Where did the sun go? A look back at a special day and the media coverage around it

OK, that was pretty cool.

Eclipses are always noteworthy events, but Monday’s eclipse was a bigger deal than normal. It was just the second total solar eclipse visible from the United States during the 21st century. The first was in 2017. The last one before that was 1918. And the next total eclipse visible in the U.S. won’t be until August 2044.

So, yeah, it was a big deal, and the news networks went all-in on coverage. Take NBC just as one example. The network had 13 reporters spread out across the country and that doesn’t include the whole “Today” show cast set up at the Museum of Natural History.

As media journalist Brian Stelter smartly pointed out on X: “Today's eclipse coverage is a testament to the enduring POWER of TV news. The best views of totality won't come from TikTok or Twitch – they'll be supplied by old-school networks with the infrastructure and equipment and talent and $$$ to transport you there live.”

Most of the coverage was great fun, and hopefully you got a chance to see either a full or partial eclipse if you live in North America.

NBC “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt said, “(We) cover a lot of difficult things to report sometimes, but this is magical. … We are in a sea of strangers right now, united by this moment.”

It did seem to be a uniting moment in a country that is so often divided these days.

Jim Diodati, mayor of Niagara Falls, Canada, appeared on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” and said, “I mean, it's a combination Super Bowl, Woodstock and Christmas Eve. That's how we feel right now. I got up early, you can feel the anticipation yesterday, I was at the supermarket and I see a lot of our American friends here with plates from all the states in the U.S. And everybody — the anticipation, the buildup and again, we know there won't be another full total solar eclipse in Niagara Falls for 120 years. So, it's once in a lifetime, one of the great natural wonders of the world, Niagara Falls, one of the great celestial events all happening at the same time.”

Aside from their reporters, CBS lined up some celebrities, including “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, who said, “It brings to mind the whole world looking up into space and wishing over that ring of fire for goodness and success to our world — both individual people and the fact that we will care for our world even more assiduously than we have been in the past. … Everything, if you have the right bent of mind, everything is a wonder. Everything is awesome. Just living is awesome.”

And Bill Nye The Science Guy said, “I just encourage everyone to be in the moment, just take the time to be present, to remember what it felt like, to really experience this remarkable moment when the sun goes completely away and we have nighttime in the middle of the day. And the other extraordinary aspect of this I remind everybody is the precision, where astronomers are able to predict this event within less than 100th of a second, and if you were a tarot card reader or a psychic and you could do that, you would really be something. But they can't. Astronomers can and this is a wonderful thing.”

This was cool, too, as MSNBC’s Katy Tur, who was hosting the network’s two-hour live special, walked into a virtual reality set created that showed the science behind the eclipse. Here’s a photo of how it looked:

But the superb coverage wasn’t exclusive to TV. Check out this collection of photos from The New York Times.

I also appreciated The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona pointing out the absurdity of some coverage with this piece: “Fox News Uses the Solar Eclipse to Fearmonger About Migrant ‘Invasion.’”

As Baragona noted, “With millions of Americans eagerly anticipating Monday’s total solar eclipse, Fox News delivered an ominous warning to its viewers: The dramatic celestial event presents a ‘real opportunity’ for migrants to illegally cross the southern border.”

During Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” co-anchor Dana Perino said, “Fox News alert! A rare celestial event collides with a policy failure on the ground. The southern border will be directly in the path of totality today when the moon covers the sun for nearly four minutes.”

Co-anchor Bill Hemmer added border officials “are bracing for higher traffic than usual,” which means “a real opportunity for smugglers and cartels and migrants to come right in.”

There was more to Fox News’ coverage on this, so check out Baragona’s story.

 

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Same boss, new title

The Los Angeles Times has finally named a new executive editor. And the Times didn’t look far. It’s the person who was already leading the newsroom.

Terry Tang — who took over as interim executive editor after Kevin Merida left the Times in January following disagreements with Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong about the publication — had the interim tag removed from her title. Tang becomes the first female executive editor in the Times’ 142-year history.

In a joint statement, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and Michele Soon-Shiong said, “Terry in short order has demonstrated the capability of building on our legacy of excellence in journalism with stories that matter. She understands our mission to be a thriving pillar of democracy and the critical role that the L.A. Times’ voice plays — to our city, and to the world — in bringing attention to issues that matter most, especially for those whose voices are often unheard.”

Tang has an interesting background. She joined the Times as a deputy op-ed editor in 2019, was promoted to op-ed and Sunday Opinion editor in 2020 and appointed editor of the editorial page in 2022. Before joining the Times, she was director of publications and editorial at the American Civil Liberties Union. And before that, she worked at The New York Times for 20 years in a variety of roles, including deputy editorial page editor, op-ed editor; editorial writer and deputy technology editor. She also worked early in her career at The Seattle Times, where she was an editorial writer and columnist.

Now she is in charge of a news organization that remains in flux. Since acquiring the paper in 2018, the Soon-Shiongs have covered more than $100 million in operational losses and capital expenses.

The Los Angeles Times’ Meg James wrote, “The family has reiterated their commitment to The Times, including subsidizing its operations and covering its losses. But layoffs and cutbacks were ordered, and during the past year the newsroom shrank by nearly 200 journalists to about 400.”

James added, “In January, Dr. Soon-Shiong called for a new direction and a new leader to settle a newsroom that had been roiled by two rounds of substantial layoffs, a one-day strike by the newsroom guild and the loss of its top editors. In turning to Tang, a respected journalist who earlier in her career worked at the New York Times, Soon-Shiong selected a leader with whom he had already established trust.”

In a statement, Tang said, “The Los Angeles Times and its superb journalists make a difference every day in the life of California and this nation. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to lead an institution that serves our community and to make our work indispensable to our readers.”

Setting more records

As expected, Sunday’s women’s college basketball national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa set new TV records.

The game, won by South Carolina, aired on ABC and averaged 18.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever. A new women’s college hoops TV record has been set three times in the past week or so, all including games played by Iowa and their transformative star Caitlin Clark.

Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy put it well, writing on X, “Caitlin Clark is the new Tiger Woods. She doesn't move the needle. She IS the needle.”

Check out these astounding facts from Sunday’s game, according to ESPN public relations:

• The game peaked with 24.1 million viewers.
• Viewership was up 89% from last year and 285% from 2022.
• It was the most-watched basketball game (men's or women's, college or pro) since 2019.
• Not counting football and the Olympics, It was the most-watched sporting event since 2019.

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said, “These exceptional athletes, coaches and teams captured our attention in unprecedented ways and it’s incumbent on all of us to keep the incredible momentum going. I’m also very proud of our talented and committed employees for how they presented this historic event.”

Oh, another interesting note. Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur tweeted that the game in Canada on TSN drew an impressive average of 404,000 to also set a record. The previous record was last year’s final watched by an average of 237,000.

Bigwig out at ESPN

This happened at the end of last week, so this is my first time touching on this. Norby Williamson, one of the most influential sports media figures in the business, was pushed out the door by ESPN after nearly 40 years there.

Most insiders are saying Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content, was behind the move. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand and Richard Deitsch wrote, “Magnus wanted to go in a different direction as the company headed forward and felt Williamson was not the best person to oversee production. An executive with direct knowledge of the decision told The Athletic, ‘It was time.’”

There’s no question that Williamson had a mighty impact on ESPN over the past four decades and deserves credit for some of its success. Like something out of a movie, he started off in the mailroom in 1985 and eventually rose to, as The Athletic described him, “​​one of the most powerful executives at the company, giving him the ability to make or break careers.”

But he also had his detractors.

The last time Williamson's name came up publicly was in January when Pat McAfee, whose afternoon show airs on ESPN, accused Williamson of leaking false viewership numbers to the media about McAfee’s show. McAfee said on the air, “There are some people actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN. More specifically, Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program.”

Apparently, the McAfee ordeal had nothing to do with Williamson’s departure. But there were plenty of ESPNers, past and present, who weren’t exactly crying when news broke that Williamson was out.

As Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy wrote, “The saying around ESPN was that if an atom bomb went off in Bristol, Conn., only cockroaches and Norby Williamson would survive.”

Former ESPN star Jemele Hill told The Athletic, “My reaction is somewhere between an amused chuckle and ‘never thought I’d see the day.’ I don’t know the circumstances behind his departure, but I guess it wasn’t a coincidence (that) an earthquake hit New York City the same day this announcement was made.”

The last episode

Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” ended its 24-year run on HBO Sunday night. The 24 years is a little misleading. David took long breaks between some seasons. In those 24 years, there were actually 12 seasons for 120 episodes.

David, 76, told Willie Geist of NBC’s “Sunday Today,” “You know, I’m kinda old. Let’s not beat around the bush. I’m too old to really be on camera every single week now, to act the way I do on this show. How can I continue to act like that? It’s insane. I’m not going into the 80s acting like that.”

Many already know this, but David plays an exaggerated version of himself. He told Geist, “I’m doing this character, Larry, who is really me, but a me who can’t really be in society ‘cause I’d be arrested or beaten up every day. But here, I have the license to really be who I am, which is that guy."

David is the co-creator of the legendary sitcom “Seinfeld,” and many wondered if Sunday’s finale of “Curb” would go over better with fans than the last episode of “Seinfeld.”

The Washington Post’s Avi Selk wrote, “The ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ finale fixed the last episode of ‘Seinfeld.’”

You have to have followed both “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld” to get the last “Curb” episode, but for those who did, it’s a pretty good ending. As Slate’s Sam Adams wrote, “‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’s’ Finale Was a Middle Finger to Critics Who Hated ‘Seinfeld’s’”

Media tidbits

• My Poynter colleague Angela Fu with “Gannett journalists in the solar eclipse’s path go on strike.”
• Matt LoJacono is senior public relations manager at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, but he still did a nice job writing up Jon Stewart’s recent visit there to talk with NPR TV critic and Duke adjunct professor Eric Deggans in “Jon Stewart Visits Sanford: Heartfelt Hilarity Ensues.” There are plenty of interesting quotes from Stewart, including this one on what advice he would give students interested in entering journalism: “Don’t allow the status quo of that machine to kill what makes you want to go into it: to kill the passion and excitement that you have to tell the truth.”
• The Big Lead’s Stephen Douglas has a smart take on ESPN’s coverage of women’s college basketball. The story is much better than the headline, so I urge you to get to the story: “ESPN Studio Crew Was the Real Winner of the NCAA Women's Tournament.”

Hot type

• Just one story here today because it’s such a powerful read. The Washington Post’s Amber Ferguson with “After abortion attempts, two women now bound by child.”

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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].