Kudos to Cooper for Haiti Prez Interview
A great segment by Anderson Cooper on 360 tonight. He had an exclusive interview with Haitian president Aristide, filmed just this morning. "You will not see this interview anywhere else," Cooper promised. In the intro, he played clips from ten years ago, when he covered Operation Uphold Democracy on the island. His questions were to-the-point: "I haven't been back in eight years -- why has nothing changed?" and "will Haiti get out of this crisis?" among them. Shep devoted 21 seconds to Haiti during his "Around the World in 80 Seconds" segment tonight... 10:37:16 PM

Gay Marriage Rulings Raise Debate on Cable
The recent gay marriage rulings have made for frequent fodder on cable. "What is so frightening about love?," Barney Frank asked on CNBC. The topic was debated on the first ten minutes of "The News" at 8pm. At the same time, CNN tackled the issue with lower-thirds reading "Same Sex Marriage: Culture War." We welcome the opportunity for a public debate," gay rights activist David Tseng said. Well, you're getting it. The issue was the lead story on Newsnight with Aaron Brown... 10:17:36 PM

Rumor: "CNN fired an entire group of veeps"
DCRTV posts a letter in the mailbag referring to the CNN Radio G.M. removal: "Garcia was blown out last week, along with a number of other CNN vice presidents. It's part of the 'reorganization' nationwide, and CNN fired an entire group of veeps." Any insiders with details? E-mail... 10:14:23 PM

And the Award for Best E-Mail Newsletter Goes to...
MSNBC's Countdown. Whoever writes this is really on the ball: "Finally, you may remember the summertime attempt by Cubans to get to the shores of Florida via a Chevy pickup truck -- it was kept afloat with 55-gallon drums serving as pontoons and had a propeller attached to the drive shaft. ...They're at it again, two of them 'sailing' a green 1950s Cadillac convertible, along with nine other people. ...Once ashore, they plan to take in a flick at the local Drive-in Theatre, then grab a few burgers at the Shoney's Big Boy. Only then will they ask President Eisenhower for refugee status. (Actually, they were again intercepted by the Coast Guard. Seriously folks, anyone who converts not one, but two, old cars into seafaring vehicles should be allowed to stay on the basis of ingenuity alone.)" 8:39:49 PM

Welcome to Scarborough Country! Joe Will Protect Us...
Joe is listening to us! From tonight's MSNBC newsletter: "Millions were outraged by Sunday's half time stunt. You spoke out, and your message was heard in Scarborough Country. Now, Joe asks: 'Who's protecting America's children -- from the media?' Dr. Laura Schlessinger joins Joe on a special Scarborough Country." Joe will protect us! 7:49:04 PM

Carlie Brucia Suspect in Custody: Contrasting CNN/FOX Coverage
The Carlie Brucia Amber Alert may have paid off. "A suspect is now in custody," Shep Smith said halfway through his 7pm show. On CNN, Susan Candiotti discussed the story from outside the sheriff's office for at least seven minutes. Orlando Salinas reported from Miami for FOX. Anderson Cooper had reported about the missing girl 15 minutes earlier. They reported the newsflash just before 7:30, and seemed to know more details than FOX. Shep promised "breaking news in two minutes," but aired a tape report before flashing the News Alert graphics. I know it's just two minutes, but it just seems inappropriate somehow... 7:48:18 PM

MSNBC Fans Impressed by New Prime Promos
MSNBC has unveiled new primetime promos, and the network's MSN fans are impressed: They "have energy and spice -- very rock and roll," one poster says. "New voices, new graphics. Very cool." Another comment: "I'd call them high impact promos." More... 7:28:43 PM

Quote of the day
...and possibly of the week, Rantingprofs: "How it is that there have been more mentions of Janet Jackson's breast than of North Korea's gas chambers? Which is the real outrage? The press can't keep spending their credibility chips down to a deficit then look to cash a check when something happens and they need to say to the public, but we're the defenders of (pick one) the public's right to know, the public interest, the marketplace of ideas. If they want to be treated special when the chips are down then they need to act special on a day to day basis to build up those credibilty chips in the bank." 5:01:19 PM

CNN Introduces New Equipment; Names Three "International Video Correspondents"
CNN has issued new digital newsgathering equipment "to combine cameras, editing tools and advanced satellite and Internet communications technology into a laptop-based system" to all 28 of its international bureaus, a press release today says. The network has named Ryan Chilcote, Karl Penhaul and Alphonso Van Marsh "international video correspondents." CNN developed the system in-house. LostRemote has more... 3:42:43 PM

Primary Coverage: Next-Day Notes & Corrections
First, a correction: Yesterday I said that Larry King's show would be a repeat at midnight. In fact, it was live last night -- CNN's online schedule was wrong, so I repeated their error. Second, a note: While noting that Aaron Brown was live at 1am, I ignored the fact that Chris Matthews was live until two, too. FOX was the only cable net to wrap it up at 1... 3:41:52 PM

Bob Novak Hits The WP Gossip Page
Did Bob Novak get into a dust-up with a viewer in New Hampshire? Rich Leiby has the story in today's WP. The headline: "Taunt! Push! Shove! Quote! Counterquote!" 3:41:14 PM

Hey, This Could Be A Ratings Boost for MSNBC
On February 26, MSNBC will air live coverage "of the destruction of the foul ball deflected by hapless fan Steve Bartman during the sixth game of the Cubs' playoff series with Florida," the Sun-Times reports. Broadcasting & Cable first "broke the story" earlier this week. 10:16:40 AM

Edwards Great Media Move: He "timed his entrance perfectly"
David Folkenflik points out Edwards' "political cunning" last night: "[He] timed his entrance perfectly last night to make the local and network evening newscasts in the West" -- not to mention the start of cable primetime! "And, not by coincidence, the honey-tongued orator drowned out the announcement of Kerry's dominant win in delegate-rich Missouri, relegating the development for many minutes to the crawl at the bottom of the cable channels' screens." Here's the full Baltimore Sun story. 10:13:57 AM

Personnel Moves at CNN International
"CNN International has announced three new appointments designed to strengthen coverage in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions," Digital Spy reports. Chris Cramer says it "underlines CNN's commitment to the Middle East." 10:12:51 AM

A Contrast of Deb's Ratings: 'Inside Edition' vs. 'Norville Tonight'
I like Michael Starr's contrast in the NYPost today: "'Inside Edition' notched its best weighted metered- market rating in four years Monday (5.5). It's anchored by Deborah Norville, whose new MSNBC show, "Deborah Norville Tonight," is averaging 276,000 viewers thus far." Heh heh. 10:12:32 AM

Sign of the Times?: Kerry Q/A's on Cable Before Addressing Supporters
"Talking to cable anchors, apparently, is more important than giving a victory speech these days," Howard Kurtz writes this morning. "John Kerry made the rounds on CNN, Fox and MSNBC before addressing his own supporters last night. I guess we now know who runs the country." Kurtz just keeps churning out content... 9:45:52 AM

Last Week's News Viewer Index
Cynopsis has the news viewer index for January 26 through February 2. In total day, "Fox News had 47% of the viewing, CNN 27%, MSNBC 15%; and Headline News 11%." In primetime, "Fox News had 46%, CNN 28%, MSNBC 13% and Headline News 6%." 9:44:27 AM

CNN Radio VP / GM Parts Ways
Newsblues reports: "Robert Garcia, former chairman of RTNDA, has reportedly left his post as vice president and general manager of CNN Radio Network." No comment from CNN... 9:44:03 AM

Is Five Hours of Chris Matthews Too Much?
An interesting thread about Chris Matthews turns into an analysis of why MSNBC doesn't rotate anchors on primary nights. "I like Matthews and Hardball, but I don't understand why they have the same people on for 5 hours straight," one post said. "Fox knows how to put on an entertaining show. That is why they don't do 5 hours of same programming," another said. Here's the rest. 9:39:40 AM

Union Members to Protest CNN Tonight
The NYDN reportrs that "a crowd of furious union members" will protest against CNN as Time Warner's new building opens in Columbus Circle. "The union represents studio technicians and camera operators who were let go late last year after CNN ended a longtime agreement with a contractor called Team Video Services," Phyllis Furman reports. Their thumbnail photo of CNN is at least five years old... 9:35:33 AM

Aaron Brown Hosts Live NewsNight At 1AM
Hooray for Aaron Brown -- he hosted a live edition of NewsNight at 1:00am. Good stuff! Great recap of the results. 1:09:44 AM