– CBS Weekend Roundup – Hourly News – September 23, 2000 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
In retrospect, this was a strange week – the one which ended this September 23rd in 2000. Should have known – didn’t at the time. Got sucked right into the madness, mayhem, head-scratching and eye-rolling 15 years ago – didn’t see it coming.
It all got started with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, with word that U.S. runner Marion Jones was now the Fastest Woman Alive and heading towards her fifth Gold Medal. Skipping to the other side of the world; news that 30 million barrels of oil, released from the U.S. Strategic Reserves had an affect on prices, nudging them downwards. Republican Presidential Candidate George Bush poo-poo’d the move calling it Energy Politics and it was “too little too late” and said he would have done it differently.
The Election season barbs and revelations was getting down to the wire. Many paused to wonder what was going to happen with the Supreme Court, since it was looking like some retirements were on the horizon – and depending on who grabbed the White House was going to be who grabbed the majority at SCOTUS.
The scandal that keeps on giving finds former White House intern Monica Lewinsky enlisted as a reporter for Channel Five in London, covering the upcoming elections for the channel. No hardball reporting, but rather breezy observations of visits to West Coast Health Spas.
Meanwhile, the Impeachment of President Clinton was a story being mulled over by many in Washington. Revelations began to surface over just how close Clinton came to being kicked out of office and how it may impact on Al Gore in the final analysis, come November. A week to speculate and marvel.
It was Banned Books Week and the list was getting longer – with JK Rowling‘s Harry Potter series singled out for condemnation. Obituaries this week included Karl Rowan, nationally syndicated commentator died of natural causes at age 75. Likewise for Robert Wright Campbell, the man who gave us the phrase “la-la Land” for Southern California.
Speaking of breezy – a harbinger of non-reporting/reporting came by way of a puff piece regarding the new popularity of Talk Radio on FM, with former Rock Stations abandoning music in favor of blather. Shapes of things to come.
And word that binge drinking among college students was markedly higher than first reported – with some 70% of students engaged in some sort of alcoholic excess, compared to a much lower estimate – with hangovers and missed classes on the dramatic increase. Coincidence? We think not.
And that’s only a small slice of what went on this fracture, insane, over-the-top week,ending on September 23rd in 2000 by way of CBS Radio News and The Weekend Roundup.
Had we known . . .
