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Static
2008-06-09 13:29:00 NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg summarily rejected by Obama and McCain. Mike's ego desperately desired to grab the spotlight by claiming center stage in an ABC News debate between the two candidates. Both sniffed "nyet". "Rivals Give Mike A NY Nix" NYP NYDNABC News Martin Bashir caught his brain tumor in time after hitting his head on a "Nightline" set hanging light. NYP"I have no journalistic training... Over time, I've become more like a traditional journalist," I'm now much more skeptical and much more distanced." Over-the-hill blogger babe Mayhill Fowler busting Bubba's thin anger bubble. Howard Kurtz Wash PostRepublicans and YouTube orchestrate a contest to send an amateur photog to the Repub convention in Minnesota. B&C"Part of the reason that networks seem to be losing their exalted status is that news programming, typically great for the image and not so much for the ratings, has been given over to the cable news stations. When issues of civic moment are nigh, consumers have...
By: Chickaboomer
Keith Olbermann: Poetry In Motion
2008-06-02 13:21:00 Howard Kurtz Wash Post on TV talking heads' Scott McClellan Bush bash spin: [Keith] Olbermann hailed the book, "What Happened," as "a primary document of American history" that contained "poetry." Talk about role reversal: It was Olbermann who said in 2005 that "whenever I hear Scott McClellan talking about 'media credibility,' I strain to remember who it was who admitted Jeff Gannon to the White House press room and called on him all those times." (Gannon, a conservative blogger with an X-rated past [a gay hooker], now says, "Scott McClellan's credibility is zero.")So is the credibility of the Big Three TV networks. Katie Couric admitted last week she was under pressure to positively spin the Iraq war. Anderson Cooper's CNN reporterbabe Jessica Yellin pointed the same finger at MSNBC brass.Kurtz: MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines calls Yellin a "disgruntled . . . news reader" who worked there for one year and who had "little to no contact with editorial decision-makers." Yellin sa...
By: Chickaboomer
MSNBC Sends In The Clown
2008-05-29 18:46:00 To commit Serious Journalism, pissing off NBC WH correspondent David Gregory fingered for leaking an anti-Olbermann jab appearing in the Wash Post yesterday. Jossip has the back story.Here's what set off Olbermann: "Some top NBC journalists say privately they are troubled by the overlapping identities." [Now that NBC has physically swallowed MSNBC at 30 Rock.] Thin-skinned Olbermann went bat shit when he saw this: "Olbermann is edging ever-closer to self-parody, or, worse, predictability... every time he turns up the volume to 11 like this lately, he sounds like just another of the cable gasbags he used to be a corrective to." TIME James PoniewozikWhen I wrote about both jabs yesterday I observed that Olbermann's skin was so thin he could be flayed with a butter knife. As I predicted months ago Olbermann's snake skin is shedding to reveal suicidal blowhard wacko TV anchorman Howard "Mad As Hell" Beale in 1976's "Network." Help me untie the Gordian Knot. Who wins the war? Gregor...
By: Chickaboomer
Howard Kurtz's Reliable Sources
2008-05-29 13:13:00 The ubiquitous, prolific media gadfly Howard Kurtz fending off conflict of interest sniping from NYT's Jacques Steinberg after the Wash Post columnist and host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" pimped a new book PR flacked by none other than Howard's wife. His on-air disclaimer wasn't enough for Jacques and other "media ethicists" - an oxymoron, CBS News
By: Chickaboomer
Olbermann-ic
2008-05-20 04:07:00 Tonight a hypermanic Keith Olbermann waxed ponderous and condescending in a "Special Comment" to clarify last week's eye-glazing ponderous "Special Comment" on Bush and (surprise) Iraq, Iran, "appeasment," Obama et al. The #1 Story: Keith. It was to appease (or MSNBC forced Olbermann) the right-wing lugnuts in Tee Vee Land who Keith claims are too dumb and rabid to get when he referred to Bush and his henchmen as "cold blooded killers" he didn't mean (duh) our troops. Olbermann WatchOlbermann laid off O'Reilly tonight and instead targeted conservatives Ollie North, Bill Kristol, and "comedian" Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin. Let's go to the videotape. Perhaps MSNBC brass ordered him to cool it on O'Reilly after the juicy anonymous-sourced speculation leaked by NBC piece to Howard Kurtz.
By: Chickaboomer
NBC Immeltdown
2008-05-19 12:56:00 Keith Olbermann's four-year MSNBC-sponsored war against Bill O'Reilly lures the terrorists out of their cave.Howard Kurtz Wash Post: Bill O'Reilly, Fox News star, is mounting an extraordinary televised assault on the chief executive of General Electric, calling him a "pinhead" and a "despicable human being" who bears responsibility for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. On the surface, O'Reilly's charges revolve around GE's history of doing business with Iran. But the attacks grow out of an increasingly bitter feud between O'Reilly and the company's high-profile subsidiary, NBC, one that has triggered back-channel discussions involving News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker and General Electric's CEO, Jeffrey Immelt. Ailes called Zucker on his cellphone last summer, clearly agitated over a slam against him by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. According to sources familiar with the conversation, Ailes warned that if Ol...
By: Chickaboomer
Hillary: Say Cheesy
2008-04-30 16:19:00 Via Johnny Dollar's Place: "It's a trap" whines a liberal Daily Kos kommando. But Bill promises "it won't be a gotcha interview." NYDN Moses Goes To The Mountain in Indiana where he'll chat up Hillary in an interview running during his show tonight and tomorrow.Wash Post Howard Kurtz kommands komments: "We came to see that, essentially, Hillary is a woman animated by a lifelong ambition. That ambition is to make the world accept the ideas she embraced in the sanctuaries of LIBERATION THEOLOGY, RADICAL FEMINISM, AND THE HARD LEFT. We came to see her as a politician who invented her own strategies of protective coloration, who learned to mask her true feelings and intentions. She had become the master manipulator of the press, the public, her staff, and--likely--even the president" - Barbara Olson in her book HELL TO PAY: The Unfolding Story Of Hillary Rodham Clinton (1999)The late Barbara Olson (died 9/11 Pentagon plane) rang me up in 2000 when I was doing a DC talk show. We ripp...
By: Chickaboomer
ABC Debait
2008-04-18 15:57:00 Reaction to the ABC News presidential debate breaks along ideological lines. Repubs gave high marks; Dems not so much. Charlie Gibson (in the same suit he wore at the debate), tackled the post-debate mortem on air last night: Howard Kurtz Wash Post: On Gibson's "World News" last night, ABC said "thousands of angry viewers" had posted comments on its Web site, one complaining of "shoddy journalism" and another saying "Shame on you, Charlie and George. We deserve better." After it was reported Stephanopoulos asked the William Ayers question at the behest of Sean Hannity who has been beating the Ayers/Obama connection to death on "H&C", Stephanopoulos covered his ass claiming he had been "following" the William Ayers issue "since February." "What finally tipped the balance on whether to ask it or not was that as far as we could tell, Obama had never answered the question." Obama accuses ABC of playing "gotcha games." NYP Buried in the blitzkrieg: ABC hit a high note with 10....
By: Chickaboomer
Julia Allison Vs. Howard Kurtz: Who Has Better Hair? [Fameballs]
2008-04-15 01:08:00 Here, finally, is a video clip of Julia Allison’s Sunday appearance on Howard Kurtz’s CNN media extravaganza, Reliable Sources. I’m not somebody who can detect human emotion, but doesn’t it look like Howie has a crush on her? You can really see it in his eyes. Click to watch the instantly classic clip, which includes ...
Graceful Kelly
2008-04-14 15:44:00 Fox News brass trotting out blonde, beautiful lawyer/anchorbabe and rumored Brit Hume honey Megyn Kelly (she's married now & in NYC) to negate Fox's bikini bimbo blonde, beautiful anchorboneheads. Howard Kurtz Wash PostCaught Fox's latest tinkering with Fox & Friends Weekend. Liked the Boston sports guy David Briggs trying out Saturday. Cute. Love the dimples. My jury's out on the bombastic Clayton Morris. Ainsley Earhardt's million-dollar smile and bubbly personality acquitting herself nicely. The anchors dancing in their seats to a live band was a bit disconcerting...Quintessential- news quack Courtney Friel fronted the scripted newscasts. Even with a script she effs up. Miz Courtney stumbled over several words in the bit I watched and uttered "s**t" instead of "ship."
By: Chickaboomer
Katie Couric: Bye, Bye Miss American Pie
2008-04-11 13:18:00 The New York Times follows up on yesterday's WSJ's musings about Katie Couric's CBS News demise. Apparently the rumors of her death weren't greatly exaggerated and the rumors greased the skids for her exit:Bill Carter & Jacques Steinberg NYT: The discussion took place in New York on Feb. 28 and involved four people: Ms. Couric; her agent, Alan Berger of the Creative Artists Agency; Sean McManus, the president of CBS News; and Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS. The meeting took place in Mr. Moonves?s office. The conversation included what one participant said was some ?idle talk and musings? about the big question hanging over CBS News: should Ms. Couric leave her position as the news anchor after the presidential election, a development that had long been rumored.No one involved in the meeting or briefed on its particulars would be identified for attribution because of the delicate nature of the talks. But Ms. Couric discussed several things she might do if she left the an...
By: Chickaboomer
Katie's Final Days: Larry King Flips His Wig
2008-04-10 14:53:00 Over news he may be jettisoned from his anchor chair by - drum roll - Katie Couric. I'm shocked shocked at the WSJ's report that Katie's unhappy at CBS. CBS isn't happy with the ratings cellar dweller, either. The evidence? A tete a tete between Miz Katie and CNN boss Jon Klein. "They had lunch in late January, and the anchor attended Mr. Klein's birthday party in March... "Larry King is a great talent who consistently delivers the highest profile guests, and we have no plans to make a change." Through a publicist, Mr. King declined to comment.Everyone's in the denial mode: In a statement yesterday, a "CBS Evening News" spokeswoman said, "We are very proud of the 'CBS Evening News,' particularly our political coverage, and we have no plans for any changes regarding Katie or the broadcast." In a separate statement provided by another spokeswoman, Ms. Couric said, "I am working hard and having fun. My colleagues continue to impress me with their commitment to the newscast, and...
By: Chickaboomer
Murdoch Lock On Schlock
2008-03-24 12:52:00 There's another Murdoch building a media empire: Rupe's 39-year-old daughter Liz who famously told daddy to put "American Idol" on Fox. NYT"American Idol" talent wrangler Ryan Seacrest is working on an empire of his own. Seacrest aspires to be Dick Clark, Larry King, and Merv Griffin rolled into one. Tom Shales Wash PostThe Four Seasons hotel empire puts the screws to a tattler already in media hot hands written by two ex-FS concierges due out April 22. The publisher pulled "Great Reservations." Chicago Tribune.Start your OWN media empire! Host a radio show at BlogTalkRadio. All you need is a phone. Howard Kurtz Wash PostOh, an enterprising guy has figured out how to bust the Wall Street Journal's website and read for free. Salon (NewsBlues Mike James unearthed this gem.) And this obit. Ex-veteran ABC News correspondent Bob Dyk exits the planet. 71. Cancer. Maine Today
By: Chickaboomer
Rove Rave
2008-03-17 13:33:00 Karl Rove reinvents himself as a National Media Treasure after reclaiming his brain from Bush. It is his role at Fox that is disarming some detractors. Slate said the "mild-mannered" Rove "has merely offered clarity, concision, humility, good humor, good posture, and dispassionate analysis." New York Times columnist David Carr called him "one of the best things on television news right now... graceful, careful and generous." Howard Kurtz Wash Post
By: Chickaboomer
SNL Propels Brian Williams To #1
2008-03-10 10:53:00 What do Brian Williams and Hillary Clinton have in common? Both got a huge surge in popularity from "Saturday Night Live." "For the February sweeps, Williams averaged 9.5 million viewers to Gibson's 9.3 million; Couric trailed with just under 7 million." Howard Kurtz Wash PostSome people scoffed when Williams appeared on SNL but it paid off big time in the ratings.Over at MSNBC Dan Abrams has changed the name of his show to "Verdict."
By: Chickaboomer
Obama's Monster Mashup
2008-03-08 11:56:00 It was fortuitous that a now Power-less Obama discovered early on that the Harvard babe and Pulitizer Prize-winning author lacked tact and judgment. It wasn't the first time Obama's foreign policy guru Samantha "Monster" Power stepped on her tongue. For those who don't get how a reporter could be so dumb about the rules for "off the record", consider this. The worst court witnesses are lawyers. They can't shut up. For the record, our man in Washington, Howard Kurtz, reviews how off the record works. Wash Post
By: Chickaboomer
CNN's Candy Land
2008-03-06 14:37:00 Whining political reporters bitch that Hillary saw her shadow Tuesday and it's six more weeks of slogging through the political muck. Howard Kurtz Wash Post CNN actually dispatches a naive callow young fool to distill the trials of reporters on the campaign trail. Crooks and Liars vid Veteran CNN political reporter Candy Crowley pops up at the end bitchslapping the kid's poor me spin. The idiot doesn't belong on the air. I want Candy!
By: Chickaboomer
Hillary: Curse Wretched
2008-03-03 14:31:00 Schizo cable Tee Vee talking heads are now proclaiming Hillary's victim strategy successful. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski today speculating women are responding with sympathy to Hillary's tinny tuning fork. This in a matter of less than 48 hours where Hillary appeared on a fawning "Saturday Night Live." CBS "60 Minutes" last night where she whined about being the victim of "smear tactics" while smearing Obama: he's not a Muslim "as far as I know." Breitbart TV vidIn Ohio the ruthless Clinton machine is spreading rumors that Obama took the oath of office with his hand on the Koran. Obama is not and has never been a Muslim. NYP That Obama doesn't know the words to the Star Spangled Banner. Steve Kroft "60 Minutes" Huff Post vid Do you find it curious that the bloom is off the Barack media rose? Howard Kurtz Wash Post
By: Chickaboomer
John McCain's Hypocrisy
2008-02-22 17:20:00 The New York Times website is taking live questions RIGHT NOW after getting 2,000 comments on the McCain lobbyist affair story. Wash Post's Howard Kurtz analyzes why the Times has its dick in a vise. NYDN recaps. I don't care about McCain dicking around with a lobbyist. What bothers me is McCain's hypocrisy. Mr. Straight Talk claims he's not beholden to Washington special interests. But his behavior tells a different story. He hires lobbyists, flies on corporate planes, lobbies federal agencies for lobbyists.
By: Chickaboomer
Curt Kurtz
2008-02-18 17:14:00 Conservative liberal-bashing NewsBusters kisses the liberal ring of Washington Post media critic and CNN "Reliable Sources" Howard Kurtz after he called the media on inadequate presidential campaign stories. NewsBusters Howard's WaPo column today warns the media they may choke on their anti-Hillary spin. They're having rolling "Obasms" over at Slate where idle minds are conjuring new Obama entries in the political dictionary. NYP Page Six The NYDN wonders if the Obama phenom is backfiring.
By: Chickaboomer
Super Egos
2008-02-05 16:46:00 If I hear MSNBC's Joe Scarborough pimp himself one more time as a former member of Congress I'm going to smash my TV. I like you, Joe, but p-l-e-a-s-e, we're all aware of your stellar political past. Memo to conservative talk radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh: The definition of insanity: doing and saying the same things over and over hoping for different results. Howard Kurtz Wash PostThe bane of Rush's existence, John McCain, rubs it in on the Today show and CBS Early Show. NewsBusters chronicles McCain's "Sore Winner" behavior. Anybody who survived 5 1/2 years in the Hanoi Hilton had to be freaking nuts when he got out. Once a prick, always a prick. McCain's high school acquaintances say his nickname back then was "McNasty." Patterico When McCain ran for prez the last time around he had to acknowledge his "histrionic personality disorder" diagnosis to quell rumors he was totally wacked. TIME magMcCain appears more like Anti-Social Personality Disorder to me.
By: Chickaboomer
Kill Bill
2007-12-19 17:43:00 Hillary Clinton creates a self-fulfilling prophecy by sending out bad vibes to the media. Karma bites Hillary for blaming everyone but her. She's just held to a different "standard" bloviates Hillary henchmen to the Wash Post's Howard Kurtz.Her Imperial Heinous sets herself up with weirdness like this: She was dispatching across Iowa "people who have known me, who can talk about what I do when the lights are off." Wash PostHillary mumbled the above after the media gaggle shot like heat-seeking missiles to Bill and Magic Johnson campaigning on a different aisle of an Iowa Hy-Vee store - leaving Hillary in the lurch alone. NYDNHill, you need to ditch Bill. He's hogging your spotlight. And prevaricating. He got his dick in a wringer after George Bush The Elder denied Bill's fantasy of a George/Bill world lollapalooza to repair son George's international messes. Today the NY Sun reports the National Archives has 2,600 pages of Clinton WH docs held back on the orders of a one Bill C...
By: Chickaboomer
Imus Redux
2007-12-09 17:25:00 Marty, Eric Deggans will be on CNN today commenting on Imus return. Last time Eric was on cable commenting he had his lunch handed to him by Hannity and Colmes. Hopefully this time he doesn't show up espousing the NABJ position calling for censorship and blacklisting of Imus. Oh yeah, coming prepared with a set of points and counterpoints will help as well. Best regards,ChanXSource: Deggan On CNN Night with Hannity and ColmesMarty to ChanX: Apparently Imus news is fish and chips wrap on the other cable TV nets. Nothing today on the Sunday spin shows to my knowledge. Chickaboomer's intrepid Imus correspondent Laree Lee has Friday's show synopsis. Chickaboomer Contributor ChanX files this take on Deggans' CNN appearance: Howard Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" featured Eric Deggans along with Talkers' Michael Harrison this morning. On the program Eric used as an example of Imus' past transressions Howard Kurtz himself, who Imus once called "a boner-nosed, beanie-wearing Jew boy." An ...
By: Chickaboomer
Greenhouse Gas
2007-11-30 15:28:00 "If any more political plants turn up at CNN's presidential debates, the cable-news network will have to merge with the Home and Garden channel." Conservative flamethrower talking head, columnist, and blogess Michelle Malkin in today's NYP. Apparently the CNN greenhouse was stocked with plants. The free-for-all garnered the best rating of any cable TV presidential debate. MediaWeek The debate was more like a reality show with questions geared for entertainment purposes only. WashTimesGay retired Army Brigadier General Keith Kerr was well known in political, media, and gay circles. So is Republican Grover Norquist identified by Anderson Cooper before his video question aired. CNN media talk show host and Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz recaps the scandal.CNN and Anderson Cooper are like Icarus. Wax wings melted after deliberately flying too close to the sun. They had an agenda and naively believed no one would notice. Before the debate CNN honcho David Bohrman defended CNN'...
By: Chickaboomer
Not On The Same Page
2007-11-13 15:08:00 A Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post reporter forced to apologize to creepy serial prevaricator and psycho druggie Marion Barry. Tim Page was pissed about getting another BS Barry political spin email after asking to be taken off the list. So he wasn't thinking when he wrote: "Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new - and typically half-witted - political grandstanding? I'd be grateful if you would take me off your mailing list. I cannot think of anything the useless Marion Barry could do that would interest me in the slightest, up to and including overdose." Howard Kurtz, Wash PostBravo, Tim! Even though you choked on your own vomit. The former mayor and self-annointed "night owl" is one of the most corrupt, sleazy, slimy pyschopaths I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. Years ago he slithered up to me at one of now-deceased DC banker William Fitzgerald's annual events at the Four Seasons. Barry's such an inde...
By: Chickaboomer
When Anchors Attack!
2007-11-05 15:00:00 Lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, FIGHT! Wash Post's Howard Kurtz on the polarizing cheerleading sections for delusional blowhard Bill O'Reilly and his liberal nemesis, Keith Olbermann. Wash Post I caught Howard on Tim Russert's OTHER show this weekend. Tim asked him about the influence of guys like Jon Stewart on the Big Three's staid network newscasts. There's a place for both, he contends. Not for long, I counter. Wash Post's brilliant TV critic Tom Shales agreed with me on Brian Williams's SNL appearance. He "neither took nor gave a pie in the face." My assessment early Sunday morning was "No harm, no foul." Almost Alive! Brian Williams on SNL! The media were so into speculating about Brian Williams's performance as the first network Tee Vee anchordude to venture into uncharted comedy waters. Should he do it? Not do it? His news cred? Who gives a f**k. NBC's witty, erudite Edwin Newman hosted the show twice in 1984. Richard Nixon blu...
By: Chickaboomer
Git-Er-Done!
2007-10-29 16:19:00 Journalism wonderboy Brian Stelter (now with the NYT) writes about a 16-year-old Alabama kid who spearheaded the Facebook Stephen Colbert presidential drive. His Colbert Nation group now has a million members. Including me. NYTStelter started TV Newser while a student at Baltimore's Towson State. He just graduated last spring and his present was the NYT gig. Related: Larry The Cable GuyHillary's getting the lion's share of media coverage reports Wash Post's Howard Kurtz. But it's not all hearts and flowers. The Project For Excellence In Journalism finds that the lazy media are merely scratching the surface of these presidential candidates. Editor & Publisher
By: Chickaboomer
Chipping Away
2007-10-24 17:47:00 It appears that a chip is tripping up presidential candidate Stephen Colbert. Colbert has shot ahead of space alien Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic polls. Howard Kurtz But if Colbert's candidacy is for real, the bucks he gets pimping those God-awful Doritos could take a bite out of his presidential aspirations. ABC NewsChip on their shoulders. Jon Friedman at MarketWatch muses that ubiquitous, prolific media maven Howard Kurtz is getting a "bum rap." "We eat our own," he suggests. Yeah, I think the Washington Post reporter, CNN talk show anchor, and author of I don't know how many books is the target of green-eyed monsters. Howard is: 54 looks 10-15 years younger. Has a full head of dark hair. Youthful physique. And produces like a rabbit on crack.
By: Chickaboomer
?Journalists? Tell Howard Kurtz Why Good News from Iraq Shouldn?t Get Repor
2007-10-08 22:09:00 As CNN’s Howard Kurtz accurately pointed out on Sunday’s “Reliable Sources,” few media outlets seemed at all interested in giving much attention to the great news out of Iraq last week regarding September’s sharp decline in casualties. Robin Wright of the Washington Post and Barbara Starr of CNN - both supported the press burying this extremely ...
By: The Hot Joints
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