In this edition: I don't care how many times Clenis met Clagina; special reports that aren't so special; NBC gets Middle East bureau; Charlie Gibson and the ABCNews personnel merry go round; TDS alums going broadcast; Philly Knight Ridder orphans sold to major GOP player in PA; FCC to probe VNRs; Libby to get reporters' docs; Colbert still hot topic among journos; DC's most powerful women; cartoons, and more...
Thoughts, and Then, the News
I normally write something more substantial in this section, but for this week, I thought it best to just remind you to catch Nightline tonight. Nightline is honoring troops Memorial Day.
Now for the news from the past week posted, May 29, 2006:
Note: I'm going to put a %%% next to things that are more interesting or go into things more in-depth.
Media Joke of the Week
Leno: "Yesterday, the front page story of the New York Times was a big story about the state of Hillary Clinton's marriage to Bill Clinton. Front page, New York Times. I guess if you want to find out what's going on in Iraq, you'll have to pick up People magazine."
Any column that starts out with this headline is worth a read
Stop whining and do your job. The White House and the media are not supposed to get along, stupid
Charles Madigan on Colbert at WHCAD
Madigan ended up not publishing a column written on the topic, because he didn't get it done in a timely manner. Still, some excerpts got to Chicago Reader, and they're good.
What he didn't get to say was that in the 80s he'd worked in the Tribune's Washington bureau and once a year rented a tux and attended the correspondents dinner. He'd despised it. "Washington was the only place I have ever worked where people wanted to know first what your job title was," he observed in his abandoned draft. "Even in Moscow, people wanted to know about family, about how you were feeling, about life, love, whatever."
And that was back in the Reagan era. "Now it seems as though [Washington journalism] has become the most self-important business in the world, with lots of people eager to get face time, advance their interests, become famous, rake in more money than a TV anchor, do some memoirs." All of which, Madigan continued, explains why Colbert laid an egg.
"Satire is dangerous because it assumes an audience is smart enough to know it's satire, first, and not so egocentric that everything said is taken seriously," Madigan wrote. "It's not about getting a laugh so much as it is about getting a thought that leads to a laugh. That's hard. There was no way Colbert could play that room, particularly when he turned his wit on journalism, basically describing it as a compliant scrivener eager to bow to power. Self-importance has a hard time being satirized."
This Just In from The Onion
Insecure Brian Williams Only One Who Doesn't Trust Brian Williams for Latest News
Bullsh*tter to Stay Away From
Amir Taheri
The Tony Snow Job
* Snow was on Lou Dobbs 5/24, and on NPR.
* Fox, What Fox? New press secretary changes channels
Knight-Ridder sale fallout
* KR's DC bureau chief Clark Hoyt is being replaced
* Who is MediaNews' Dean Singleton
* Forbes takes a look at the sales of other KR orphans
* Investors in Philly papers signed no-interference pledges
* Philly papers sold to local group, which includes GOP activist Brian Tierney. The local group doesn't have any experience in the newspaper business. An ex-Philly Inquirer editor says the new ownership of Philly papers could be `dangerous'. The new owners are and know some of the most powerful people in the area. The Philly newsrooms react to the sale. Local coverage here and here. The Newspaper Guild issues its statement on the sale. Will Bunch on the sale. Michael Smerconish's suggestions here
Credit Where It's Due
* I'm surprised they didn't already have one. I've said before that US news organizations should do more reporting about what's going on internationally, so props to NBC for opening this bureau. NBC News announces opening of Middle East bureau. The bureau chief is Richard Engel.
* When it comes to Iraq, sometimes Chris Matthews asks the right questions
Awards, Fellowships and Nominees
* Mike Luckovich wins top Reuben prize Luckovich is one of my favorite editorial cartoonists
* Newark Star-Ledger wins ABA's "Silver Gavel Award" for coverage of "Liberty, Security and the Patriot Act"
* LAT, WSJ journos honored for European reporting HT E&P.
* Bob Schieffer at NY's Society of Professional Journalists annual awards dinner %%% Winners list.
Battle of Media Folks
* George Tanber vs. Toledo Blade Tanber says Blade sat on Coingate story for months and waited until after the 04 election to start publishing. Tanber ends up being fired.
* Joe Scarborough's producers v. Bernie Goldberg
Journalists in Dangerous Situations
* Russian Journo Under Investigation for Mocking Putin HT E&P
* A Reporter's Reporter in Iraq: Nir Rosen %%%
* Climate of Fear in Columbia Keeps Journalists Under Wraps
* VOA's Baghdad Bureau Still Closed After Six Months
* Iran Closes Newspaper Over Cartoon Furor
Journalists, Leaks & Investigations
* Hastert v. ABCNews
* Judge: Reporters must give Libby documents. Time has to turn over info, but some media outlets were spared.
* An update on the Wen Ho Lee case and the press-freedom battle in the case
* Turley on Gonzales' comments about prosecuting journalists who publish classified material Reporters Without Borders also reacts to Gonzales. More here.
* Hoekstra, Harman resist law on reporting leaks
Reporters who publish classified information need not be made criminals but must have a better understanding of laws protecting information vital to national security, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Friday.
TV Guests Watch
* Meet the Press (5/28): Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Washington Post's David Broder, David Ignatius, and Eugene Robinson and National Review's Kate O'Beirne. Three weeks in a row without a Dem.
* McCain made the rounds. Do current Dem Senators get the same kind of free media treatment? Hotline 5/25: ""Today" led with the Scooter Libby leak investigation and hosted Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). "Early Show" led with immigration reform and McCain. "GMA" led with a report on investigations into Speaker Denny Hastert and hosted McCain. "Washington Journal" hosted Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), and Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Larry Craig (R-ID)."
RWCM Watch
* Howard Kurtz torpedoes his own credibility when he invites Hugh Hewitt on to the show.
* Al Gore tells the truth about the press.
* Um, Slate might want to find a new Mr. Science... you know, someone who knows a little bit about science and intellectually honest.
* Jack Shafer on the DC press corps: They deserve the criticism "Taken collectively, they kowtow, fawn, and grovel to the powerful. They allow their sources to compromise their independence. They're glib. They're lazy. They possess no sense of history and little sense of scale. They often get the story wrong."
* NYT Watch from WinSmith. It's the proper thing to label Jefferson as the Democrat from LA, but the NYT and other media outlets have sometimes avoided labeling Duke Cunningham as the Republican from California.
* FCC orders probe of TV stations that air ads as news Well, it's about freakin' time.
* Memo to O'Reilly: Don't put down TDS viewers. We know more facts than many of your viewers who you misinform every night.
* Media is way to obsessed with finding the "Un-Hillary".
* O'Reilly rant about ACLU includes "blatant lie" about local KY student
* Three people who owe DNC an apology, and three people who should stop reading Drudge. Limbaugh, Imus, Tucker Carlson
* Even for Fox News, this is low. Comparing Gore to Goebbels
* Dobbs uses White Supremacist source on his show CNN and Dobbs should issue a formal apology, but they don't.
* Whiniest Dem on Fox News: Susan Estrich
* Media reports Gonzales' Misleading Legal Analysis on NSA Program, Ignores All Opposing Views
* At some point, Kurtz should stop inviting Powerline's Hinderaker to appear on his show. Yo, Howie, find another conservative blogger who hasn't been so unapologetically factually wrong, so often.
* WaTimes publishes article about good news in Iraq, using second-hand quote
* NYT's Carl Hulse
* WaPo's Jackson Diehl
* Chris Wallace ends his interview with Condi Rice in the silliest of ways I expect this during a fluff piece on a morning show or something. Not on Sunday talk.
* My reaction to the NYT "expose" of how much time the Clintons spend together? I don't want to know how many times they've had sex lately. Other reactions: Hey, NYT, where's a Giuliani the Adulterer article? By nyceve Amen. Atrios is right on, as is Digby. And while we're on this topic of media prying into the marriages of politicians, maybe it's high time those who support a constitutional ban of gay marriage have their marriages looked into. Oh, beautiful satire. (Memo Bill Keller: You're living in a glass house. Memo CC'd to Chris Matthews) Great post at TAPPED about this article and the implications. And the David Broder column the next day was pretty sleazy as is Chris Matthews harping on this. Also unacceptable is Tim Russert and his take on the article. One wonders if Russert actually read the darn thing.
* Time mag's pundit lineup could use a little balance
* CNN's "gay cures" story is full of BS
* I actually don't mind these fluffy iPod stories; what I do mind is that the media doesn't seem to devote more time on more important stories. CBS Public Eye contributor says no to any more what is on so-and-so's iPod
* Media Matters
Media People
* NYT Q&A with Helen Thomas
* Washingtonian's 100 Most Powerful Women in DC
* Charlie Rose hopes to return to TV soon He is recuperating from heart surgery. He might be back in July. For now, guest hosts will continue to sub for him.
* FNC's Kimberly Guilfoyle gets married; five months preggers Her wedding announcement was in Sunday's NYT. Congrats to the newlyweds!
* When it comes to hot men in the media, grey (hair) is the new black.
* The Daily Show association is proving a winner for several alums. Rob Corddry's pilot "The Winner" got picked up by Fox. link. His brother, Nate, is part of the cast of NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (And of course, everyone knows about Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert.)
* Aaron Brown on life after Yale
* Anderson Cooper's book gets reviewed. EW does a Q&A with Cooper here. TVGuide also does a Q&A with Cooper here.
* Anderson Cooper was Yale Class Day Speaker for Class of 2006
* NYT Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. gives commencement speech at SUNY New Paltz
News & Notes on Media orgs, Programming, Specials, etc.
* Couric's last day on The Today Show is 5/31, and NBC is milking it for all it's worth. FYI, Vieira's last day on The View is 6/9.
* NBC News' Richard Engel talks about NBC's new Middle East bureau
* Local news on front page sells newspapers
* NBC to sell news clips and episodes (some classic programming, too) through iTunes, while ABC is offering BBC news clips online.
* CBS looks to sell small market radio stations Maybe a wealthy liberal will buy `em up.
* TV Ministries move from broadcast to broadband Religious groups broadcasting online.
* Special reports that aren't so special %%% Everything is now a special report in the world of local news.
* CBS expects Couric to bring in profit
* Who replaces Gibson on GMA? Here are some possibilities. NBC's David Gregory has also been mentioned in some articles.
* Charles Gibson named sole anchor of ABC WNT FishBowlNY compiles the the reaction here. TVNewser rounds up the morning after newspaper reaction, as does Romenesko. ABC's personnel shuffle signals return to traditional newscast model (for more on the personnel shuffle, try CNN's Reliable Sources). Bob Schieffer discusses his new competition. Gibson has chills when asked about his new job; more Gibson in Newsweek and TVGuide. Praise for Gibson here. Vargas's final broadcast as ABC WNT anchor was 5/26. She'll continue anchoring 20/20 until her maternity leave starts.
* OH stations launched daytime webcasts
* Bill Carter: CNN Is "Failing At Night" Because "It Has Bland People" Cooper is kind of bland. CNN primetime's most bland anchor is Paula Zahn. * NPR expands podcast portfolio
* Technorati teams with the AP
State of the Media, Trends, Research Reports, Innovations
* Small-Town Papers Have Big Potential
* Buffet: Newspapers in `permanent decline'
* More Americans are using only cell phones, which makes polling more difficult.
* Nieman posts Journalists' Suggestions for Political Coverage
* Koppel says that nightly news should have foreign correspondents
* Newspaper companies adapting to survive
* Big media firms donate $52M to Newseum
Ratings, Circulation, & Ad Revenue Strength
* Sunday Talk ratings. Hotline 5/25: "For the week of 5/21, NBC's "Meet the Press" won with a 2.6 rating/8 share and 3.378M viewers. Both ABC's "This Week" and CBS' "Face the Nation" had a 6 share, but "This Week" had a 2.0 rating and 2.642M viewers while "Face" had a 1.9 rating and 2.605M viewers. "Fox News Sunday" came in with a 1.0/3 and 1.415M viewers" (If you want more details, ABC spins the numbers here, while NBC does the same here. FishBowlDC looks at some trends here.)
* Cable news ratings for Bush/Blair presser
* The 5PM hour ratings race: Situation Room catching up with The Big Story?
* Morning Show ratings (week of 5/15): Today wins (again)
* For week of May 15, FNC had two shows in Nielsen's Top 40 on cable
* American Idol finale hurts cable news ratings
* Evening news ratings for Week of 5/15-5/19/06: ABC takes back second place from CBS; closes gap with NBC in 25-54 demo; NBC spins the numbers here.
* Late Night Ratings: Leno and Conan on top
* Colbert's WHCA Dinner hit #1 on Apple's iTunes It has also done well at Google Video.
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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