MSNBC Iowa Caucus Coverage Plans
Big surprise: MSNBC plans live coverage of the Iowa Caucus. The press release was put out on Friday afternoon. Hardball will be live from Des Moines from Thursday the 15th up to the 19th. On caucus night, Chris Matthews will host live coverage from 7 to 10; pause for Scarborough Country for an hour; back live in Iowa until midnight; then wrap with a live Olbermann Countdown until 1am. Chris Jansing live reports from the hawkeye state begin Monday. 11:42:50 PM

Some Fun With Morning Papers
NewsNight's Morning Papers segment climaxed with the tabloid Weekly World News. "We should have covered this one," Aaron Brown said, then revealed the headline: "Bat Boy Led Our Troops To Saddam's Hole." "And incredibly, they have a picture of Bat Boy," Brown deadpanned... 10:58:59 PM

"One Area Where CNN Beats FOX Easily"
TVHeads points to Internet news site rankings, where CNN.com is #1 and FoxNews.com places 9th. Hey, you take what you can get... 10:33:06 PM

Resolutions for the Media
Eric Burns' FoxNews.com column shares viewer resolutions for the media in 2004. He says the most common theme was a request for more objectivity by the media. "Leavee out ideological viewpoints and report the news, fair and balanced," one viewer wrote. Another asks: "Can you create a separate channel for Michael Jackson so I don’t have to keep changing the channel?" Good stuff. 8:36:14 PM

"Who made CNN king-maker?"
Beating up on Howard Dean, or demonstrating liberal bias? A TV Spy poster writes that "CNN is DEFINITELY doing a hatchet job on Dean...Media organizations are now making and breaking candidates." On the other hand, the conservative Media Research Center's Cyber Alert accuses CNN of going soft: "CNN set out Wednesday night to prove that Howard Dean was no liberal as Governor of Vermont, but reporter Kelly Wallace used as her authoritative sources the editor of a self-described “alternative” newspaper and a local Democratic legislator." 7:58:10 PM

"Rupert's World"
A fascinating cover story in the January 19th Business Week: "Rupert's World" describes Murdoch's global satellite empire and a coming "fierce new media war." Snip: "On the news channel front, a big fight is likely to erupt when highly rated Fox News begins to push for a fee comparable to the 38 cents that Time Warner's CNN commands, says CIBC Worldwide analyst Michael Gallant." (Hat tip: IWantMedia) 4:16:21 PM

Quote of the day
Today's San Francisco Chronicle, on the news that FOX's ratings topped CNN in Sunday's debate: "Either there are a lot more Democrats watching Fox News than expected, or a lot more Republicans watching CNN than one would assume. Of course, it could also be that Republicans watched the Democratic debate for a good, hearty laugh or so they could run around their living rooms, high-fiving over the fact that "this is all they've come up with!...In either case, this much is clear: Fox News is cutting off CNN's head and handing it back." 4:01:59 PM

Another Reason to Watch Countdown Tonight
From MSNBC's Countdown w/Olbermann newsletter: "Finally, we hope you saw yesterday's #1 story about a man whose apartment -- and every last item in it -- was foiled (aluminum, that is) by a friend who was house sitting... ...Apparently it inspired someone on our staff. his morning one of our producers was shocked to find her entire workspace covered like a Sunday casserole. But that's not all. Keith's doorway was screaming with foil. And in an odd twist, the director's workspace was bathed in Saran wrap, leading us to believe that two different culprits are responsible...Suffice it to say that if some sort of Countdown Meltdown occurs tonight, you can blame it on the escalating maneuvers of tit-for-tat staff members whose pranks had nowhere to go but on-air." 3:27:02 PM

Novak's 'racist' Crossfire remark
CNN commentator Robert Novak is accused of calling American indians election thieves in a "racist, insulting remark" on a recent Crossfire program. Two years ago, the South Dakota Senate election "was stolen by stuffing ballot boxes on Indian reservations. Now, Tom Daschle may have to pay for that theft," Novak told co-host James Carville on Tuesday. Yesterday, S.D.’s state Democratic Party chairwoman demanded Novak apologize, and other politicos issued chastising statements. More details in Friday’s Rapid City Journal report. 9:18:04 AM

FOX Biz Success: "We do it in straightforward English"
Jon Friedman's CBS column this morning expands on yesterday's NYDN report about FOX's business show success, and includes some insightful comments from Neil Cavuto. "People appreciate (that) we do it in straightforward English. We try to avoid jargon and acronyms. A lot of business shows preach to the converted, and they're out to impress brokers," the FOX business anchor says. He calls Fox a "phenomenon" at one point. Here's the full article. (Hat tip: Romenesko) 9:16:01 AM

How Many Have to Die?
Rantingprofs figures it out: "...We're starting to get a feel for what the formulas are here. Soldiers dying do not necessarily rate the lead story (or even a story), unless they die in a clump. Soldiers wounded in even very large numbers do merit mention, but when the majority of the soldiers involved have not suffered, thank God, very serious wounds... it may not be more than that." 12:26:29 AM

Trials on TV: Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
An interesting thread beginning at TVHeads on trial coverage. "The media always assumes that the defendant did the crime when they do not have any real evidence," one poster writes, and cites various cases. A response: "The media wants drama, ratings and more drama. The outcome is almost irrelevant once the trial ends and all the players, or "actors" fade into obscurity." 12:26:09 AM