Demo. Debate: Matthews Quizzes Trippi on "Hooting and Hollering"
Chris Matthews hosted a second live Hardball at 11pm. He led with Dean's "hooting and hollering" -- not any of the substantial issues discussed during the debate -- then interviewed Joe Trippi. Matthews asked who was digging up dirt on Dean and feeding it to the media. "I would point to the RNC. I think they're running...out there, and dumping on all the Democrats." Matthews tried to nail down specific names (Karl Rove? Ed Gillespie?) but Trippi wouldn't take the bait. Then Matthews asked him if Dean was as angry as he looked during his infamous speech Monday night. As Trippi said that "this is like, really ridiculous," the "15 seconds of tape" aired again. "You've gotta run it again right?," Trippi said. "So we can see it again?"... 11:17:43 PM

Demo. Debate: Another Round of Media Notes From NH
Greta: "The debate itself was very predictable." Campaign Carl told her that the debate was "very tame, no elbows thrown," and said that Kerry is "still firmly [entrenced] as the front-runner" // NYTimes Friday: "On TV With His Wife, a Softer, Gentler Dean" // Also NYT: "Late in the debate, when Brit Hume said he was going to ask a question related to the scream heard 'round the Net, Dr. Dean quickly said, "Please don't." But he was smiling." 11:16:12 PM

Demo. Debate: Media Notes From New Hampshire
MSNBC.com's headline called it a "polite debate" // Greta called it a "do-or-die battle" in a "critical debate" in her promo // "Only 285 days until George Bush gets re-elected," Sean Hannity said tonight. Only... 10:55:23 PM

Demo. Debate: NewsNight Wraps Up The "Gentleman's Debate"
"Tonight's debate mattered," Aaron Brown said simply. But no one seemed impressed. Candy Crowley summed it up: "Seven candidates, five days until the first priamry -- you'd think that would add up to some fireworks, but what we got was a gentleman's debate," she said. "This is a debate without a lead...it was almost staid," Brown added. 10:11:38 PM

Demo. Debate: Was Clark the Loser Tonight?
Clark advisor Jamie Rubin told Joe Scarborough that his candidate did well, but others didn't agree. As Ed Rollins told Scarborough that "Clark missed an opportunity tonight," Carl Cameron told Hannity & Colmes that "Clark is a little erratic in some of his remarks." Other pundits suggested he came in "last place." Clark's comments about Michael Moore came under heat (Moore responds)... 10:11:02 PM

Demo. Debate: Wallace Anchoring Post-Game Show
The debate continued, but FOX's airing of it ended at 9:45. Chris Wallace anchored the debate post-game show from Washington. Wallace called the event "less than scintillating." "The candidates didn't engage, despite efforts by Brit and Peter Jennings to engage," Fred Barnes said. Carl Cameron summarized the debate well, pointing out that there was "no defining moment, no major pivotal turning point here." 9:58:09 PM

Demo. Debate: FOXNews.com Debate Coverage
FOXNews.com doing a decent job covering their debate -- the site offers three video clips, and the story has some good quotes from the event. Why no live feed like the one WMUR is offering, though? Or a message board?... 9:47:43 PM

Demo. Debate: Early Lead: "Few Fireworks;" Bush Bashing
The headline on WMUR's debate story, updated at 9:11pm: "Few Fireworks As Candidates Attack Bush In Debate." "Debating Democrats bash Bush more than each other," CNN.com says. The WashPost says that "candidates so far refrain from attacks on each other, instead touting strong points as nominee or as president." In other words -- a dull debate... 9:24:42 PM

Demo. Debate: Ding Ding!
Yes, it's the bell. "They've borrowed the Crossfire bell," one DU post said. The time constraints seemed restrictive -- we're hearing a lot of sound bites, and not much more. "The timekeeper has asked that you listen even more attentively to the bell," Jennings said around 9pm... 9:08:11 PM

Demo. Debate: Moderators Not Popular Tonight
Brit Hume and Peter Jennings don't have many fans online. "I can't stand how the moderators are TRYING SO HARD to bait them," a DU post said. There's an entire thread beating up on Jennings. At FR, one poster said: I "am amazed at Jennings. Talk about prejudice. Sickening. Talk about an agenda. Sickening. Talk about media bias. Sickening." 9:07:35 PM

Demo. Debate: "This One is Truly Wide Open"
"Journalists always have an incentive for saying races are wide open, even when they're not," Josh Marshall writes from NH. "But this one is truly wide open." Let's see if this debate changes that... 8:51:17 PM

Demo. Debate: I Can't Resist: Jennings as Second Fiddle; Democrats on FOX...
"Did Hume work for Petey at while Hume was at ABC News?" (Sort of -- Hume was a WH correspondent as Jennings anchored WNT.) "Must gall Petey to be playing second fiddle to Hume now." Meanwhile, this Watercooler member didn't let the fact that FOX News was hosting a pivotal Democratic debate slip by unmentioned: "Yes, the constantly-derided-on-Shoptalk Fox News is deemed to be THE outlet for the DEMOCRATS." 8:33:18 PM

Demo. Debate: "Make or Break Debate" Begins on FOX
Brit Hume was drowned out by applause during his welcome. The candidate intros were terribly out-of-synch; the voiceover, camera, and graphics were all out of whack. (DU showed no sympathy.) After the first minute, though, the first segment of the debate seemed to go well. I like the You Decide 2004 logo on the right side -- and the lack of a scroll. Shep promises the first question would be a doozy, and it was almost worthy of the hype: "What will you say exactly, precisely, if [you are the Democratic nominee], President Bush says, Senator Kerry is going to raise your taxes, and I am not," Peter Jennings asked. "That's a fight i look forward to," Kerry responded. Jennings gave Dean the opportunity to answer the same question, or explain his "overly enthusiastic speech to your supporters." Dean sort-of did both... 8:13:20 PM

Bennifer Breakup: An Excuse to Hear Howard Scream
"Sad news tonight at the top of the G," Shep Smith said on FOX near 8pm. He described receiving the AP news alert that Jen and Ben had called it quits. "Upon hearing the news, a J-Lo fan promised her a whirlwind romantic getaway." Cue the Howard Dean state-naming spiel, then back to "he's upset. We're all upset." Har har... 8:01:36 PM

Stunning: Conservative Watchdog Calls Media "Liberal," "Biased"
The conservative Media Research Center today released a study of 2003 news coverage titled "Still Liberal, Still Biased: How Big Media Helped the Left and Hurt the Right in 2003." The organization says the bias is obvious in coverage of economic policy, foreign policy, social issues, and politics. Of course they are going to say that -- they are a right-leaning media monitoring group. Nevertheless, the report is a great read... 7:16:56 PM

It's Trial Time: "The Rebirth of Court TV"
Diane Dimond calls the bevy of upcoming high-profile trials "the rebirth of Court TV." They don't consider the cable news nets competition. ''I say with confidence that while the others are excellent at what they do...we are the experts on trials and the legal process, so I don't see them as competition,'' a Court TV VP said. More in the Miami Herald... 7:14:58 PM

FOX News ALERTs Bennifer Breakup
"Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Kaput," the breaking news banner read just after 5:30. David Asman laughed, apparently at the stupidity of it all, when he said "this has been a FOX News alert." The MSNBC.com front page said at 5:33pm: "Publicist announces Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have broken up." "The couple has been under an intense media watch since their courtship began 18 months ago," the wire story says. Wow... 5:50:53 PM

Great Question -- But It Was Left Unanswered
"Does technology blow political mistakes out of proportion?," FOX asked as their Big Question during the 5pm hour. "I've only seen the footage 75,000 times or so," the Daily Show's Samantha Bee half-joked. A great question -- but is it really appropriate to ponder it with a comedian? At the same time, MSNBC asked "Is Dean Finished?"... 5:48:24 PM

Taking the Men-Only Sign Off MSNBC Primetime
MSNBC's primetime-anchor-photo definitely looks better with a woman in it. (The earlier version of this photo is interesting -- look how Norville takes prominence in the photo on MSNBC.com's site. Is that in her contract?...) Also, her commentary last night (on being back at NBC) is now online. 5:28:39 PM

I Never Thought of Shep as a Smoker
This Gawker tipster says Shep Smith is a 'doll:' He was "charging through the crowd to get outside of Nevada Smith's (74 3rd Ave) to be "fair and balanced" -- he took a cell phone call while smoking a cigarette. He was a doll when he came back in because when I greeted him, he said I did a good job singing. (It was karaoke night.)" 5:26:37 PM

Media Types Holding An Invite-Only Forum
"Having faithfully reported the goings-on of others, the media will get their chance to comment, pontificate — even whine — during a town hall meeting this weekend devoted to themselves," the Union Leader reports today. 350 people will attend the invitation-only forum. The Daily Show is hosting the event; they are asking reporters not to write about it, and cameras will not be present. Tin foil hat folks are going to love this... 5:24:26 PM

SOTU Ratings: FNC "Crushes" & "Thrashes" CNN
FNC's State of the Union ratings beat "all cable news competition combined," the network said today. The press release uses words like "crushes," "thrashes," and "trounces" to describe their win over CNN Tuesday night. The channel averaged 4,451,000 viewers between 9 and 11pm, compared to 1,968,000 CNN viewers and 721,000 MSNBC viewers. "In the same time period, FNC averaged 1,539,000 persons 25-54; 554,000 persons 18-34; and 1,357,000 persons 18-49, thrashing CNN by 82%, 98%, and 84% respectively." 2:52:32 PM

Last Week's Cable Audience Ratings
Cynopsis has a recap of cable news ratings last week (12th to 18th). The audience %'s: In the total-day, "Fox News had 48% of the viewing, CNN 25%, MSNBC 15%; and Headline News 12%." For primetime, "Fox News had 50%, CNN 30%, MSNBC 13% and Headline News 8%." Almost identical to last week... 2:25:28 PM

Quote of the day
Rantingprofs watching NBC's news decisions: "US soldiers killed in Iraq. No story from Baghdad, just Today's headline reader reading headlines. But there's a full news piece, you can be sure, on the difficulty in selecting a jury for Martha Stewart. Indeed, as much time is devoted to a moose on the loose in a Salt Lake neighborhood as was given to Iraq." That would be funny, if it wasn't so sad. 12:45:27 PM

Why The 1/2 Hour 'News Alert' Delay?
FOX News aired part of NASA's press conference around 12:05pm, when they announced serious communication problems. Why did it take CNN.com half an hour to send out a breaking news alert? As of 12:30, it wasn't on the web site; it reached my AIM name at 12:39, my e-mail at 12:41, and my cell phone at 12:42. Wolf Blitzer reported the "Just In" news at 12:35... 12:44:26 PM

Has Cable News Magnified Dean's Dramatic Speech?
To what extent has cable news magnified Dean's troubles? The LA Times wrote of his 'late-night battle cry:' "The image of Dean repeatedly punching the air...has played endlessly on cable news networks and offered instant fodder for late-night comedy monologues," the reporters pointed out. "All of this gets more complicated in the cable news universe, where things get played again and again," Aaron Brown said last night. "CNN's Anderson Cooper mockingly played the end of Dean's rant five times in a row -- five times!," Howard Kurtz wrote this morning... 10:57:24 AM

Norville's Premiere: Web Reaction
> TVSpy: "Overly conscious of being a 'woman's' show"
> MSNBC MSN group: "Some good gets - nice solid alternative to Larry King"
> TVHeads: "I (as a male) would much prefer looking at her over Colmes and King!"
> Newsblues: "Norville nearly rose above the steroid-laced production. She is bubbly and likable and dangerously smart." 10:49:24 AM

An International Perspective in New Hampshire
CNN International's Richard Quest is on the Election Express bus. "What we are aiming to do here is understand why is this such a pressure cooker of U.S. politics?," he writes on CNN.com. Why in such a short period of time do all the candidates come to one of the smallest states in the union, spend so long, which at the end of the day, can make and break -- or break, and certainly will, certain campaigns?" When he figures it out, his reports should air on CNN domestic, too... 10:41:10 AM

BW: "There's a wall" between news and funny
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer asked Brian Williams about the recent Pew study: "People get that Bill Maher doesn't do what I do for a living. I love Dennis Miller, but we're in a different business. ... I think there's enough savvy out there to know that there's a wall between the two, and I don't see it as a challenge." 10:35:24 AM