Baby Jessica and Long-Form News - Gabrielle
Answer
Who was Jessica McClure?
Jessica McClure was an 18 month old child who fell into an 8” wide well in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, Texas on October 14, 1987. The shaft widened below ground to roughly 12-14 inches diameter, where Jessica dropped 22 feet. She was rescued after 58 ½ hours, and suffered little long term issues beyond skin grafts on her forehead and amputation of a little toe. Her rescue was shown on Cable News Network, or CNN, whose ratings shot up as people tuned in to find out more information than they could get from the three main broadcasting networks NBC, ABC and CBS. 3.1 million people watched the rescue live, which, at the time, was the largest audience to ever watch CNN. Pew Research listed the story as being the fifth most closely followed story from the years 1987-1997.
What role did 24 hour news networks play during Jessica’s rescue?
There was only one 24 hour news network in 1987: the Cable News Network, or CNN. Bob Furnad, CNN’s vice president and senior producer at the time, noted that their ratings shot up as people realized they could continue to watch what was happening with the Jessica McClure story on CNN, which did not have to break away for other news items or regular programming like the other three major cable networks - NBC, ABC, and CBS. The spike in viewers was the first time CNN beat any of the other 3 networks in ratings. Even President Reagen watched the story, stating, “Everybody in America became godfathers and godmothers of baby Jessica while this was going on.” CNN found that this new way of covering a story, also known as “long-form” news, was the formula for success. Following in CNN’s footsteps, both MSNBC and The Fox New Channel began broadcasting in 1996.
Was the story of Jessica McClure the beginning of long-form television?
No. Contrary to popular belief, the Jessica McClure story was not the first television news story told in long form. That honor goes to the coverage of Kathy Fiscus, a 3 year old who fell into an unmarked well on April 9, 1949 in San Marino, California - just like Jessica McClure did 40 years later. Local news station KTLA sent out a television team to report live on the rescue attempt - the first time television had been used this way. KTLA had only been on the air for two years at that point, and their news briefs, like others at the time, were scripted and rehearsed. They canceled their other shows and commercials and focused only on the rescue story. Network newscasts were only fifteen minutes long until 1963, so an unlimited, live newscast was unheard of. But the story gripped people everywhere: neighbors with televisions opened their homes to those without. People crowded into bars and hardware stores where television sets were sold, following the story and waiting for updates. KTLA kept the live coverage rolling for 27 ½ hours, until it was announced that Kathy Fiscus had not survived.
References:
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