When You're Reporting About Deadly Poison, Don't Lie to the Viewers
Well, the cabler's didn't exactly disappoint, but FOX's anchor needs to get it together. CNN used local FOX affil WTTG's live feed. FOX also took the news conference live, but went back to O'Reilly after a few minutes. Newsreader Carol Iovanna made an embarassing mistake in her wrap-up: she said the test results "has been confirmed positive" -- a bold lie, since the most extensive test results have not yet come back. Aaron Brown got it right: "There are indications it's ricin, but not an absolute test at this point, and we'll just have to wait for more information." C'mon, Carol -- let's be a bit more careful when it comes to a deadly poison... 11:28:06 PM

Will "24 Hour" Cable Nets Air Late-Night News Conference?
Okay, here's my big question this hour. At 10:58pm, CNN reported there would be a press conference on the Ricin scare "in about 15 minutes." Typically, all three "24 hour news networks" air reruns starting at 11:00pm. So will the channels go live with what could be a very important story -- or could be nothing more than an inaccurate test. "We'll hang around here until they say what they're going to say," Aaron Brown said on NewsNight... 11:04:47 PM

Aaron Brown Comments on the "Costume Malfunction"
Tonight on Aaron Brown's opening monologue: "We have taken great care [to ensure that] whatever else happens, there will not be a costume malfunction tonight. If you are just waiting for me to rip off part of my shirt as some cheap rating stunt...you are out of luck." The control room folks pixelated the right side of Aaron's chest during the intro. He said that some nights, he does the show without shoes, but that's as far as he'd go... 10:56:00 PM

Dennis Miller's "Encore Presentation" -- Pathetic
Only one week ago, Dennis Miller premiered on CNBC. But tonight, he's airing a repeat -- oh, excuse me, CNBC calls it an encore presentation. "He hasn't been cancelled YET?," one poster asked, and I can't tell if he was joking. Another round of posts calls it a "bloody train wreck." Also: NBC P.R. put out some quotes from last week's show. Note to CNBC suits Get the kinks worked out first -- make it worth an encore. Then again, we'll just flip over to H&C; regardless... 9:38:12 PM

Senate Ricin Scare: CNN.com Leads; Still No Mention on MSNBC.com
CNN appears to the first cabler to report on the Senate ricin scare, at least online. The news alert hit my cell phone at 8:50pm, and at 9:00pm there were no details at MSNBC.com or FOXNews.com. ABC's web site has the most detailed story so far. By 9:15, FOXNews.com had a one-sentence banner online, while CNN.com had a short story online. 9:16:59 PM

Hume Award Protest: Reactions From Around the 'Net
"Anyone who has to claim to be 'fair and balanced' undoubtedly isn't," a DU post says. Free Republic posters had a field day today (here, too). ChronWatch says the liberal media is pouting: "The success of Fox News continues to annoy the liberal media, which includes nearly everybody except Fox." Here is UPI's take on the story... 8:34:57 PM

Hume Award Protest: Support for Brit & FOX
I asked for comments from people who supported Brit, and the e-mails poured in. Leigh congratulates him: “Brit Hume was in journalism long before Fox News was even thought of…I guess the others don't like him because he and Fox News show the true bias of the other networks.” Karen sides with FOX: “I think that they present the news in a fair and balanced way…I think they do a wonderful job.” And an unnamed reader with a good point: “What are people complaining about, specifically, related to Brit Hume?…It would be helpful if the complainers backed their statements with something other than adjectives…and "I hate Bill O'Reilly" shouldn't really count.” 7:04:14 PM

An Alternative to Saying "Don't you get it? Journalism is dead"
PressThink picks up on the embarassing interview Wolf Blitzer conducted with Dennis Kucinich last week (referenced in this space on Tuesday): "'Why are you such a loser, Dennis?' is asked not for the benefit of the viewing audience. It is not for voters' ears, either. Blitzer asks it for reasons wholly internal to his profession, and the only interest served, I think, is the journalist's." A great column... (Hat tip: Romenesko) 3:19:41 PM

Hume Award Protest: "Another hysterical overreaction"
An excellent post at Rantingprofs: "Another hysterical overreaction to Fox News...Take a peek at the list of prior award winners and get a laugh. Brit Hume is every bit as good as every one of those other recepients -- he's outstanding -- and no less ideological." Cori Dauber has a fascinating examination of why FOX's style frightens the mainstream: "By taking a different spin then the other outlets quite regularly, whether you think that's conservative or whether you think that's a corrective to the other outlets' liberalism, Fox is truly threatening because it makes clear that alternative [narrative] frames are possible at all..." 12:41:47 PM

Hume Award Protest: Readers Chime In
A sampling of e-mails today: Dee says she agrees with Overholser: "...To me, one of the most disturbing trends in Fox's meteoric rise to ratings dominance is that they aren't truly reporting the news -- they are reporting news peppered with their opinions and presenting it as a straight news cast. It isn't. And they shouldn't be rewarded for skewing the news." Jo says to Geneva: "Good for you! Glad to know there is someone elso who thinks Fox (Faux) News is unfair and unbalanced." Walt is less sympathetic: "Goodbye, and don't let the door hit your butt as you leave..." Any readers out there who side with Fox? E-mail your comments... 12:09:30 PM

Statements Regarding Hume Award Protest
In e-mails to CableNewser: FOX News declined additional comment on today's USA Today report. Geneva Overholser declined comment, but said she expected to write about the issue in her weblog. Bob Meyers, the National Press Foundation president, released this statement today: "The Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism was made to Brit Hume after a unanimous vote of the selection committee and overwhelming support from the board of the National Press Foundation. The Taishoff Award has always gone to an individual for a lifetime body of work. It is never made made to the individual's current employer or to an individual because of his employer. As a journalism organization we encourage full and frank debate regarding the merits of all our activities, whether our awards for accomplishment or our free educational programs for journalists." 12:01:46 PM

Is ABC's Ross Talking to NBC About Replacing MSNBC's Sorenson?
A rumor at FTVLive: Sources say that "Good Morning America Executive Producer Shelly Ross is involved in talks with NBC to join the network." Why is that important? "The Peacock [may be] looking at Ross to take over struggling MSNBC." Goodbye, Erik? 11:51:47 AM

Quote of the day
Clarence Page in the Chicago Tribune: "If weather forecasters predicted the weather like media commentators, political consultants, Washington wheeler-dealers and other political prognosticators forecast elections, they'd be fired." 11:50:56 AM

! NPF Board Member Resigns Ahead of Dinner Honoring Brit Hume
Calls FOX "ideologically connected;" asks if its style is "good for journalism"

Geneva Overholser (a former WashPost ombudsman) has "resigned from the board of the National Press Foundation because it plans to honor Fox News anchor Brit Hume," Peter Johnson reports in Monday's USA Today. Wow. "Fox wants to do news from a certain viewpoint, but it wants to claim that it is 'fair and balanced,'" she says. "That is inaccurate and unfair to other media who engage in a quest, perhaps an imperfect quest, for objectivity." Overholser says she welcomes a discussion on the issues. Share your thoughts on her resignation via e-mail. 12:19:56 AM

Dean: "There was no [scream] conspiracy except for Fox News"
Joel Connelly in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Monday editions: "Unlike some followers, Dean disclaims any media plot to undermine his candidacy. He does make one qualification. "There was no conspiracy except for Fox News and people like that," he said. "Fox has a clear ideological agenda."" 12:09:40 AM