A Different Path for Hurricane Campbell
It's probably the most important story about the media's coverage of Hurricane Katrina that you didn ' t read: Today, Weekend Edition coanchor Campbell Brown 's gutsy and heartfelt reports cemented her position as NBC's top choice to replace the Today show's Katie Couric. "Campbell's stock has really surged," says a key network insider. While network suits hope Couric will stay with NBC next year, she is considered a leading candidate for the nightly news anchor jobs at ABC and CBS.
How Brown vaulted to the front of the pack is an unusual industry story, fully on display during Katrina. Long urged to "girlie up" her image, as her competitors have, Brown has chosen instead to report from places like Baghdad and New Orleans. "It's very hard," she says, "to take comments like that seriously when you're standing in the aftermath of a hurricane and you haven't showered for three days." Brown's not just a news junkie but also a hurricane hound: Last year's Ivan leveled her parents' Florida home. Even before Katrina hit, she flew south, lived out of a car, and ate PowerBars and SpaghettiOs. Her big score was finding 9-year-old Charles Evans, who guided her around the ghastly convention center. "I was in tears," she says. Ironically, it was her undolled-up looks and go-get-'em attitude that jazzed NBC insiders. Groupies loved the T-shirts and wrinkled shorts, too. "What," she joshes, "you had a problem with that?"
Another Win for 'Friends & Allies'
When John G. Roberts is approved as chief justice of the United States, as expected, he can thank President Bush 's "Friends & Allies" program, which went to work on him immediately after he was nominated. The project, started by the Republican National Committee in the 2004 re-election campaign, is simple and effective: Give opinion makers, media friends, and even cocktail party hosts insider info on the topic of the day. How? Through E-mailed talking points, called D.C. Talkers, and conference calls. For Roberts, it worked this way: A daily conference call to about 80 pundits, GOP-leaning radio and TV hosts, and newsmakers was made around 9 a.m. On the other end were the main Roberts gunslingers like Steve Schmidt at the White House and Ken Mehlman and Brian Jones at the RNC. D.C. Talkers would then be distributed to an even larger list filled with positive info about Roberts and lines of attack on his critics. "The idea," said one of those involved, "is to feed them information and have them invested in us." It has even created addicts, he added. "Now they come to us before going on TV."
Jumping Back in the Saddle--Too Soon
Ex-FEMA Administrator Michael Brown seems to be doing for his career what he did for the beleaguered agency. Less than a week after FEMA's dismal Hurricane Katrina response forced Brown out of the agency, he has been shopping his resume to headhunters and Washington PR firms. And it's not working. "He's radioactive," said one exec. An ally of Brownie in the PR world said he should have waited a month before starting his job hunt. "It's just a bad play."
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