"Dobbs forces awareness on his audience"
Reese Schonfeld praises Lou Dobbs for his focus on the loss of American jobs to overseas labor: "Other media report the job leak one drip at a time. By concentrating on it every night, Dobbs makes the audience understand it’s a torrent. If I were CNN, I’d do a weekend Dobbs report on total jobs lost every week." That's the kind of journalism that sets a network apart. 9:15:32 PM

Begala on Political Beat: Bar Hopping?
Paul Begala is devoted to his viewers: "Tucker and I will [get] to the bottom of [the campaign rumors], and we intend to do it by in-depth, old-fashioned shoe leather reporting -- beginning tonight over huge slabs of beef and giant pitchers of beer. We promise to keep you posted, even if it requires every last dime of CNN's enormous expense account." Courageous. 9:13:48 PM

FOX Alone in Covering Gephardt/Race Angle
NewsMax points out that FNC is the only channel reporting on several race-related items on candidate Richard Gephardt's past, including attendance at a KKK-aligned event and opposition to a housing project for blacks. It was first reported yesterday, and 'Campaign Carl' repeated the details earlier today, but no other nets have picked up on it... 6:35:34 PM

A Question of Ethics for CNN Promo
LostRemote has word of a questionable ad for Paula Zahn's Pete Rose interview tonight. Rose apparently wasn't pleased with the interview, and made that clear once it wrapped. The quote is used in a promo for the show. Details 6:26:17 PM

! Questioner: The Caucus and its Coverage
In CableNewser's first interview, the Iowa City Press-Citizen's editorial page editor argues that cable news networks' exhasutive caucus coverage does not reduce the event to a horse race. "We've had candidates here who've washed dishes at a school board member's house, who've sat down over coffee with two farmers in a small town diner and who've spent 10 minutes talking to a 17-year-old high school student who can't yet vote," Rob Bignell says. "Virtually all of this gets covered, and thanks to the Internet and cable news, you can discover what every candidate says on any issue." Read the full interview. 5:03:03 PM

Stop The Bus!
Judy Woodruff on CNN.com: "CNN's Election Express rolled down Route 80 in Iowa early Monday morning with some very special cargo: A presidential candidate. The state-of-the-art mobile television studio on the "Express" allowed Gephardt to make it on time to Atlantic, Iowa, for a campaign event -- and still give a revealing interview." It was CNN's first "moving interview." But state-of-the-art? The cameras are shaking as the candidate sits on a bench -- it may seem edgy to CNN, but it seems like vacation home video to me. 3:53:46 PM

Pew Study: Cable Coverage
Cable channels enjoying the Pew data: "Among the survey findings: You could say it’s ‘hello Internet,’ and ‘goodbye nightly news,'" CNN's Inside Politics newsletter says. "More young Americans get their news from "alternative" news sources on the internet, as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and SNL's Weekend Update," the MSNBC Countdown newsletter writes, previewing a "special segment on bypassing the mainstream media." 3:04:49 PM

Press release: Limbaugh on Headliners & Legends
A new "Headliners & Legends" premieres on MSNBC Sunday night, profiling Rush Limbaugh. Lester Holt hosts. Here's the P.R. 3:04:28 PM

Channel Flipping: Random Thoughts
Interesting commercial on FNC, with a new tagline: "America's Newsroom: the Fox News Channel." // Martha MacCallum started on-air at FOX today, reading news updates in the afternoon. // Fresh graphics package for MSNBC's Accuweather updates...a big improvement. // Why can't CNN get a steadycam aboard their campaign bus? Judy Woodruff looks really cold sitting outside the Election Express... 3:02:02 PM

Quote of the day
In Monday's Atlanta Journal Constitution, one reader writes in to comment on the hometown news network. "Trying to "outfox" Fox, it has become a tangle of sloppy entertainment news, tacky (and often offensive) promotional spots, obnoxiously bombastic promo music and animated graphics and ridiculously written headlines. If CNN would revert to actual news reporting and quit trying to lure Fox's juvenile audience, better ratings would surely follow." (T. Ballard Lesemann) 2:53:55 PM

! News Network Staffing in Iraq
From the Chicago Tribune, for the record: "Of the U.S. networks, CNN currently maintains the most personnel in Iraq, with five correspondents now and two more expected to arrive by Friday. Producers and crew bring the total to 35. Cable news competitor Fox News Channel has about 21 people, including four correspondents...NBC News and MSNBC, which share resources, have 13 personnel, including three correspondents." 9:30:32 AM

Novak Responds to South Dakota Uproar
CNN commentator Robert Novak responds to what he described as "an uproar in South Dakota with some remarks I made on 'Crossfire' about Native Americans voting." Actually, he said they were Indians stealing...Here's the Rapid City Journal follow-up. 9:29:24 AM

BW's Last Day on 'The News'
Brian Williams will leave his flagship CNBC program on Friday, USA Today mentions. "The News" aired on MSNBC for years before moving to the business net. (Williams has anchored the program since 1996.) A quote about cable news ratings: It "isn't about big numbers, necessarily, [because you are] you're narrow-casting to a specific audience." That's going to change when he replaces Brokaw on the Nightly News... 9:29:07 AM

Debate: Rave Reviews for Lester Holt
NBC/MSNBC anchor Lester Holt's first time moderating a presidential candidate debate wrapped up three hours ago, and he seemed to excel on stage. Viewers described him as "magnificent command of the language," "one of the better commentators on cable," and even "the hottest moderator ever." (Chris Matthews and his post-game show didn't get as many compliments, though.) Here's the debate transcript. 12:50:40 AM

Pew Study: The Media Bias Angle
The statistics referencing bias in the media are the lede for Monday's Washington Post A06 write-up of the Pew survey results. Howard Kurtz writes: "Americans are evenly split over whether news organizations favor one political party or the other, with a growing number of Democrats joining a larger number of Republicans in seeing the media as biased toward the other side." 12:49:48 AM