NBC/MSNBC’s Surprise Iraq “Pullout” Coverage…

This story is still ongoing but for the past hour or so live footage from Iraq has been beaming back to the US, first on NBC Nightly News and then on MSNBC. NBC’s Richard Engel is embedded with the last “Combat” troops pulling out of Iraq by convoy. NBC brought back the “Bloom Mobile”, so named for the late David Bloom who used the live satellite technology as the troops crossed in to Iraq at the start of the invasion only to subsequently lose his life tragically as a result of being seated for so long.

MSNBC pulled out everyone for this one; Keith Olbermann, Lawrence O’Donnell, Jack Jacobs, Rachel Maddow via satellite from Iraq, and Chris Matthews who is supposed to be on vacation this week.

CNN and FNC got burned rotten tonight, to say nothing of the other broadcast news networks. I don’t know how it went down and how NBC/MSNBC got the drop on everybody…and expect a process story on that tomorrow probably from the New York Times’ Brian Stelter who is in the NBC control room as I type this and obviously will write it up…but there’s going to be some red faces and maybe some finger pointing and maybe some downplaying the significance of tonight’s events in the coming days. If FNC wins 6pm and 7pm tonight, expect that to be their main talking point – that even getting an “exclusive” like this isn’t enough to give MSNBC a win.

That’s all I can type right now. I’m too busy on Twitter to go into more depth…

Update (8:08pm): Incredible. FNC sticking with O’Reilly, in tape, rather than go to pullout story. O’Reilly, being in tape, leads with NYC “Mosque” and Dick Morris. This network more than any other has cultivated a reputation as being the most “pro-troops” and yet it’s now flushing all that down the drain by not continuing coverage of the pullout story in favor of a taped Bill O’Reilly?

Update (8:12pm): FNC’s programming strategy during 8pm now seems apparent…update the pullout story during commercial breaks. Shepard Smith cuts in and says “We’re eliminating some commercials” and then gives a quick update and then it’s back to taped O’Reilly without missing any of the Factor show. Meanwhile over at CNN, Rick’s List has abandoned whatever programming it was planning on doing to devote the hour to the pullout. CNN may have gotten burned badly by NBC and MSNBC tonight but at least it knows how to take corrective action, unlike FNC which would rather stick with tape and tiny updates.

Update (8:36): The New York Times’ Brian Stelter turns in his first report on tonight’s events…

In explaining NBC’s live coverage earlier this week, the network’s chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, said the war “shouldn’t end with such a whisper.”

“We should have a time to reflect on the accomplishments of the military, of their sacrifices, of their failures,” he said in a telephone interview from Iraq this week, surrounded by the empty containers at Camp Liberty outside Baghdad.

NBC officials said their requests to report live during the withdrawal were first filed many weeks ago. The requests provoked debate within the military, with some people arguing that having reporters present would place excess attention on the fact that the troops were leaving.

“But the Iraqis know we’re leaving; it’s hardly a secret,” Mr. Engel said.

Update (9:10pm): FNC leads Hannity live (some segments of his show are taped in advance sometimes…you can tell which is taped because the “Live” bug is missing above the FNC box logo) but not with Iraq pullout only briefly mentions Iraq pullout. The next segment is a taped Frank Luntz focus group on the NYC “Mosque”…