PBS Lines Up Bin Laden Coverage

Key PBS news programs
will devote major resources to the bin Laden story, according to a spokesperson
for PBS NewsHour.

Jim Lehrer and
Gwen Ifill will anchor a special edition of PBS NewsHour Monday
night (May 2), which unlike the broadcast network newscasts will not have
to expand
to provide an hour of evening news devoted to the topic.

That coverage will
include a report from correspondent Saima Mohsin from the
Abbottaband, the town outside Islamabad in Pakistan where bin Laden was killer.
The show's web site will include a live blog with updates and analysis, videos,
photos and react.

Tuesday's Frontline will
present insider views from an Afghan journalist with access to a band
of militants and a report from correspondents Stephen Grey and Martin
Smith from Pakistan about a CIA private army launching raids against
al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They also claim evidence of support for elements of
the Taliban inside Pakistan.

NOVA will take a look at
the DNA evidence and how they were able to identify bin Laden so quickly.
Meanwhile, Charlie Rose will talk about coverage with journalists
including Brian Ross of ABC News, Dexter Filkins of the New York Times,
David Ignatius of the Washington Post, and others. Tavis Smiley will talk
about the story with investigative journalist Jeremy Schall of The Nation.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.