many reporters and ‘experts’ was a win, and that’s more important then lousy camera angles. So, what channel did you watch, and what did you think of the coverage of the President's visit? Or, did you only watch online? Or were you not able to watch at all?
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