Related: CPJ Decries Killings at French Magazine
The cable news networks interrupted their regular morning lineups early Wednesday morning to cover the shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Each of the cable news networks began providing special reports during the 6 a.m. ET hour. CNN was first with New Day providing coverage beginning at 6:12 a.m. ET. The network’s Paris-based correspondent Jim Bittermann has been on the scene in the early morning, with Jim Sciutto and London-based correspondent Christiane Amanpour contributing as well.
Anderson Cooper anchored CNN’s 9 a.m. hour while Wolf Blitzer took over beginning at 10 a.m. CNN and CNN International have been dipping in and out of simulcast since 8 a.m.
Fox News Channel broke the news on its network during Fox and Friends shortly after. FNC’s senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot will be in Paris covering the attack with contributions from Kitty Logan in London and chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge from D.C. Both The O’Reilly Factor and The Kelly File will be live Tuesday night.
MSNBC began covering the attack at 6:39 a.m. Morning Joe was the first to have White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and the White House’s reaction at 7:34 a.m.
The broadcast nets did not break into special coverage, but provided reports on each of their morning shows: Today, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.
The cable networks are expected to be rolling coverage throughout the day, including President Obama’s remarks on the shooting, which began around 12:30 p.m. ET.
NBC News said it would air Obama’s remarks and the other broadcast nets are expected to follow suit.
The attack was reported to be carried out by three masked gunmen in retaliation for the Paris-based publication’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which have frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack.
