Cabinet Secretaries Briefing News Organizations About Bird Flu

Brian Williams writes on The Daily Nightly:

“To those e-mailers questioning our coverage of the bird flu: please know that two Bush administration Cabinet secretaries asked to come here and brief our staff. It was chilling. They requested the time with us (and our colleagues at other networks) because, as they put it: in the event of an outbreak, television news would be a vital and primary source of public information. In their view, our role would be to tell people about available social services, and to instruct our viewers in the treatment of flu patients at home. There is no way to predict if this is a scare or if we are preparing for a panedmic. But because the possibility itself is so deadly serious, we have a responsibility to do our part. And we will keep covering the preparations and the progression of the illness.”