"The idea was to grab a location 'that screamed New York.' And said politics," PressThink [3]'s Jay Rosen writes of his meeting with Sam Feist, CNN senior executive producer for political programming, at the Tick Tock Diner [4], a "real" New York City diner catty corner from Madison Square Garden that is being used as a TV set for CNN's convention coverage. While CNN sees the story of the RNC taking place inside the convention hall, Feist told Rosen the network is ready to cover the protests
"a little or a lot, it depends on the size of the protests, it frankly depends on whether any protests turn violent, ... and obviously whether or not the protests disrupt the convention." Rosen asked Feist, "The protests disrupt the convention if they disrupt the televising of the convention-- isn't that so?" He answered, "I don't see that the protests have disrupted the televising of the convention and I don't see that happening." Rosen writes in his blog: "New York and Boston are parallel events, they will get equal coverage. There was nothing to puzzle over, even with the signs of a counter convention on the streets of New York. We cover the news, Sam reasoned. If the protests make news, we'll cover that."