In this edition: The Note's stock sinking?; gimmicks breaking TV news; some reporters tire of bad political reporting; what books media folks are reading; did Coulter overreach?; priceless ad for TDS; politicians turn to YouTube; Yearly Kos; Glenn Beck owes Al Gore an apology; Christian media mogul expanding programming; British media orgs look to expand in US; cartoons, and more...
Thoughts, and Then, the News
AP rewards John Solomon for a story that generates lots of publicity, but is short on accuracy. Apparently there are a lot of people who need to take an ethics course in journalism. Isn't it ironic that an unethical reporter writes a misleading story that accuses an elected official of bad ethics? And that the unethical reporter's unethical colleagues (like at The Note) don't have a problem with any of this? I guess next to no media critics in the MSM have a problem with worthy stories that were actually deserving of a monetary award from the AP?
Now for the news from the past week posted, June 12, 2006:
Note: I'm going to put a %%% next to things that are more interesting or go into things more in-depth.
A Challenge to the Media: Defend Your Integrity
Peter Daou issues the challenge.
Love CC's Ad Dept
HT FishBowlNY had this ad in the 6/5 Hollywood Reporter
Save Elmo from Republicans!
House GOP looking to cut $ from CPB budget
Things That Make You Go Hmm...
Is Washington Times owner trying to buy a pardon?
The President and the Press
Some history for you history buffs.
A Must Read for All (especially the Media)
Credit goes to those reporters who are tired of bad political reporting Meanwhile, a whole boatload of reporters are offering self-congratulations for their media org's totally [NOT] awesome political coverage. Blech.
Funny coming from Mr. Six Months
Newsweek Q&A
Q: Your column runs twice a week. Are there ever days when you wake up and just have nothing to say?
A: There really aren't. I can't afford to. The truth is the biggest problem that I usually have is that there seem to be too many tempting things to write about.
Yearly Kos!
Lots of media covering yearly Kos.
* Some of the media folks who showed up at YearlyKos.
* Early coverage of this
* Adam Nagourney at YearlyKos, by gmoke
* Gibson, FNC attack Yearly Kos
* Greg Sargent on NYT piece by Kate Phillips
Knight-Ridder sale fallout
* Auction of KR papers going "wonderfully"
* McClatchy sells 5 KR papers to 4 companies
* What terms of sale mean for Philly papers
Credit Where It's Due
* How ABC's Raddatz broke Zarqawi story ABC News is running promos touting their "understated" coverage. ABC wasn't just first on this story; they were way ahead of everyone else.
* South Florida Sun-Sentinel gets scoop on murder with Abramoff link
* Props to Dan Froomkin. The Note's biggest problem isn't that it's GOP-leaning. It's biggest problem is that there's rarely anything insightful. I'll take access to The Hotline anyday. The Note tries too hard to be very inside the Beltway. There's more insight at First Read, which does occasionally try to go beyond the CW.
Houston, Tex.: Tuesday you called ABC's The Note "increasingly bizarre," and I couldn't agree more. It's always been Bush/GOP-friendly, but it's gotten more and more over the top about it.
What gives? And is it still as respected as it once was?
Dan Froomkin: I'm not exactly a dues paying member of what the Note so annoyingly calls the "Gang of 500," but my sense is that it has gone from "must-read" status to "can't-read" has-been.
Not only is it increasingly impenetrable, uninsightful and turgid, but I personally have zero tolerance for a supposed journalistic product that tries to fool its readers into believing its poor attempts at fiction are true. Ever.
Awards, Fellowships and Nominees
* Dick Cheney to present NYDN bureau chief Tom DeFrank the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency (June 9 Lloyd Grove column)
* List of finalists for 2006 AltWeekly Awards
* Livingston Awards for Young Journalists winners announced
* Jon Stewart hosted the 65th Annual Peabody Awards on 6/5. The winners list here. Brian Williams blogs about accepting a Peabody award. CNN also got an award for its Katrina coverage.
Battle of Media Folks
* UN official vs. Fox News (Continued here)
* Comedian Kathy Griffin (and everyone who is sane) vs. Ann Coulter Why NBC's The Today Show invites Coulter on is beyond me. She attacks 9/11 widows... what a bitch. Coulter is getting some negative publicity. This may be one of those "no publicity is bad publicity when one is hawking a book" things, but at the same time, more are finding out how much of a joke Coulter is. The 9/11 widows are pretty ticked at Coulter. A 9/11 commissioner criticized Coulter, too. Bipartisan criticism of Ann Coulter's remarks mounts (as do book sales). Coulter's Q&A in Time. O'Reilly defended Coulter's ideas about 9/11 widows, and Mary Matalin backed Coulter. Olbermann rounded up the Coulter apologists.
* Mary Mapes v. Everyone who Hates Dan Rather. Link
Journalists in Dangerous and Difficult Situations
* AP Blog: Reporter Describes First Days in Baghdad
* Why does a reporter go to a war zone? %%%
* CBS's Kimberly Dozier is back in the US. She's got a long recovery ahead of her. Related: CBS News Personnel Reflect on Covering the Attack on Their Own
* Bob Woodruff's recovery seems to be going well. link.
* NYT recruits team for Baghdad bureau Few applied to be on the team.
* Reporter is eager to go back to Iraq
* CPJ Sends Letter to New Iraqi Leader About "Disturbing" Restrictions on Press
* NBC News' Richard Engel: "We are going to have some lingering psychological effects from this conflict"
* BBC complains after journos attacked in Egypt
* Putin hails press freedom, but local TV ignores protest
Journalists, Leaks & Investigations
* Specter says Journos Need Protection from Prosecution
* CSM: No relief for reporters seeking to shield sources
* Schorr's take on the Wen Ho Lee case is warped.
* Wen Ho Lee bunk info and lessons for reporters
* Jack Shafer: Wen Ho Lee Gets the Last Laugh
* A report from Senate Judiciary Cmte hearing on Jack Anderson documents here. HT FishBowlDC. More here, here and here.
TV Guests Watch
* NBC leaves door open to future Coulter appearances
* The morning show guest list has been more even of late, but it was the usual R-leaning guest list on the morning shows on 6/9: ""Today" hosted Deputy Sec/State Karen Hughes. "Early Show" hosted Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)." (Source: Hotline 6/9)
RWCM Watch
* Whoever is writing up Hotline's Blogometer is totally misreading the netroots and Markos.
* Chris Matthews sucks up to Tom DeLay again.
* Awesome headline: Why are the gas bags silent when LAT goes after Democrats?
* Byron York runs away from Mike Stark
* CNN HLN's Glenn Bleck compares Gore to Hitler. Other crap from Glenn Beck rounded up here.
* Brit Hume, Chris Matthews and a sham fundraiser.
* TV "News" totally dominated by right-wing lunatics
* Would it have killed the AP and LA Times to credit TPMM?
* Ex-WaPo newsman Kessler joins right-wing NewsMax.com It's one of the links listed there. You think I'd link directly to NewsMax?
* WaPo lets WH, Senator Lie on Op-Ed page
* Giuliani says he didn't break from Bush & his administration, but somehow the NYDN says he did.
* This shouldn't pass for punditry. ABC's Claire Shipman on Gore
* WaPo editorial misleads on Reid and boxing match credentials.
* Can someone remind the media that their job description includes fact-checking?
* George Will should avoid all mentions of rectums.
* Is NYT Public Editor Really Representing Readers?
* Media Matters
* Eat the Press
Media People
* Ever heard of Rocketboom? It's a podcast that's a little like The Daily Show. One of it's stars Amanda Congdon, was on Reliable Sources.
* Get to know ABC's Bill Weir
* Get to know NYT's Linda Greenhouse.
* New look, outlook for Aaron Brown
* DC Examiner asked prominent DCers (media and politicos) about what they're reading this summer.
* Vargas on her decision to step down
* FNC reporter Catherine Herridge donated part of her liver to four-month-old son. Good luck to them both. Hopefully, there won't be any complications.
* Anderson Cooper Q&A at People.com
News & Notes on Media orgs, Programming, Specials, etc.
* I wasn't sure where to put this one, but here it is: At Cartoonists' Confab: Comments on Coulter and Colbert
* Charlie Rose to return to PBS talk show tonight
* British news orgs looking to expand in US %%%
* NBC reporter defends predator segments
* Charles Gibson anchors ABC News Radio's daily 5pm ET newscast HT TV Newser
* Morning and night, ABC's Gibson on air
* Rick Kaplan out at MSNBC. Coverage here, here, and here. Bio info on Kaplan. Not enough ratings improvement a reason for his departure
* MSNBC axes Maury & Connie Finally. I guess the show is leaving along with Kaplan.
* ABC News Girds for New Bout with "Today Show"
* Vieira's The View Goodbye coverage: AP, NYDN, St. Louis Post Dispatch, People Mag. Related: Vieira still wants to host both Today and Millionaire
* 60 Minutes, Ed Bradley in contract dispute
* Dan Rather getting the silent treatment from CBS News? Actually, the night before this article was published, Rather had a story aired on 60 Minutes.
* FishBowlDC bloggers takes a look at CNN's "The Situation Room"
* Variety writer Brian Lowry gives Nightline a thumbs down
* Critic tells Anderson Cooper to inform, not cry
* Turning around Tribune Newspapers
* Kurds launch English newspaper in Northern Iraq
* Howard Stern finds `rebirth' on satellite radio
State of the Media, Trends, Research Reports, Innovations
* OPA Study: Web complements TV, Print "People who first learn of news via traditional media turn to the Web to supplement stories on TV or newspapers with more in-depth information." %%%
* Cable news looking at the future. %%%
* House rejects net neutrality rules. Related: FCC Chair says no to net neutrality
* Stiffer Broadcast Indecency Fines to Become Law
* Cable industry faces a la Carte proposal %%%
* Critic: Gimmicks are breaking TV News A-freak-ing-men!
* Christian media moving into new territory. %%%
* Politicians turn to YouTube %%%
* College fundraisers seek to gain control of alumni mags
* Study: Web users more lucrative than TV viewers
* Conference: Cartoonists should embrace web
Ratings, Circulation, & Ad Revenue Strength
* CNN Headline News isn't seeing great demo ratings from Glenn Beck's new show, even though it's airing twice a day and then again on weekends. Still, Headline Prime is expanding to weekends.
* Study: Web is number one daytime media
* Online newspaper ads gaining on print
* Morning Show Ratings... Gap between Today and GMA unchanged since Couric's departure.
* Sunday Talk ratings: "For the week of 6/4, NBC's "Meet the Press" won with a 2.5 rating/8 share and 3.209M viewers. CBS' "Face the Nation" and ABC's "This Week" both came in with a 1.9/6. But "Face" had 2.594M viewers and "This Week" had 2.402M viewers. "Fox News Sunday" came in with a 1.0/3 and 1.416M viewers (Hotline sources," 6/8)." NBC spins the numbers here
* ABC's This Week shows signs of life
* Evening News Ratings for week of 5/29-6/2: NBC Nightly News wins (again). Related: Gibson puts ABC back in second place
* Nightline helping Jimmy Kimmel's ratings
* Outdoor ad boom continues, demand soars in Q1
Media News Monday is a compilation of media news from the past week posted on Monday. If you have any media news to add, please do so. For more RWCM watch & Media News: Penndit's News, Media News, and RWCM Watch Links. I get the advertising, public relations, targeting voters information, and media research from a variety of sources other than the links above. Cross-posted at Penndit and My Left Wing. For previous editions, search my diaries or Penndit.
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