An overview of impeachment coverage

(Photo courtesy of CBS News)

The major networks covered Wednesday’s historic day of President Donald Trump’s impeachment with full force, using the best of their on-air talent. All three main networks had their evening news anchors lead Wednesday’s coverage. Interestingly, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, the “NBC Nightly News” and “ABC World News Tonight” went straight to live coverage in the House, while the “CBS Evening News” went to a regular newscast. Of course, that newscast was heavy on impeachment coverage.

CBS’s Norah O’Donnell had a strong day interviewing Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who confirmed to O’Donnell early in the day that “there will be no Republicans voting for impeachment.”

Meanwhile, of all the networks, NBC hung in the longest with Lester Holt leading the way. Holt went on the air at just before noon Eastern and signed off after 9 p.m.

Holt closed his newscast by saying, “Tonight's impeachment of President Trump will further test the already frayed fibers that barely hold us together in this time of deep political differences. Any mockery, emotion, victory laps and personal attacks that now follow only move us farther from the honest, sober dialogue that this moment demands.”
 

Tulsi got us a 'present'

The oddest impeachment vote came from Democratic presidential hopeful and Hawaiian Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who didn’t vote “yea” or “nay,” but instead voted “present.”

When asked about it on MSNBC, analyst and former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill said, “That’s just stupid. I mean, what is the point? I don’t know what this woman thinks she’s accomplishing by that. I guess getting attention, we’re talking about her. And really, we shouldn’t spend any time talking about her. It’s not, frankly, relevant to anything.”
 

Tweet of the day

Veteran political consultant David Axelrod perfectly captured Wednesday’s impeachment hearings with this tweet:

“Well, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that this is a sad day for America. They just can’t agree on why!”
 

Saturday, in the dark?

Following in the footsteps of more than a dozen other papers in the McClatchy chain, the Miami Herald will cease printing a Saturday paper starting in March. Like those other papers in the chain, the Herald will expand the Friday and Sunday print editions. It also will continue to post stories online seven days a week.

The Herald admits its audience is shifting more to reading news online, but it also is McClatchy’s attempt to steer readers to the online product. In a letter to readers, Herald president, publisher and executive editor Aminda Marques Gonzalez wrote, “More and more of our customers are reading our local journalism online. This is not only a trend in Miami, it is a media industry trend, and in fact, all industries.”
 

Her return is in sight

“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie is recovering nicely from eye surgery, she said, but she will not return to TV until after the holidays. Guthrie called in to the “Today” show Wednesday. Guthrie suffered a torn retina when her 3-year-old son accidentally hit her in the right eye with a toy train. She had surgery Dec. 11.

"I don't have my vision back yet, but I'm going to get it back, everything's on track,'' Guthrie said.
 

A Bloomberg exclusive

Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is interviewed by MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. (Photo courtesy of NBC News)

In his first cable news interview since announcing his candidacy for president, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg sat down with MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle in an interview that will air this morning at 9 a.m. Bloomberg discusses his qualifications, the rest of the Democratic field, his plans, Trump, impeachment and more.

In the interview, Bloomberg questioned Joe Biden’s experience, saying, “He’s never been a manager of an organization. He’s never run a school system.”

Ruhle also asked Bloomberg about how some business people have said they, given a choice, would vote for Trump instead of Elizabeth Warren. Bloomberg said, “I can only tell you, if I were faced with Elizabeth Warren or Donald Trump, I would vote for Elizabeth Warren, even though I don’t agree with her on a lot of things. She is honest and smart and hardworking.”
 

Well, he's shared before, hasn't he?

Edward Snowden. (AP file photo)

The U.S. government is entitled to whatever money National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden makes from his memoir and paid speeches. A federal judge ruled that it’s because Snowden disclosed classified information without approval. He left the United States for asylum in Russia and has been charged with espionage since 2013. He published a book about his life called “Permanent Record” earlier this year.

Judge Liam O’Grady ruled in the government’s favor, writing, “The contractual language of the Secrecy Agreements is unambiguous. Snowden accepted employment and benefits conditioned upon prepublication review obligations.”

Snowden’s lawyers plan to review their options.
 

Hot type

• The Charlottesville rally; shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida; reaction to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound; families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Those are just some of the feature photos The Atlantic posted in “Photos of the Decade.” (Warning: Some photos might be disturbing to some readers.)
• A Colorado radio host was fired after he said he wanted a “nice school shooting” to interrupt the monotony of impeachment coverage. 
• It’s behind a paywall, but The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch puts together a heck of a good list of the top 160 or so journalism pieces of 2019.
• G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller held his first staff meeting since the mass exodus at Deadspin and apparently it didn’t go so great. Awful Announcing’s Andrew Bucholtz has the details.
• Finally, just in time for the holidays, the staff at The Ringer lists its 50 favorite holiday songs. Pretty good list even if I can’t get on board with its No. 1 selection.