Virus Infects CNN: Notes

“They’re doing tech support live on CNN,” an e-mailer says.

> Visually, the network looks great — without the ticker or the live bug, the screen is so clean and inviting…

> “Why does this merit breaking news coverage?,” several people have asked. The answer seems simple: It would have been hard to broadcast anything else when the virus first attacked. By 6:45pm, Lou Dobbs was talking about border security…

> “We’re gathering news the old-fashioned way,” CNN’s Ali Velshi told Blitzer around 6:15pm.

> CNN International joined CNN/U.S. for an undetermined period of time.

> “We are experiencing computer difficulties here at CNN today,” a CNN Headline News anchor said while anchoring coverage of a California freeway standoff. “It is inhibiting us from getting us the most recent information.”

> Ali Velshi and Wolf Blitzer are doing a first-rate job of covering the spread of a new computer virus live as it’s happening,” an e-mailer said. “Neither one of them is terribly computer-literate, so they’re struggling and not providing all the details one would want, but they’re providing fascinating breaking news coverage of a spreading computer virus, which I think may be a first.”