****UPDATE: FINAL RATINGS SINK LOWER
WHEN MORE TUNE IN TO WORLD NEWS THAN ABC SPECIAL, WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WOW VIEWERS?
A few disclosures will be sprinkled throughout this post, but first, I think I have a news crush on the astronaut, Mark Kelly. You know how when you meet a guy who’s so spectacular but taken, so you think, “is there a brother like him at home or did they throw away the mold after this one?” Well he’s got an identical twin.
my news crush began when I saw the healing hand of Capt. Mark Kelly
My news crush on Kelly began the moment I saw that photo: the close up of his hand grasping hers, “hers” being Gabrielle Giffords who the world now knows has been fighting for her life, and now is just fighting to return to her husband. Their love story was told by Diane Sawyer Tuesday night in a special edition of 20/20.
This ABC News exclusive, a story that is still developing daily, played to all the strengths of Sawyer. (Disclosure #2: I produced Diane’s interviews for 15 years. I acknowledge this not to reveal any personal bias, but more to state a truly academic knowledge of the art of the interview.)
In the broader Tuscon story, Capt. Kelly was “the get.” From the start, the killing rampage in Tuscon captured the hearts and minds of America. Anchors rushed to the scene. The nation was captivated. Over 2 million more people watched the combined evening newscasts than the week before.
The individual stories of the victims were both heart-breaking and heart-rendering… the nine year old who wanted to learn about democracy, the 30-year-old congressional aide who had just proposed to his girlfriend, the husband who was killed throwing his body over his childhood sweetheart to save her life. And now, the story of Gabby Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot in the head by the disenfranchised community college student who appears to be off his rocker.
Tuscon is an epic tragedy with, it turns out, many tenacles. It developed into a political drama as well and not just the debate sparked over use of crosshairs graphics or incendiary rhetoric. After the President of the United States arrived bedside and offered words so powerful and healing, his biggest critics agreed his speech to the local crowd in the gymnasium could mark a turning point in his presidency.
Obama’s revelation that Gabby Giffords had opened her eyes reminded us all, “Yes, we can.” And when the astronaut, or rather her knight in shining armour agreed to tell his story, their story to Diane Sawyer, I knew it was an hour not to miss. Who better to mine the interview, write the narrative and weave the various threads together into a tapestry of hope, faith and personal challenges.
*** UPDATED RATINGS Oddly, I was in the minority. Among adults 18 to 49, ABC News’ “Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly: The Congresswoman and The Astronaut” came in third Tuesday night with a 1.3 rating . CBS’ “The Good Wife” and NBC’s “Parenthood” tied for first with 2.1 rating each.
Among total viewers, (still preliminary) ABC News came in a distant second with an audience of 6.12 million viewers, less than Sawyer averages for World News. “The Good Wife” garnered 11.34 million total viewers. (These are The Nielsen Company Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings, 1/18/11, which were posted on ABC.com, and may be adjusted Friday.)
I’m just not sure what it will take for viewers to care. Had viewers moved on once they learned Gabrielle Giffords was going to make it? Did they not want to learn that the astronaut by her side had engraved her wedding ring with the words: “You are the closest to heaven I’ve ever been.”
This special definitely played to Sawyer’s strengths. The lyrical writing: “Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly: theirs not just a marriage, but an almost impossible convergence of earth and space high octane dreams. The congresswoman and the astronaut, unexpected soul mates who a friend said were in a perpetual state of newlyweds.”
Sawyer promised a to reveal ” lessons about crises, love and strength” and she delivered. The way she asked questions and then just shut up, letting Mark Kelly answer, reflect, answer some more. He talked about the other victims, attending the funeral of the nine-year-old — the girl he said, profoundly, was just there to learn about democracy.
The questions were simple and gentle like: “Does she recognize you?” That got a simple nod. Instead of following up with the obvious “How do you know?” Sawyer asked “What convinced you?” Mark Kelly then spent the next few minutes of the interview with wonderfully convincing details of how his wife plays with his wedding ring, takes it off, puts it back on, all with her left hand. This, he explained, was something she did before.
Then came more simple questions like, “Did they tell you what could happen (after this type of brain injury)?” “What did they say?”
At one point Kelly offers, “It’s got to be one of the hardest things. How do we explain to Gaby that Gabriel Zimmerman has died, that’s gonna be hard, hard… that Ron Barber almost died, that Pam Simon.. it’s a miracle that she survived… she really, truly loves these people.
“How do I explain to her there was a nine-year-old girl who was standing right in front of you , looking up to you, and now she’s gone. and all the others.. When do you do that?”
I have as many favorite questions as favorite answers. “How many more days can you sit here and hold her hand.” “As long as it takes,” he said. “Will you be on this valedictory (space shuttle) flight? (He hopes his wife will help him decide.) “Do you want her to go back in congress after this, do you really want her to go back.”
My favorite question was probably the toughest to ask: ” “Do you let yourself think of the fear?” Notice Sawyer didn’t ask, “Are you ever afraid,” or “How do you keep strong?” What I like so much about this question is that it presumes fear. It acknowledges his intelligence. It frames his optimism.
Oh how I love the art of the interview. If only we can get a bigger audience to appreciate it, too.
SO WHY DO YO THINK THE ABC NEWS SPECIAL DIDN’T GET A BIGGER AUDIENCE:
- Viewers had moved on
- Viewers are now primed to see more emotion than dignity
- Viewers now expect hand held camera in the ER, in the hospital room
- Viewers expect more emotion and involvement from the anchor
- other
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS.
a pop culture and news blog with no anony-mousity
shelley ross daily Xpress 
6 comments
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January 21, 2011 at 11:23 am
Gerri
To be honest, I am hooked on The Good Wife and wished the interview hadn’t aired opposite. And, since I’ve missed it, I’ve been looking to see when it will re-air and/or go online. I definitely feel bad I wasn’t watching, but wonder if many TVo’d the interview. I don’t think people have moved on, or the other choices you post above; perhaps it’s just too soon. Thanks for analyzing the carefully chosen words of Diane Sawyer.
January 21, 2011 at 11:54 am
Laurie Simons
Too little, too late. Timeliness is critically important and Sawyer was 10 days too late with this interview. And it was too long (didn’t warrant an hour) and it lacked a ‘new’ angle. People were mowed down by a crazed gunman and Sawyer talks about a love story between the congresswoman and her husband? Sawyer and ABC News, once again, missed the mark. No wonder their viewership is down. She’s lost her relevance and credibility. Retire, already.
January 27, 2011 at 3:31 am
John
It was probably one of Diane’s best interview in recent memory. But i have to give credit too to the editor. It was done very well, the scores and graphics fitted the entire interview/piece very well.
February 4, 2011 at 12:57 am
My My
Because we already know the canned questions (no matter how you mentally play with wording in your mind, Shelley, it’s still the same canned Q&A). And we already knew the answers. Surprise! – the public isn’t that blatantly stupid that they don’t know what it feels like to have your loved one suddenly injured or ill regardless what the cause, or can extrapolate it from other real life experiences. Violent crimes are no worse when they occur to a kind, loving elected official than when they happen to someone in East LA. The public has been saturated with similar tragedies on a variety of social scales for two decades or more. Only media people and soap opera devotees really find anyone’s personal tragedy exceptional on the basis of social standing.
We all feel badly for this loving couple but that does not translate into watching this television verbal volley of the obvious dialogue. A five minute wrap up is sufficient, and we got that in the follow up reporting. Done.
Frankly, no one is interested in the nuances of the word plays of a television broadcast interview, except for the people who once were in the industry, like you, but are no longer there and live on “once upon a time.”
October 2, 2011 at 4:25 am
David
Since you say that you produced Diane Sawyer’s interviews for 15 years, did you produce that interview that she had with Joe The Plumber?
I ask this because I remember her making a big mistake which likely mislead a lot of viewers with her poor math skills.
She had said to him something to the effect of the President is only going to have taxes raised by 3% from 36% to 39% and how can you be against that?
Well her math is bad because the difference between 36% and 39% is not 3% but is actually 8 and 1/3%.
For example, if the rate had gone from 36% to 39.6%, that would be a 10% increase (since 3.6 is 10% of 36). And so the increase of 36 to 39 is actually an increase of 8.3333%!
That’s terrible and I hope someone else has told her about this and that she apoligized on air for her poor math skills!
October 2, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Shelley Ross dailyXpress
David,
No, I was long gone by then. But I’m sure she would have wanted to avoid this mistake!