While CNBC anchors provided analysis on NBC, FBN anchors provided analysis on all the other networks. This morning, Liz Claman guested on CBS’ The Early Show for an interview with Harry Smith, and Alexis Glick was on ABC with the ladies of The View. On a day Claman described as “horrifying,” on CBS, the FBN anchors’ expertise came into play.
“We’ve been covering all this very closely ever since Bear Stearns,” Claman tells TVNewser. “We didn’t want to spread panic, but our job is to look closely at all these names.”
And Claman found a fan in Smith. “Harry Smith said, ‘I watch you all the time. I’m so glad you’re here,'” reports the FBN anchor.
The appearance was just the beginning for Claman. She’ll speak to FOX affiliates around the country, she’s anchoring the 2, 3, 4, and 5:00pmET hours on FBN and she appears tonight on The O’Reilly Factor. She was on America’s Newsroom on FNC earlier this morning and did a segment for Inside Edition as well.
Claman describes how she began to hear the rumblings of a Lehman crash. She says that just before her 3:00pmET show on Tuesday, she noticed a drop in Lehman’s stock price, and yelled to her producer to “tear up the show.” “We went all Lehman,” she says. “During commercial breaks I was on the phone.”
Correspondent Adam Shapiro hustled out of the building to get a live shot from in front of Lehman HQ on Tuesday, and by Thursday, Claman was getting credible information from her sources within the company.
“We don’t take joy in any of this, but as a journalist you owe it to the viewers that the information we had was backed up and checked,” she said.
There are a few schedule changes on FBN tonight. Claman and David Asman anchor a special edition of Bulls & Bears from 4-6:00pmET, while Neil Cavuto anchors live from 6-8:00pmET.
As the political impacts of today and others like it become front-and-center in the presidential race, Claman says she’s happy with FBN’s standing. “We have the Obama and McCain campaigns on. We have good relationships with both of them,” she said.
Click continued to see Claman on The Early Show and Glick on The View…