Does a parade meant to celebrate the nation truly exist if it can’t get on national broadcast TV?
Mainstream TV-news outlets seem divided over how to cover an extravagant display of military might along the streets of Washington, D.C. from the Trump administration. A June 14 parade and accompanying festivities meant to call attention to the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army will be something to see, with three kinds of helicopters; Bradley vehicles; a fireworks display; and a parachute jump by the Golden Knights demonstration team.
Some will give the event a mere nod, while others will utilize all the resources a national TV newsroom can muster.
ABC News, NBC News and CBS News are unlikely to pre-empt regular TV programming for coverage of the event, according to people familiar with their plans. ABC News plans to “cover the parade across programs and platforms, including 24/7 streaming news channel ABC News Live’s coverage beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 14.” At NBC News, anchors Aaron Gilchrist and Kelly O’Donnell will lead special coverage of the event on NBC News Now, the news division’s streaming outlet.
The broadcasters’ ambivalence around coverage shows what a strange spectacle the parade is shaping up to be.
On one hand, a display of national military capabilities on U.S. soil is unique, even propagandistic. It’s the sort of thing one sees in authoritarian nations like North Korea. Even some Republicans appear to oppose the concept, likening it to the sort of maneuver one sees in dictatorships abroad. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican, told reporters Tuesday that he has “never been a big fan of goose-stepping soldiers in big tanks and missiles rolling down the street.”
On the other, the event will cost an eye-popping amount — between $25 million and $45 million, according to a U.S. Army spokesperson. It will result in street closures in the nation’s cramped capital, Washington, D.C, and there have been concerns that the heavy vehicles and armaments will damage roadways. It’s not the kind of thing Americans see every day, and coverage would give them an opportunity to do so.
Some news outlets intend to cover the parade with great fervor. Fox Corp.’s Fox News Channel will pre-empt its Saturday schedule with four hours of special coverage. A program called “Army 250 Parade” will air from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., hosted by “Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones and “Outnumbered” co-host Emily Compagno, live from Washington, D.C. Earlier in the day, the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Charlie Hurt, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Johnny Joey Jones, will hold forth live from Washington D.C.’s West Potomac Park, previewing the event with guests including Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll.
Nexstar’s NewsNation also plans to devote hours of coverage to the event. The network plans evening-long special coverage starting at 6 p.m., with Leland Vittert and Anna Kooiman co-anchoring coverage of a “Tribute to America.” NewsNation’s morning program, “Morning in America,” will showcase performances by the Army drill team, and offer a first look at the military vehicles being flown in for the spectacle. The network will also offer coverage of the event throughout the day.
ABC has good reason to stick with regularly scheduled programming. The Disney-backed network has plans to broadcast the UFL championship game on Saturday night in primetime, and sports remain one of the few programming formats in the streaming era that generate large, live audiences. CBS at present has scheduled a repeat of shows of the drama “Elsbeth” as well as an episode of “48 Hours,” while NBC is ready to air reality programming including “Destination X” and “Yes, Chef!”
The Trump White House has not done much to forge closer ties with mainstream TV-news outlets and the companies that own them. Trump has sued both ABC News and CBS News in recent months over reporting he found unfavorable, and legal experts believe the media companies might have prevailed in court. Disney paid a $15 million settlement to Donald Trump’s presidential library after anchor George Stephanopoulos asserted incorrectly in March on air that Trump had been found liable in a court case for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump had been found liable by a jury for sexual abuse, and had denied wrongdoing. Meanwhile, CBS News parent Paramount Global is trying to negotiate a settlement with Trump over a court case alleging “60 Minutes” tried to mislead voters with clips of an interview with former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. The lawsuit is believed to be a way to delay a merger of Paramount and Skydance Media that is of critical importance to the fortunes of Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.
Other cable-news networks do not seem poised to offer robust parade coverage. MSNBC will have anchor Ali Velshi on hand, according to a person familiar with the matter, and “will cover news as it happens.” Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN was not able to offer immediate information about coverage plans tied to the event.
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