We have a very different recollection of 1980.
I think we may.
When the volcano blew up, CNN had not yet been born, and very few people even had cable TV.
TV news was 30 minutes at 6:30 eastern and 30 minutes local news at 11:00 eastern, and that was it.
You're forgetting the newspapers, magazines, and anything else that could have pictures or words put on paper. From the middle of May to well into June, I remember being bombarded with stories, pictures, words, video, etc. It was the topic of conversation which actually knocked Iran off of the news cycle for a good bit (it had been going on since the previous November and the failed rescue attempt was a old news when the volcano blew). I cannot count how many times I watched the footage of Carter flying over the area and saying how horrible it was.
Jimmeh was holed up in the White House and would speak of nothing but the Iranian hostage crisis.
What we considered to be wall-to-wall coverage in 1980 was thirty minutes every night at 11:30, "America Held Hostage", about Iran, on ABC-TV.
The Mount St. Helens eruption was only two or three weeks after the botched hostage rescue attempt, which was a far, far bigger story.
It was in a remote area, with little damage or loss of life, so the eruption was treated more as a novelty that quickly faded to page 3 of the newspaper.
I've seen more Mount St. Helen's news and tape on National Geographic channel this year than I ever did in 1980.
At least that's how I remember it.
Very different memories, indeed.
