Three Mile Island

truth. the one unifying factor in all news stories. cold hard facts. it helps us to believe that our news could be objective. in the case of the three mile island nuclear power plant accident, the news had nothing but the facts to tell. the public received much more objective journalism because of the way the story was laid out in all its confusion. reporters had to dig down deep for outside sources. they had to totally rely on their journalistic instincts to take them where they needed to go in the story - especially in the early hours - because the majority had no idea what they were reporting on. newspapers and television stations just sent out whoever could go. one guy got assigned to the story because he was the first one back from his lunch break.
once the impact of the accident was realized, companies hit the ground running. one reporter from CBS was told he had a 'blank check' to report on the story. it was a big deal.
in all it's confusion, real journalism shown through in this story. the art of finding the story, following it, gathering as much information - from the inside as well as the outside - along the way, and reporting in a manner that best serves the public. i think the journalists really stepped up to the plate. (there i go with the metaphors)
kudos.