This has been a week of natural disaster news for the networks, first the cyclone in Myanmar, then tornadoes in the central and southeastern U.S., yesterday’s earthquake in China and now brush fires in Florida. The toughest story to cover, however, has been the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis because Myanmar’s military junta government is not granting visas for foreign journalists.
But that hasn’t stopped some networks from sending in reporters. An ABC reporter managed to reach the Irrawaddy Delta area yesterday. ABC obscured her face to keep her from being kicked out of the country, or worse, jailed. Her reporting was included in a Terry McCarthy story on the World News Webcast, and she had a standalone story on the broadcast.
Meanwhile, after Dan Rivers‘ great escape from Myanmar late last week, CNN sent in another reporter, but is keeping their identity secret. A network spokesperson tells TVNewser, “This is an important story that CNN will continue to cover from Myanmar. The decision was taken for security reasons, which we do not discuss. We will review the situation as the story develops.”