London 7/21: Afternoon Notes

> ABC’s Good Morning America was the first network morning program to break into special report mode, an insider says. Charlie Gibson reported the news at 8:26am, four minutes earlier than both NBC and CBS.

> NBC News London bureau chief Chris Hampson had time to write a column for MSNBC.com. “Prime Minister Blair is urging us all to stay calm. 10-4 Tony. We already are,” he says…

> FNC’s Rick Leventhal blogs: “Unfortunately, there seems to be only one logical next step in London, and perhaps everywhere else, in response to the second wave of attempted attacks on buses and the Underground: Either NO bags are allowed on trains and buses, or ALL bags need to be searched prior to boarding.”

Jeff Jarvis: “Listening to SkyNews via Fox via Sirius this morning I twice heard correspondents say that had just been ordered by the police to get off their cell phones because they feared the radio signals could detonate a bomb.”

> WHAC says that Christiane Amanpour has been anchoring some of the coverage from a stand-up spot outside the network’s London bureau.

> CNN’s correspondent deployment: Nic Robertson and Matthew Chance at the Warren Street Station, Robin Oakley in the bureau, Max Foster and Mallika Kapur at the the Shepherds Bush Station, Jennifer Eccleston in Leeds and Alphonso Van Marsh en route.

> From an e-mailer: “One observation I have is the overall professionalism and calmness which SKY NEWS personified when FNC simulcast their coverage. SKY are of a very high standard of on the scene reporting.”

(Screen grab courtesy CNN Coverage Notes)