CableNewser
Watching the cable 'news' networks
Considering the extent of their influence
Wondering what journalism will become
E-mail your tips and opinions to [email protected]
SOTU: Conclusion: "One year from tonight..." Another exciting night of television -- you think Wolf or Brit or Chris are tired yet? Or any of the countless folks behind the scenes? Minute-by-minute coverage will return in a week, as NH enjoys its night in the spotlight. 'Campaign' Carl Cameron put it all in perspective: "One year from tonight, a new president will be inaugurated."11:16:33 PM
SOTU: Cablers Analyze Bush, Preview Competition The lead seems apparent: Bush defends his presidency and prepares for the election year. "I think a headline is, 'Bush is laying out the battlefield for the coming election,'" Peggy Noonan told Chris Matthews. MSNBC placed their Zogby poll data on-screen 20 minutes after Bush wrapped up. On FOX, the attention turned to New Hampshire by 10:43. Carl Cameron reported from up north (he said the temperature was around five degrees), and Chris Wallace unveiled a new FOX N.H. tracking poll. In a live report from Bedford, New Hampshire, Brian Williams told Alan Murray that "we have a brand-new race here"... 11:06:58 PM
SOTU: One More Round of Notes Bill Kristol thought Bush's speech was the second-best this week: "It couldn't compete with Gov. Dean's non-concession concession speech," he joked // Frank Luntz questioned swing voters on MSNBC; he aired speech excerpts with a graph showing moment-by-moment viewer reactions atop Bush's face // Brian Wilson summed it all up on FOX: "A lot of pomp, a lot of ceremony, a lot of applause -- sometimes the Republicans stood, sometimes the Democrats did not, as to be expected in a presidential address given in an election year." 11:05:43 PM
SOTU Notes: Spin Time!; The Statues of Statuary Hall CNN went to LKL directly after the Democratic response -- I would have preferred more time with Aaron, Wolf, and Paula // 10:33 -- it's spin time!: Bill Frist (R) on CNN, Chuck Hagel (R) on CNN, John Breaux (D) on FOX, and Charlie Rangel (D) on CNBC // "What's the scene like there in Statuary Hall?," Alan Murray asked Dennis Miller. "Well I'm watching some of these interviews, and quite frankly, some of the statues are more animated," Miller responded... 10:44:52 PM
SOTU: On FOX, It's Democrats, Not Democratic Brit Hume, as the Democrats wrapped up: "[We watched Pelosi and Daschle] take a crack at what everyone agrees is the unenviable chore of trying to respond to the president's SOTU address." FOX's graphic called it the "Democrats' Response," while all the other channels ID'ed it the "Democratic Response"... 10:38:11 PM
SOTU: Rough Draft of History -- Web Site Headlines 10:23pm, a quick scan of the news site headlines: CNN.com: "Bush cites progress, 'unfinished business." MSNBC.com: "'Work Unfinished:' Bush frames agenda for second term." FOXNews.com: "'Rising to the Tasks of History'." ABCNews.com: "'Our Greatest Responsibility'." CBSNews.com: "Bush: Our Work's Not Finished." Three out of five look to the future (and a second term)... 10:25:39 PM
SOTU Media Notes: Four Television Screens Is Not Enough CNN featured a "Voice of the People" panel only minutes after Bush left the chamber // "Is Peggy Noonan [on MSNBC] a space cadet?," one DU post asks // On MSNBC, Pat Buchanan said "it was an extraordinarily effective political speech" // "I was a little struck by the president's decision to put that Patriot Act paragraph so high in the speech," Aaron Brown commented. "That's a flag as red as the president's tie in the national debate that's about to unfold" // NBC interviewed John Kerry almost immediately after the speech... 10:22:27 PM
SOTU: Pundit Comments on Election Dynamic On CNN, Joe Klein called the foreign policy segment "surprisingly defensive," and said that "this was the president's response to the democratic presidential campaign." On FOX, Bill Kristol called the speech "fairly aggressive:" "It is striking that there will be real contrasts in this election campaign" -- NCLD and Patriot Act named as two examples. "Several times in the speech, the president was taking shots across the bow to his potential opponents," Jeff Greenfield said. 10:12:42 PM
SOTU: Media Notes From The House Chamber VodkaPundit: "Clearly this speech is, as everyone already knew, his first campaign commercial for 2004" // On Headline News, the male anchor (I forget his name) called this "one of the most important speeches the president has given to date" // The big three networks broadcast tonight's speech in HDTV 10:02:34 PM
SOTU: The Angle: Let The Campaign Begin The obvious angle for all the anchors tonight: It's an election year. Brit Hume prefaced the rest of his comments with a note that the speech takes place "in the midst of an election season." Howard Fineman on MSNBC called tonight "functionally a launch of the president's reelection campaign." "He has come to the House chamber three times before," Chris Matthews intro'd. "But with the presidential campaign in full swing, [President Bush] is no doubt feeling the pressure to connect with voters." 9:08:42 PM
SOTU: Coverage Points Out Bush's Blemishes (Figuratively) "This seems more like a defense of the record as it exists," rather than a forward-focused speech, Brit Hume remarked on FOX. A pundit stated that Bush has been "aggressively" defending his record for weeks. And Jim Angle pointed out that "there are no ambitious new programs [to be announced tonight], at least in terms of money." Speaking of Bush's re-election chances, "this is in no means a sure thing," Jeff Greenfield said on CNN... 9:02:49 PM
SOTU: Olbermann, WMD, and Saddam's Pants I missed it, but a FReeper quotes Keith Olbermann: "Is it more likely that we'll find weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's pants before we see that term used in tonight's State of the Union?" Keith doesn't have many fans over there... 8:40:32 PM
SOTU: CNN is Ready; Fresh Graphics, Music CNN is taking tonight seriously. The (new?) soundtrack is excellent -- it hits all the right notes (har har). The graphics are fresh too -- very nice. They even turned off the damn scroll! But why is Paula sitting outside? It's 23 degrees on that roof. (She called it a "cozy little rooftop studio.") Zahn was a bit over-the-top at the end of her show, though: She said that "the world awaits" what "may be [Bush's] most important speech to date." 8:39:37 PM
SOTU: Quote of the day Anderson Cooper, wondering if young people will watch the SOTU tonight: "I suppose it depends on whether a new episode of Rich Girls is on MTV or not." He used the line as an introduction to a Gideon Yago interview... 8:08:18 PM
SOTU: Dennis Miller Previews the Speech New CNBC talker Dennis Miller was live from the Capitol rotunda at 8pm, previewing the SOTU with John Seigenthaler. "I think Howard Dean screwed the pooch last night," he joked. In fact, he kept coming back to the 'maniac:' "For God sakes, I wouldn't play charades with Dean, much less have him be my president." It was a great segment. "And now, we're back to some more serious reporting," John concluded, smiling... 8:07:07 PM
State of the Union: Cable Coverage CNN's coverage will begin at 8:30pm. Wolf Blitzer, Aaron Brown, and Paula Zahn will anchor. At 10:30pm, Larry King will take over; at 11:30, Aaron Brown will wrap up the night on Newsnight. Repeats start at 12:30am. // FOX coverage will air from 8:55pm to 11pm, with Brit Hume hosting. Hannity & Colmes will be live at 11pm. Greta will air at midnight, but it looks taped in advance. // On MSNBC, Keith will count down to the SOTU until 9pm, then Chris Matthews will anchor until midnight. Olbermann comes back at midnight for a live hour-long recap. (Repeats start at 1am.) 7:52:15 PM
Greta Describes a "Rock and Roll" Night Greta Van Susteren describes last night's "fluid" On the Record: "[Because of the caucus,] not only did we not know the time the show would begin, but we had no idea who would be on the show." And: "I wish we had a camera in our control rooms during nights of "rolling coverage"...You have no idea how crazy it can get in there." 7:35:26 PM
Anderson Cooper's Audience Participation Anderson Cooper anchored 360 from the Crossfire auditorium at George Washington University tonight. (It's a lot smaller than it looks on TV.) The audience posed some good questions to guests. 7:31:25 PM
Jerry Nachman: Reporting from Heaven
Jerry Nachman Memorial Service Announcement MSNBC has just released details for the memorial service: A memorial service for Jerry Nachman will be held on Thursday, January 29th at 11:45am at the Riverside Chapel, 331 Amsterdam at 76th Street, in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers, his family has requested that donations be made in Jerry's name to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, online at http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/30.cfm or by mail: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, PO Box 27106, New York, NY 10087-7106 5:15:39 PM
The Last Edition of Nachman's Newsletter MSNBC sent out the last edition of "The Nack Today Insider," Jerry's e-mail newsletter. "It is with great sadness that we inform you that Jerry Nachman passed away overnight. He was a great friend and colleague to all of us here at MSNBC. We are going to miss him terribly...To send your condolences, hit reply to this e-mail, or write us at [email protected]." 5:13:16 PM
"In heaven already doing some investigative reporting" The Hardball newsletter today calls Nachman "a guy who's held basically every position you can hold in the news business from print, to radio, to TV." Other excerpts: "Jerry was a true old school soldier in this business...He was no pretty boy reading a teleprompter...Jerry was a well traveled reporter who touched most of the major media figures out there and nurtured a lot of careers...I'm sure Jerry's in Heaven already doing some investigative reporting." 5:12:54 PM
Nachman: Viewers Express Shock and Sympathy "[I] always loved Jerry's takes on the news," this TVHead says. Jeff Jarvis writes that "TV news lost someone who loved TV news and knew its potential. TV lost a smart one." A TVSpy member called Nachman a true character of the business gone way too soon." This Free Republic post wraps it up: "He was a true newsman. They don't make them like that anymore." 5:10:16 PM
Nachman: "Well-known," "Outside-the-box" The reactions to Jerry Nachman's passing have come quickly. TVWeek calls MSNBC's EIC "one of the most well-known, outside-the-box and colorful characters in his generation of television newsmen." "I feel honored to have had him in my life," CBS2 anchor Dana Tyler said. (He was a VP at WCBS for years.) Here are AP and Reuters stories... 5:09:52 PM
Nachman's "passion for covering news" Lester Holt presented a retrospective on Jerry Nachman's career during the 4pm hour. "He hired me, at the ripe old age of 20," Holt pointed out. "If you wanted to work for, you had better share his passion for covering news. That's what Jerry was -- a reporter." Holt wondered how Jerry would have "written the headline of his passing," and answered: "No doubt, something short, punchy, and even witty. Something just like him." 4:33:14 PM
Nachman's Passing: MSNBC Statement MSNBC executives released a statement today on the passing of Jerry Nachman. "Jerry was well-informed, candid, witty, and charming. He was also a gifted newsman and executive, and his passing is a loss not just to NBC but to the entire profession," said Bob Wright, GE Vice Chairman and NBC Chairman and CEO. "Our hearts go out to his friends and family." Read the rest.4:32:46 PM
Nachman's Last Story: Michael Jackson On MSNBC earlier today, Sam Shane spoke with Lester Holt about Nachman's life. Lester pointed out that the "last big story he was working on...was in California covering the Michael Jackson case for us." Holt said that Nachman was "very eager to get back in the field..."His career many times way up in the big bosses' office, but ultimately he always wanted to get back to the newsroom." You can view the full discussion here. 4:32:01 PM
Jerry Nachman, 1946-2004 MSNBC Editor in Chief Jerry Nachman died overnight. Nachman was diagnosed with a malignancy in his gall bladder last year. He was 57. His passion for news was contagious, as Erik Sorenson said today. To say he will be missed is an understatement.4:13:46 PM
Can I Be A Pundit?: CNN Pays Clark $490,000 Remember Wesley Clark's stint as a CNN pundit during the war in Iraq? Well it paid off handsomely for the former general -- a total of $490,000, according to records released by the Democratic candidate. That's the highest single payment he received in speaking fees since retiring from the military, the Nashua Telegraph reports. 10:04:32 AM
Miller, Straddling the News/Entertainment Line Another preview of Dennis Miller's show, and another clever quote: "I'm not going to go out there and do comedy-style news. We hope not to blur the line between news and entertainment; we hope to obliterate it, quite frankly. Just when you think this is a news show, it gets a little funny, and vice versa." More at Zap2It... 10:03:15 AM
CNN Requiring Sensitivity Training? Jack Cafferty spouted sarcastic comments about it yesterday, and again this morning -- CNN is apparently requiring sensitivity training for its employees. Whose bright idea was this?, one TVSpyer asks. Another person says it's ongoing, so perhaps this is just the latest round. "It never worked" for me, Cafferty said on AM today... 9:55:09 AM
Stewart Trial Not a Media Circus Newsday double-teams Martha Stewart coverage: Here's a preview of how news org's will (or won't) cover the trial, while this story points out that "on the eve of her big trial the courtroom apparently is not yet a sellout." "Strange," Gawker remarks. "Could it be... that the media realize people are sick of hearing about the intensely dull Martha Stewart trial?" 9:54:56 AM
Utley Not A Fan Of Cable News Garrick Utley gets another NY paper profile -- today, the Times steps up to bat. Choice quote: Reporting has been replaced with "interminable talking heads [and] an unceasing pressure on cable news channels to focus on whatever story creates enough of a sensation to hold on to viewers for as long as possible." 9:53:37 AM
Debbie's New Site; Photo Gallery for TV Host? Deborah Norville's MSNBC web site is up. The Photo Gallery under "Other Deborah Links" seems inappropriate somehow. None of the pics are as good as this one, though... 9:53:23 AM
Caucus Coverage: The Day After > These N.H. voters will be on CNN next week > The DMRegister summarizes pundits' wisdom > This Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist was channel-surfing > Boston Globe: "Momentum is focus of TV coverage" > WashTimes wraps up the media's warped coverage 9:34:38 AM
Greta
Van Susteren:
"Many in my business —
including those at competing cable news
organizations — are now daily checking
out a new site about cable news"
Because I'm not that modest, and I want to hype the site:
LostRemote: "He certainly knows how to own a story"
DCRTV: "Man, I don't know who runs the CableNewser site, but if Shep Smith or Anderson Cooper farted in New
Hampshire, this local DC-Baltimore area blogger covered it. Amazing..."
Rantingprofs: "Cablenewser...more and more a must read every day"
CableNewser.com // Top
Copyright 2004, all rights reserved. All communication with CableNewser is documented, and may be republished unless otherwise requested.
Blog(ger) this site
·
Tell a Friend!
·
Email tips and
comments
·
About
