Mediawatch

Who's That Guy on the Local News?

New York Times  |  Dec 1, 08 8:25 AM CST

(Newser) - Across the country, star local news anchors are signing off for good, the New York Times reports, as local network affiliates look for ways to cut costs, and find big anchor salaries tempting targets. Newscasters with more than 20 years behind the desk have been dropped in Chicago, Houston, Denver, and Boston. “I don’t think we’re going to see the anchor people grow old with the audience anymore,” said one casualty. More »

Who Needs CNN?

New York Times  |  Nov 30, 08 9:47 AM CST

(Newser) - Witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks didn’t wait for CNN to get information: They captured it themselves, the New York Times reports, the latest example of citizen journalists using technology to put themselves on the frontlines of news. “I felt I had a responsibility to share my view with the outside world,” said one witness from Boston. More »

Colmes Ditches Hannity, Will Remain at Fox News

Broadcasting & Cable  |  Nov 24, 08 3:16 PM CST

(Newser) - After 12 years as co-host of Hannity & Colmes, the liberal half of the Fox News standby, Alan Colmes, will leave the show at the end of the year. He's working on a weekend show for the network, which will keep him on as a commentator, Broadcasting & Cable reports. "I’ll genuinely miss sparring with such a skillful debate partner," Sean Hannity said. More »

'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

Broadcasting & Cable  |  Nov 21, 08 2:22 PM CST

(Newser) - The FCC is continuing to push the "wardrobe malfunction" case and has turned to the Supreme Court, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The agency is attempting to have its $550,000 fine reinstated against CBS for Janet Jackson’s disrobing during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A federal appeals court threw out the fine in July. More »

Sports-Talk Shoutfest Has Ruined Politics on TV

Atlanta Journal-Constitution  |  Nov 20, 08 3:11 PM CST

(Newser) - ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption , a show in which two sports writers “make fun of each other’s male pattern baldness and argue about sports,” often at high volume, is on many fans’ watch list, including political scientist Christopher A. Cooper. Unfortunately, PTI “has ruined American politics,” Cooper writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , as cable news shows have applied the formula far too broadly. More »

CBS Sought to 'Mollify Right' in Rather Investigation

New York Times  |  Nov 17, 08 2:13 AM CST

(Newser) - Former anchor Dan Rather appears to be making headway in his $70 million lawsuit against CBS for his firing, the New York Times reports. With the power of subpoena, Rather has unearthed documents showing that the network used Republican operatives to vet members of the supposedly independent panel set up to investigate the 2004 60 Minutes segment about President Bush’s National Guard service that got Rather axed. More »

NYT Slaps Reporter for Facebook Source

New York Times  |  Nov 16, 08 11:00 AM CST

(Newser) - Backlash against the New York Times reporter who contacted minors on Facebook to locate sources has led Times public editor Clark Hoyt to declare, “I would not have sent the messages.” Jodi Kantor, author of last month’s unflattering front-page profile of Cindy McCain, reached out to classmates of McCain's daughter to find parents who knew McCain. Her efforts were labeled by some as “disgusting.” More »

Polling Guru Nabs $700K Book Deal

New York Observer  |  Nov 15, 08 11:58 AM CST

(Newser) - Polling expert Nate Silver, the statistical mastermind behind FiveThirtyEight.com, has a new number to crunch: $700,000. That’s roughly how much Silver will net in his new two-book deal with Penguin, the New York Observer reports. Silver will pen one tome on the art of prediction, and a second Freakonomics- esque look at the inner workings of an election. More »

Kristol Used His Column to Help McCain's Rebels

Daily Beast  |  Nov 7, 08 3:23 PM CST

(Newser) - As Bill Kristol used his New York Times column to relentlessly praise Sarah Palin and simultaneously blast the McCain camp's handling of her, he was far from an objective observer, writes Scott Horton in the Daily Beast. Kristol regularly received inside information from the McCain team's pro-Palin contingent, then used it in a series of increasingly critical columns. "Simply put, the pundit meddled in the campaign he was commenting on," says Horton.  More »

Extra! Extra! Obama Win Sells Out Newspapers

Chicago Tribune  |  Nov 5, 08 10:14 AM CST

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s victory was excellent news for the newspaper business. Papers sold out so fast the Chicago Tribune , Washington Post and Cincinnati Enquirer fired up presses for a second run, with the Post rattling off 150,000 extra copies. Lines formed outside the New York Times building and Tribune Tower; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution went so far as to move single-copy sales outside to keep up. More »

Talking Heads Vow Restraint ... Sort of

Los Angeles Times  |  Nov 4, 08 8:10 AM CST

(Newser) - Television news executives have vowed they won't jump the gun and project a president-elect until one man has 270 electoral votes. And they won't count electoral votes until polls are closed, reports the Los Angeles Times . But if key states in the East and Midwest back Obama, viewers will likely be told he appears headed for victory even before polls close in the West. More »

NYT ' s Ethicist Rips Off Colleague's Column

Gawker  |  Nov 2, 08 3:53 PM CST

(Newser) - Is it right for an ethics columnist to steal a reader’s question from a colleague? It apparently is for the New York Times ’ Randy Cohen, writes Alex Carnevale in Gawker. Today’s Ethicist column includes a question printed in another column last month. “The paper now has more advice columnists than questions for them to answer,” Carnevale writes. More »

Downturn Hammers Magazine Industry, Too

Women's Wear Daily  |  Oct 31, 08 2:40 PM CDT

(Newser) - The economic downturn is taking its toll on magazines, forcing layoffs and budget cuts as publications face fewer advertising dollars, Women’s Wear Daily reports; the trouble is compounded as production costs soar while readers turn to the Internet. Magazine ad revenue fell 5% in the first three quarters of 2008, to $18.4 billion, with an 8.8% drop in the third quarter. More »

Drudge Loses Juice as Media Swing Left

Financial Times (UK)  |  Oct 30, 08 9:38 AM CDT

(Newser) - The Ashley Todd hoax was as good a symbol as any of the decline of the Drudge Report, writes John Gapper in the Financial Times . Liberal blogs, cable TV, and, indeed, newspapers themselves have invaded and occupied Matt Drudge’s sensationalist niche. Tough competition and falling circulation are “pushing newspapers back to a scrappier, more plain-spoken and partisan ‘yellow press’ past.” More »

Hannity, Olbermann: On Different Planets

Washington Post  |  Oct 27, 08 12:29 PM CDT

(Newser) - Barack Obama has suggested voters are “seeing two different realities, a Sean Hannity reality and a Keith Olbermann reality”—and he’s right, Howard Kurtz writes in the Washington Post . "Adored by fans and derided by critics," Fox's Hannity is an unapologetic John McCain booster, while Olbermann uses his MSNBC pulpit to promote Obama. More »

Times Hit by White Powder Scare

New York Times  |  Oct 22, 08 2:27 PM CDT

(Newser) - A New York Times employee found white powder inside an envelope earlier today, prompting police to evacuate that floor, close the office lobby, and ask three workers to bag their clothing and shower, the paper's City Room reports. The letter was addressed to editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal. The newspaper had a similar scare in October 2001, but that substance tested harmless. More »

Judith Miller Heads to Fox

Editor & Publisher  |  Oct 20, 08 10:59 AM CDT

(Newser) - Judith Miller, the former New York Times reporter who spent 85 days in jail rather than reveal her sources in a CIA leak case, is Fox News’ newest on-air analyst, Editor & Publisher reports. “I get to spout my views, I will NOT be joining the news team,” said Miller, who left the paper in 2005 after 28 years. More »

Cratering Dow Sinks Cramer Cred (but Doubles Ratings)

New York Times  |  Oct 20, 08 9:14 AM CDT

(Newser) - Jim Cramer was long Wall Street’s most reliable cheerleader, psyching up investors on his high-octane CNBC show. He’s insisted several times this year that the worst was over—only to tell viewers this month to forsake stocks entirely. “It is harder to get it right than any time I have seen in my career,” he tells New York Times media columnist David Carr. More »

Rolling Stone Shrinks to Smaller Format