Quote of the day
CJR's Campaign Desk suggests that the media put Dean in a "damned if he doesnt, damned if he doesn't" situation last night. "If he gives an emotional post-vote address to supporters (Iowa), he's portrayed as an unstable lunatic. If he gives a more sedate post-vote address (New Hampshire), he's portrayed as a man trying to prep his loyalists for his eventual defeat. That's neither fair nor journalism." 10:16:16 PM

Chris Matthews Wants To Know What You Think
From Hardball's daily newsletter today: "Housekeeping up front...Chris wants to know you all thought of last night's coverage...His first words to me upon return (and usually every morning when we speak) are "what are you hearing on e-mail?" Send mail to [email protected] with the subject line "primary coverage"...Give us the "good, bad & the ugly" as it were, so to speak...He'll read 'em trust me..." 9:05:38 PM

Bill O'Reilly and His Book Sale Scandal
TownHall.com writes about the competition between Bill O'Reilly and Hillary Clinton on the important issue of...book sales. He explains the whole case -- O'Reilly says he outsold HRC, then when Drudge reveals that's a lie, O'Reilly claims the DNC bought up lots of Hill's books. Then the DNC denies that...etc. Fun fun. FReepers are chatting about it; one called O'Reilly a "loudmouth boor..." 8:30:41 PM

WMD Doubts: "Literally Beads of Sweat" on F&F; Hosts Today?
I might be accused of liberal bias again by posting this, but it's written too well to ignore: Blogger Thomas DiLorenzo on LewRockwell.com says that the "Fox War Channel is Losing its Cool," and cites this morning's performance of the F&F; anchors. For the last year, "every lie on the subject [of WMD] that was distributed by the White House spinners was endlessly repeated as the gospel truth," he writes. "This morning, however, there were literally beads of sweat on the two male hosts as the admission of no WMDs by Bush's own man in Iraq exposes these propagandists as, well, propagandists. Brian Kilmead even lost it and said that he would use his own credit card to fly to Iraq and look for the WMDs himself -- while continuing to arrogantly ridicule us doubting Thomases." 7:53:39 PM

Greta: NH Airport "looked like a news media convention"
"The airport in Manchester, New Hampshire early this morning looked like a news media convention," Greta writes on FOXNews.com. She explains contingency plans in case snow cancelled her flight. So that's why Shep wasn't on Studio B today... 6:35:41 PM

Jeff Flock Exits: Says Shakeup Makes Sense, but Future Isn't Certain
NewsBlues quotes from Jeff Flock's goodbye memo: "First things first. I wish I could argue with the wisdom of the reorganization. The truth is I think it makes perfect sense. No one knows better than me how tough the bureau chief/correspondent job has been. The new leaders of the regional bureaus are the network's best. Frankly I haven't felt as good about the future of CNN in years." He's not alone on that feeling about the future... 6:26:26 PM

Jeff Flock Resigns; Spent 24 Years At CNN
Jeff Flock has resigned from CNN after 24 years. Jon Friedman calls the CNN Chicago bureau chief's exit poignant: "He served during virtually the entire length of CNN's time and his departure comes at a period when the network is going through serious changes." This great TVSpy post suggests that "maybe this will get him a position with a Big 3 network. He's been ready for that for a LONG time. One of CNN's best reporters -- what a loss... 4:23:09 PM

During Commercials and Bus Rides, Reporters Opine on Campaigns
Joe Hagan takes readers behind the scenes of MSNBC's primary coverage last night in the NY Observer. He also hops aboard Kerry's press bus, and talks to NBC embed Becky Diamond: "I don’t have the kind of access to Kerry that I used to have. Now, there are 50 journalists instead of five." 4:22:26 PM

CNN Market Share Dips; "Deep Trouble" Ahead?
Reese Schonfeld points out that since mid-December, CNN has lost 2.8 market share points in total day, and 3.8 market share points in prime time. He hesitates to analyze them too much, but says that "these numbers seem significant and they are certainly not good for CNN...I’m going to give it another month and see if there are any changes. If the numbers were to dip again, CNN would seem in deep trouble." (Update, 6:33PM: A reader writes in to point out that "market share" is a calculation Schonfeld makes -- it's the total # of cable news viewers, divided by the # of people watching each channel.) 4:00:54 PM

CNN Crew Ambushed: Remembering Two Slain Colleagues
CNN staff members are remembering their slain colleagues today, after two employees were killed in Iraq Tuesday. Translator/producer Duraid Isa Mohammed had a "a sharp mind, a tireless work ethic and a passion for news," Ingrid Formanek said. He was "compulsively gregarious, jovial, witty. To know him, was to like him." Driver Yasser Khatab undertook his job with "dignity, dedication and professionalism," she said. Here's the full story... 3:59:54 PM

"Journalists' safety cannot be guaranteed" in Iraq, IFC says
"Iraq remains the world's most volatile and dangerous conflict zone where journalists' safety cannot be guaranteed," the International Federation of Journalists warned today. "The crisis in Iraq continues to put every journalist in danger," General Secretary Aidan White said in a press release. "These ruthless killers are making free journalism almost impossible. Media organisations must redouble their efforts to reduce the risks their employees face". 3:58:14 PM

Media Notes: Bush's "Dodge;" MSNBC's Next Debate
TV reporters are covering Bush's WMD "dodge," Dan Froomkin reports on the Post web site // Joe Johns popped up on CNN today, live from the Capitol rotunda // MSNBC reminds the media about its presidential debate tomorrow night... 3:57:12 PM

"The drug of smothering political consensus was being manufactured" last night
David Folkenflik describes how the media distills 2004 political consensus in the Baltimore Sun. He writes that viewers could see the workings where "conventional wisdom was being forged" -- in other words, the "electoral crystal meth lab where the drug of smothering political consensus was being manufactured." 3:50:23 PM

Campaign Embeds: "You see their stories...rarely their faces"
Roger Catlin profiles embedded campaign reporters in the Hartford Courant today. "You See Their Stories, Sometimes Their Tape, Rarely Their Faces," the subhead reads... 12:23:56 PM

Dennis Miller Premiere: TV Critic Reactions
> NY Daily News: "The whole hour needs work," and suggests easy fixes
> NY Post: "I could not wait until this show was over"
> NYPress: "the transformation of Dennis Miller"
> Hollywood Reporter: "Miller strives for an impossible circus act"
> WashTimes: "a work in progress with one key asset: the man at the helm"
12:21:46 PM

Miller's a "big ratings gain" -- sorta
Reuters says that Dennis Miller drew "a big ratings gain" Monday night. "The premiere of "Dennis Miller"...drew 746,000 viewers, more than four times the average audience in the same 9 p.m. time slot last season, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the show's target demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54, the audience jumped 475 percent from last season's average." 12:21:27 PM

Watch FOX News Alerts at Walmart!
This news needs no introduction: "Premier Retail Networks has inked a deal with Fox News Channel for the service to become the exclusive "breaking-news" provider to Wal-Mart Television Network," Multichannel News reports. Thank goodness I can watch L.A. car chases while I'm shopping for new pants... (Hat tip: NewsBlues) 12:20:58 PM

Ashleigh Sets a Wedding Date
The NYPost's Page Six updates the Ashleigh-Banfield-getting-hitched story: Howard Gould has been her boyfriend for a year and a half; he says that the wedding "will be July 24 somewhere in Canada." 12:05:43 PM

Cable's Primary Coverage: Viewer Thoughts
Dee in SC writes in with thoughts on cable primary coverage: "CNN's coverage to me seems to drag in comparison to MSNBC's. And I'm sorry, while I'm usually amused by James Carville, I couldn't watch him while he was wearing that god-awful rugby shirt." On Olbermann's absence: "I know it was the man's birthday, but damn, it was a Primary Election night--he should have been there unless he required immediate medical attention or something!" Another viewer writes in: "I'm shallow, I admit it. I watched MSNBC because Campbell Brown was on...Ironically, Fox had no foxes and actually had that ghoul Greta on. 12:04:13 PM

Last Week's Cable News Viewer Data
The news viewer index for January 19 to 25 is in, thanks to Cynopsis. In total day, "Fox News had 48% of the viewing, CNN 27%, MSNBC 13%; and Headline News 11%." As for primetime, "Fox News had 55%, CNN 28%, MSNBC 11% and Headline News 6%." That's a big leap for FOX's prime... 8:44:17 AM

A Rare MSNBC Ratings Win
From Variety: "MSNBC racked up a rare ratings victory last week as host Chris Matthews beat Anderson Cooper's CNN program in the 7 p.m. ET timeslot." Hardball had never beat 360 for an entire week. The article also summarizes some election season stats. 8:43:46 AM

Monday Cable News Ratings
Drudge presented cable news ratings for Monday. On FOX: O'Reilly with a 2.1, H&C; at 1.6, 1.1 for Brit, and 1.0 for Shep and Greta. On CNN, LK finds 1.3, Zahn gets a 0.8, and Brown with a 0.7. On MSNBC, Norville has just a 0.3; Hardball at 0.4, with Scarborough and Olbermann at 0.3. Dennis Miller premiered at an 0.6... 8:41:57 AM