RELATED: CBS, NBC Team With Their Local Stations to Cover Newtown Tragedy
Updated: 4:30 p.m. ET
The big three broadcast networks and the cable news channels
are in continuing coverage of a shooting that happened at an elementary school
in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning that has reportedly left 26 people,
including 18 children, plus the shooter, dead.
CBS was the first to break into continuous coverage at 12:07
p.m. ET with a special report anchored by Rebecca Jarvis and John Miller with Norah O'Donnell later jumping in for Jarvis, who
is en route to Connecticut to join correspondent Michelle Miller on the ground.
ABC aired two
special reports with Diane Sawyer at the desk at 12:02 p.m. and 12:32, going into continuing coverage at 1:13 p.m. with David Muir anchoring. NBC aired its first special from 12:38-12:49 p.m. ET
anchored by Lester Holt and broke in again with continuous coverage at 1:06 p.m.
CNN, Fox News and MSNBC first broke into coverage around
10:30 a.m. ET. Univision aired its first special report at 12:45 p.m. ET and again at 12:55 p.m. anchored by Jorge Ramos. CNN's Susan Candiotti and FNC's Rick Leventhal are on location
in Connecticut, with other network correspondents en route.
All three of the network evening newscasts will expand to one hour and originate
from Newtown on Friday. CBS will also air a
one-hour special report from Connecticut anchored by Scott Pelley at 10 p.m. ABC will have a special edition of 20/20 at 10 p.m. anchored by Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo, as well as a special one-hour Nightline, both from the scene in Connecticut. ABC's Good Morning America will also air a special edition on Saturday anchored by George Stephanopoulos and Elizabeth Vargas with Josh Elliott, Amy Robach and Dan Harris reporting from Newtown.
CNN was initally the most conservative network when it came to
reporting the death toll; while all the others were reporting 26 people dead,
CNN first reported "close to 20," which it later updated to "close to 30." In a press conference around 3:40 p.m. ET, a law enforcement official confirmed the count of 20 children and six adults plus the shooter.
CNN was however the first of the cable news channels to identify the shooter as
Ryan Lanza shortly before 2:15 p.m. ET. Fox News reported the identity and
MSNBC reported it at 2:25 p.m. However, at 3:35 p.m. ET, FNC's Leventhal reported that the shooter was actually 20-year-old Adam Lanza and that his 24-year-old brother Ryan was being held in custody, though he is not considered a suspect. Around 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS aired exclusive footage of a man in handcuffs who it identified as Ryan Lanza being scorted by a police officer, though said he was not under arrest.
