Apprentice Runner-Up Weighing CNBC/MSNBC Job Offer
Could the Apprentice runner-up turn up on NBC's news networks sometime soon? Kwame Jackson is "weighing an offer to become an on-air financial correspondent for CNBC or MSNBC," a Knight Ridder story says. NBC spokesman Jim Dowd confirmed that the networks are in discussion with Jackson... 7:41:04 AM

Playboy Reveals The 'Sexiest Newscaster' Survey Results
CNN Headline News anchor Robin Meade is TV's sexiest newscaster, according to a poll by Playboy.com. "Meade beat the competition hands down with a solid 40 percent of the more than 40,000 votes cast," the site says." She "edged out her Headline News coworker Rudi Bakhtiar, who received 19 percent of the vote, and Fox News's blonde bunker-buster Laurie Dhue, who got a commendable 15 percent." 7:37:55 AM

Quote of the day
An MSNBC MSN poster pastes Lester Holt's RTNDA/NAB speech from Monday. On the value of having experience as a reporter in the field: "The thing I love about anchoring on cable is I get to do the work of a reporter right from the anchor desk. Lots of interviews. Lots of breaking stories where we go scriptless sometimes for hours on end. At moments like that every hostage siege I ever covered, every strife-ridden foreign country I've worked in, every trial and city council hearing I sat in on is an experience that I can immediately call upon to help viewers understand a story." 7:37:13 AM

"The demand for speed is increasing," Princell Hair says
LostRemote sums up CNN GM Princell Hair's speech at RTNDA earlier this week. He referred to the Internet and gadgets that are changing the field: "So what does this mean for journalists? It means that the demand for speed is increasing. It means that the appetite for news is increasing." Here's the money quote: "Speed not only kills on our roadways, but it kills in our television newsrooms. Being first doesn't matter if you're wrong.." So how can you be first and correct? 7:36:01 AM

FOX Wasn't In Town For M.J. News: "No wonder they got skunked"
Why did FOX drop the ball when news of the M.J. indictment broke? An anonymous e-mail explains that the channel was nowhere near Santa Barbara. "I was at the intersection near the Santa Barbara Sheriff's office training center for three weeks. All the nets were represented...except FOX. They never had a single person there. I don't think they ever had a single person even in town the whole time. No wonder they got skunked Wednesday night when the judge rolled in to see the jury." Another source says: "Their live truck pulled into the Santa Barbara courthouse right when every one else left. And they love crime stories so why were they so out of the loop on this one?" 8:34:01 PM

CNN's Rym Brahimi Resigns; Will Become Princess in Sept.
It's like some sort of fairytale. CNN international correspondent Rym Brahimi is engaged to Jordanian King Abdullah II's half-brother, Prince Ali, CNN.com reports today. "An engagement ceremony was held Friday in Paris and the wedding is set for September 7." She becomes a princess after the wedding. "The engagement ceremony was aired on Jordanian state-owned media," the site says...
> Also: Brahimi's father causes U.N./Israel controversy 8:33:18 PM

Controversies: Caskets, Coffins, and...Butt Cracks
The headline on the Inside Politics newsletter? "Casket Controversy." The headline on the Crossfire newsletter? "Coffin Controversy." And the headline on the Countdown newsletter? "Crack Controversy." It's not about dying soldiers or poignant photos: "In Louisiana local officials are trying to pass a law banning low-rise jeans. Butt-baring youngsters might face fines and even jail time. State Rep. Derrick Shepherd said he filed the bill because he was tired of seeing the boxer shorts and G-strings of young adults. Clearly, plumbers aren't the only 'crack addicts.'" I can't make this stuff up... 8:32:05 PM

NewsNight's New Producer: Broken Foot, 1st Week On The Job
On Monday, NewsNight welcomed Sharon van Zwieten as a new Senior Executive Producer. On Friday, Aaron said she was hurt. "Our new producer has been placed on the injured reserve list," he wrote in the newsletter tonight. "She broke her foot. The job, I guess, is tougher than anyone imagined." It didn't take her long to get her footing, eh? (Pardon the terrible pun.) Get well soon! 8:29:44 PM

Quote of the day
Campaign Desk asks Ron Brownstein: "Are there things you say on CNN that you wouldn't write in the [Los Angeles] Times?" His answer: "My absolute rule of thumb when I started doing TV in December, 1993 is that I will never say anything on TV that I won't say in print. People get in so much trouble when they try to be clever or provocative. On TV you don't get a chance to edit or reconsider what you say. When you write a column the biggest question you ask at the end, is do I believe that? Or am I just saying it because it sounds good. You don't get that chance on TV"... 8:02:18 PM

Coffin Photos: FOX Shows Images; NYT Was Wrong
FOX News has reported on the coffin photos, despite a New York Times report to the contrary. One viewer saw the images on FOX at 10:30am. A rep from the First Amendment Center was interviewed on the air today, a source says. FOXNews.com has the story, too. So who messed up -- the NYT or the spokesperson? 5:55:33 PM

In D.C. this afternoon; more updates tonight. 1:30:10 PM

IRAQ: Vital Security Precautions Hinder Reporting, Eason Jordan Says
CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan appeared on PBS's Newshour to discuss the dangers faced by journalists in Iraq. He says the precautions impact newsgathering: "I think news consumers are being shortchanged to a degree, not just on television but in print, because journalists are not able to do their jobs effectively, and certainly the depth and breadth of reporting that you saw even a month ago was far more vast than what news consumers get today." 12:06:49 AM

IRAQ: 'Unprecedented:' Media Execs Cooperate On Iraq Safety Issues
Quoting Eason Jordan on Newshour last night: "About three weeks ago, there was a meeting in New York among my five network counterparts and a few others, and we decided to do something that was unprecedented in working together, cooperating, collaborating on safety and security issues and in sharing a certain amount of news coverage, all in an effort to minimize exposure in the field and to bring our people home alive." Network execs are communicating frequently via e-mail... 12:05:01 AM

"Our coverage is fair and balanced" --CNN rep
CNN International managing editor Paul Cutler uttered three powerful words at a media seminar in Kuala Lumpur today: Fair and balanced. “We go out of our way to see that all our coverage is fair and balanced,” he told attendees. Some of the participants said the channel was biased. His response: "When covering the Israeli-Palestinian issue, we make sure that the Palestinian voice is heard. And, in some parts of Palestine, if they can’t come to us, CNN goes to them to get their side of the story." The Star in Malaysia has more... 12:02:39 AM

Finally: A Site Feed!
Several visitors have messaged me in the last few days (and weeks, and months) asking for a site feed for their RSS newsreaders. Well here it is. Blogger offers an Atom XML feed, which plugs into many popular syndication programs:
> Syndicate this site via Atom
> What is Atom? (Blogger FAQ)
> AtomEnabled.org 12:01:31 AM

A Lousy Attempt At Gossip
A Gawker operative spots Law & Order actress Elizabeth Rohm at Cafe Luxembourg on NY's Upper West Side. She was with Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove. "What's up with that?," the tipster asks. "Just business, or a love connection gone wrong?" Let's hope it's not the latter -- after all, Grove reported last month that Rohm is dating MSNBC's Dan Abrams... (By the way, it is her birthday today.) 12:00:17 AM

The Coffins: FOX News Decides Not To Show Pictures
The New York Times notes that the coffin photos appeared extensively on TV today. "Among the national television news organizations, only the Fox News Channel had no plans to use any of the photos or explore the issue of why they had been barred from use in the news media, a channel spokesman said." "It would seem that the only reason somebody would come out against the use of these pictures is that they are worried about the political fallout," NBC Nightly News E.P. Steve Capus tells Bill Carter... 11:41:57 PM

The Coffins: "We show them because they are part of the story"
In his newsletter today, Aaron Brown notes that NewsNight first aired a coffin photo on Monday: "The picture was a very powerful reminder of the kind of month it has been," he writes. And Aaron explains why his program showed the photos again tonight: "Now, having said that, I want to say one other thing about this all, and this is a personal comment, no more, no less. We show these pictures not because we want to make some political point. Indeed the attempt to politicize these dead young men and women offends me beyond words. We show them because they are part of the story." 11:41:40 PM

Is 'Buchanan & Press' Coming Back? Bill Hopes So...
Bill Press made a comment in an interview with BuzzFlash that caught my eye. Discussing his history as a cable shouting head: "Now Pat and I continue to be political commentators at MSNBC, and I’m hoping that someday soon we’ll get our show back." Will 'Buchanan & Press' be resurrected as election day nears?... 11:41:15 PM

MSNBC's Explorer Wins Overseas Press Club Award
MSNBC's National Geographic Ultimate Explorer won an Overseas Press Club award for its documentary "Liberia: American Dream?" The Edward R. Murrow award for best TV interpretation or documentary on international affairs was awarded to Scott Bronstein, Michael Davie, Neil Barrett, and David Royle. Here's a press release. 11:40:54 PM

FOX Beats WWE & Spongebob In Cable Rankings
FOX News Channel's broadcast of the president's news conference was the most-watched show on basic cable last week, Nielsen says (via the AP.) It ranked #1 with 3.49 million homes at 8:30pm. Wrestling was 2nd and Spongebob was 3rd; analysis of the news conference ranked #9, with 3.02 million homes... 3:51:51 PM

Hardball Celebrating Its "Lucky Seven" Next Week
"Chris Matthews rolls a "Lucky Seven" next week as 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' celebrates its seventh anniversary, starting Monday, April 26, 7-8 p.m. on MSNBC. Chris will be interviewing Donald Rumsfeld, Ted Kennedy, and many other notables. "Each show will include tributes from celebrities and newsmakers," the press release says. Chris has anchored 1,565 Hardball episodes. NBC has some fun facts in the P.R. The best one: "Number of "Hardball" shows in which someone said "let me finish": 132 and counting." The press release will be online soon...
> On MSNBC.com, you can send a Happy Anniversary message to Hardball... 3:51:27 PM

What Is The Countdown Smoking?
It sounds like a fun Countdown tonight: "With beleaguered parents grappling with their hyperactive kids on a daily basis, perhaps the news we're about to deliver was inevitable, somehow, but it still shocks. The Newsflash -- a little weed might help. Not you...the kids!" They have a doctor booked to talk about it... 3:50:53 PM

Inside The Green Rooms
Greta takes blog readers into the green rooms for the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes. "It does not get more behind the scenes than our 'green rooms,'" she writes. Here are the photos... 3:50:06 PM

3,000 Dead? How To Tell A Story Without Pictures
How do you cover a story when you can't even get into the country? The cablers wish they had an answer: the North Korean train crash is the lead story on all three cable news web sites, but all they have are maps of the country to illustrate the story. "Trains Crash, Explode," Msnbc.com says; "Trains collide, explode in North Korea" is CNN.com's version; and FOXnews.com calls it simply "Catastrophe in North Korea." Here is the most telling sentence in MSNBC's story: "In a sign of the accident's magnitude, the North Koran government also cut international phone lines to prevent news of the crash from leaking across its borders, Yonhap said, citing no sources."
> Update: Former CNN N.K. correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon is blogging the news... 12:38:27 PM

CNN Wins Overseas Press Club Awards
Quoting a press release: "The Overseas Press Club of America has cited Nic Robertson for his exclusive coverage of a military raid in Iraq." Additionally, the group awarded the "The Eric and Amy Burger Award for Best International Reporting in the Broadcast Media Dealing with Human Rights" (that's a mouthful) to CNN Presents for the documentary "Easy Prey." The club also gave CNN an honorable mention for the documentary "Seeds of Terror." 12:31:15 PM

The M.J. Indictment: MSNBC Offers Extensive Coverage; FOX Lags
The indictment: MSNBC presented the most extensive live coverage in primetime. During the 10pm hour, Dan Abrams anchored some of the coverage, and went live to Kerry Sanders outside a courthouse. One tipster says that NBC News was first with the story; the network put a crawl pointing viewers to MSNBC for details. CNN put the news on the lower-thirds at the end of Larry King Live. Headline News also reported it. Greta didn't report the story until the second half of the show; FOX was the last cabler to report the news... 11:39:10 PM

"Sports fans should change channel from ESPN to CNN"
...That's what Matt Sober says in the Valley News Dispatch. He uses an example from Hardball: "After lulling Toomey into a relative comfort zone with a few tough but straightforward questions, Matthews went for the knockout on the topic of abortion...In sporting terms, it was a classic mismatch. Toomey is a relative unknown serving his third term in the U.S. House. Matthews, on the other hand, is a relentless interrogator..." (Read it all.) 10:53:33 PM

FOX Invests In New Graphics Machines
FOX ordered seven FXDeko II character generators from Pinnacle Systems, a press release said today. "The systems will provide the new foundation for graphics operations at the Fox News operations center in New York." Check out the product description and imagine what the graphics team will do with it... 10:40:19 PM

CNN's New Online Ad Campaign
Looks like CNN has commenced a new ad campaign. An ad for Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics popped up on the Drudge Report a couple days ago, and today I spotted a promo for Wolf Blitzer Reports on Washingtonpost.com... 9:38:04 PM

Juggling Three Big Stories This Morning
An e-mailer notes that news judgment decisions today are difficult. "This is one of those days when each story [Basra, Riyadh, tornadoes] is a viable lead -- but we should not get into the mindset of 'the highest death toll leads.' And I will point out that CNN was live throughout much of the night." He adds that CNN was the first with images from Riyadh... 10:46:55 AM

Fast and Slow News Alerts
Earlier this morning I complained that CNN.com did not send out a breaking news alert on the Basra bombing until 8:00am. A CNN employee wrote in to point out that an alert was sent at 2:06am. We were both right: A CNN.com International Edition alert was sent early on, while CNN.com Domestic decided to wait six hours. My advice: Subscribe to the international feed. Have alerts sent to a specific e-mail address, then route all those e-mails to your cell phone e-mail address. That way, the next time all hell breaks loose in the middle of the night, you'll know. 9:46:46 AM

Basra Bombing: Three Questions for Cable
> "Quite possibly, Carol, this is the worst day since the beginning of the Iraq conflict more than a year ago," Jim Clancy said around 5:05am. So why did Daybreak lead with the Illinois tornadoes instead?
> If the bombings had happened in Baghdad, how much more coverage would there be?
> Now that 10 are reported dead in Riyadh, which story will get more attention? 9:02:03 AM

How Did Cablers Handle Middle-of-the-Night Bombing?
An e-mailer was up really late/really early: At 3:00am ET, "CNN is LIVE from Iraq on the bombings. MSNBC has a Scarborough rerun. FNC has a Greta rerun. Don't know if the latter two have had live updates, but CNN is once again proving its a news outfit." CNN returned to Larry King Live at 3:08am. Was anybody else awake? E-mail me what you saw... 8:58:47 AM

Quote of the day
NBC News president Neal Shapiro fishes for an excuse after using his news shows to promote The Apprentice: "I'm not going to tell any one of our shows that if you think you can do this in a compelling way you shouldn't because the aggregate would seem that we're promoting a show. Part of NBC News is that we tend to run with all the big stories of the day, and we're not cheating hard news . I would say this was the most talked about story of the week, absent Iraq." I bet if you added up the # of minutes spent talking about Iraq, it was less than the # of minutes devoted to the Apprentice... 8:46:06 AM

NPR: "Most TV stations practiced measured restraint" Re: Fallujah
On Talk of the Nation, NPR's Neal Conan discussed "War Images" and poses two questions: "What images should we see from a war zone? And how do editors decide what to run?" They discuss a distinction between cable nets who are "reacting instantly" and broadcast networks who had more time to consider the implications. "Most TV stations practiced measured restraint," Poynter Visual Journalism Group Leader Kenneth Irby said. I listened to the first fifteen minutes; it is a very interesting conversation... 11:30:13 PM

Homeland Security Inspector General Asked To Examine NBC Report
Brock Meeks with an update on this story: "The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security is being asked to look into allegations that an NBC News segment highlighting the federal air marshal program breached security, MSNBC.com has learned." More... 11:22:40 PM

Rumsfeld, Clinton, and ... Bubba
Let's compare the 9pm guest lineup on cable tonight:
> FOX: Donald Rumsfeld is chatting with Hannity & Colmes in an "exclusive"
> CNN: Hillary Clinton sits down with Larry King in a "rare live interview"
> MSNBC: Radio host Bubba The Love Sponge talks to Deborah Norville "exclusive"ly
The analysis writes itself. 4:10:32 PM

Media Notes: Prank Caller and Other Remainders
> A Howard Stern fan prank-called MSNBC during coverage of a small plane crash
> CNNFan has some speculation about Heidi Collins and American Morning
> Pinnacle Systems products are being used at CNN's new NY HQ
> FOX trumpeted an interesting "exclusive" report about a Palestinian man who tried to create a bomb with HIV-tainted blood 4:01:58 PM

CRAZY Like A Fox: Kurtz Calls Allegation "Absurd"
Kurtz's response to suggestions that he hasn't interviewed Scott Collins because of corporate pressure: "That's absurd. It would be hard to argue there's a scintilla of corporate pressure since I haven't discussed it with anyone at the network. I'm still looking at the book and trying to see if there's much new here, but have been busy booking guests like Bob Woodward." 1:09:56 PM

! CRAZY Like A Fox: Will Howie Publicize A Book Critical of CNN?
A cable insider writes in with a question for Howard Kurtz: Why hasn't Scott Collins appeared on Reliable Sources to talk about 'Crazy Like A Fox?:' "Industry insiders are speculating that Kurtz is carrying the mother load of corporate water for CNN in bowing to pressure from higher-ups. They are "loudly wondering: why he has not turned his supposed "critical lens" on Collins' book?" 12:57:32 PM

CRAZY Like A Fox: "Time Warner TV Bans" Scott Collins
The New York Post says 'Crazy Like A Fox' author Scott Collins "is getting no love from Time Warner and its affiliates." Quoting Page Six: "Collins had been booked on Catherine Crier's Court TV show, but the day he was set to show up, he got a call canceling his appearance. '[Crier's producers] loved the book and wanted to do a big, big segment on it,' Collins told PAGE SIX. 'Everything looked like it was going to be great. Then, this morning, I was told the Turner Broadcasting people at Time Warner put the kibosh on the segment because of their stake in Court TV.' 12:56:01 PM

CNN Crew Detained Near Israeli Nuclear Plant
A CNN crew was detained and their tape was confiscated after apparently attempting to videotape an Israeli nuclear reactor this afternoon. "The four-strong team was detained at around 5 P.M. Tuesday after apparently attempting to shoot footage on a road to the right of the reactor," Haaretz reports. "A spokeswoman for CNN told Haaretz that the four were not trying to film at the plant, but had mistakenly crossed into a secured area." A nuclear whistleblower is being released tomorrow; they were preparing a report about him, the crew said. Update: CNN released this statement to CableNewser: "This was nothing more than a misunderstanding and the matter is fully resolved." 12:41:13 PM

Remembering "Terror in the Rockies"
Five years ago today, the word Columbine was added to our collective vocabulary. (FOX called it "Terror in the Rockies.") Dusty Saunders says the cable news networks will concentrate their coverage on the "6 p.m. memorial service and the 7:30 p.m. vigil." (Those are mountain times; it'll be primetime on the east coast.) Watch for the narratives today, and the reaction pieces: Interviews with parents of dead children (sometimes promoting a book); "are schools safer now?" packages; "could it have been prevented?" questions... 12:04:13 PM

Will The Cablers Air SCOTUS Audio Feed?
An e-mailer says: "It's going to be interesting to see which nets (if any) air the audio feed of today's oral arguments before the Supreme Court. It is a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the nations most important judicial body." The court is discussing "enemy combatants" at Gitmo today... 10:03:29 AM

Koppel: Don't Go Live For Live's Sake
Ted Koppel criticized cable news networks in a RTNDA Q&A; today. LostRemote quotes him: “We act as though because live satellite news is possible, it is a mandate. The problem is that when you go live you need even more background and experience on the part of the reporter than if you have some time to put together a story on tape. Often what I see owes more to the marvel of technology than to journalism." (Props to Cory and Steve for excellent coverage straight from the strip...) 7:32:31 AM

An Obligatory Post Complaining About MSNBC:
From TVSpy: "MSNBC is just pitiful. Criticizing it is like complaining about the weather. An example, last week the daytime crew acted as if the season finale of "The Apprentice" was a news story. Not just a news story, but a BIG news story. Here we are in a war spinning out of control, Israel shooting rockets down narrow Palestinian streets, terrorists vowing revenge against Israel... a presidential election with the nation about evenly divided, and the news channel MSNBC thinks Donald Trump is the big story of the day." 7:31:22 AM

Guess What The Topic of Lou Dobbs' Book Is?
CNN outsourcing-basher Lou Dobbs has signed a deal to write a book about the issue. "Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed Is Shipping American Jobs Overseas" is slated to be published in August by Warner Books (a TW subsidary, like CNN). It will be printed in America. There are details in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the New York Times, and the press release... 11:35:42 PM

NewsNight's New Senior Exec Producer
NewsNight finally has a new Senior Executive Producer. "We welcome Sharon van Zwieten to our world today," Aaron Brown wrote in his newsletter. "She is smart, she has experience, and most of all she gets NewsNight, what it is, and what it can grow to be. So, it is a good day around here." She has produced for CNN and ABC News... 11:35:32 PM

"Is CNN America dumbed down from CNN International?"
That's the question one WP chatter asked today. Howard Kurtz responds: "No, they're run as separate operations appealing to different audience. CNN International is aiming at countries around the world and carries a lot more international news and has a more sober tone." But the best line in the chat came later: "The American media have the attention span of a gnat," he remarked... 11:30:48 PM

! # of Media Embeds Doubles In 2 Weeks
"The number of journalists embedded with U.S. military units in Iraq has more than doubled over the past two weeks," John Cook writes in the Chicago Tribune today. 51 journalists are embedded in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Ramadi, according to a Pentagon spokesman. "...It has gone up quite considerably over the past two weeks," Capt. David Romley told the paper. "It had been hovering at 23 or 24 since May." 3:11:41 PM

Comparing Cable Coverage of Bush & Kerry
NRO's Corner offers three complaints about Howie's analysis of Bush/Kerry cable coverage. They say the study period was terrible -- "Kerry took eight days of vacation and the media took a rest from Democrat coverage." They also blame a "scrutiny imbalance;" and "what reporters say." "Hasn't [Bush] also received about ten times as much criticism and negativity?," they ask. (Thanks Cableguy) 3:10:02 PM

Harrigan to Iraq: "I could feel the energy and excitement pour in"
FOX's Steve Harrigan is heading to Iraq, and he can't wait. "It was a brief note in the computer, headed 'Travel,' and it was what I was hoping for — a request to go to Iraq...I watched myself, and I could feel the energy and excitement pour in. I felt like pumping my fist." He writes more on his blog... 3:01:10 PM

! Journos in Iraq "in much greater danger" now than ever before
Newsweek correspondent Melinda Liu talked to Wolf Blitzer about the dangers of reporting news in Iraq this afternoon. She said journalists thought the three-week "war" last year would be the most dangerous period, but "now, a year later, we're in much greater danger just working and moving around the city, if we dare to." She said it has forced reporters to change their way of working. Quoting: "On one occasion there was a lockdown in the two major hotels...so that the coalition itself had to make arrangements to convoy journalists to the green zone just to [get to] the daily press briefing." Liu said a lot of people are requesting embeds with military units... 12:47:07 PM

Media Notes: Missing Persons & Lots of Hats
> One of ABC's Note developments to watch this week: "Will the cable nets be swayed/pressured by today's Howie Kurtz piece to give John Kerry more 'air' time?"
> "Whenever someone vanishes, I confess I am not optimistic that the person will return home alive," Greta admits on her blog. "I try and be optimistic -- especially so that we can use the influence of the media to keep pressure on the authorities to keep looking -- but the odds seem to be much against it."
> "I wear a lot of hats at NBC," Lester Holt said at NAB this morning. "Never in a million years I would have imagined anchoring a network morning show. I'm exercising a new set of anchor muscles." 12:38:19 PM

Tom Brokaw's Last Day: December 1
NBC News has announced that December 1 will be Tom Brokaw's last day as Nightly News anchor. Brian Williams will take over; Reuters has details... 12:37:47 PM

TVWeek's Top 10: Zucker/Shapiro, #1
TVWeek has offered up its list of the 10 Most Powerful in TV News. Topping the list: Jeff Zucker and Neal Shapiro. "Whether the team of Mr. Zucker and Mr. Shapiro can still reasonably dream of a more competitive MSNBC...remains to be seen. But Mr. Shapiro made a bold move in installing former ABC colleague Rick Kaplan as president of MSNBC. Mr. Kaplan has begun moving pieces behind the scenes and should be able to count on discernible ratings boosts from the heat being generated in Iraq and in U.S. politics." 8:56:33 AM

TVWeek's Top 10: Roger Ailes, #2
#2 on TVWeek's 10 Most Powerful: Roger Ailes. "The cable news ratings wars are over, at least for now, and the visionary and ferocious Mr. Ailes is the undisputed winner...Mr. Ailes has largely silenced his competitors, most of whom seem to have lost interest in trying to argue with or ape Fox News...Meanwhile, Mr. Ailes continues to seek ways to expand Fox News' profile..." 8:55:08 AM

TV Week's Top 10: Jim Walton, #8
#8 on TVWeek's 10 Most Powerful: Jim Walton. "Saving CNN may come down to him. However, CNN watchers, who have become increasingly dismayed with whiplash-like changes in management and direction in the past few years, are genuinely uncertain about what is in Mr. Walton's mind. It's clear he knows how to save money by the millions, which increases the CNN profit margins and further endears him to Time Warner management. However, it's not clear Mr. Walton knows how to maintain CNN as a premier global news organization that attracts a large audience..." 8:54:33 AM

TVWeek's Top 10: Other Highlights
Other highlights of the TVWeek 10 Most Powerful list:
#3: Tim Russert: "combination of political instincts, a nose for news, extreme preparation, bottomless supply of energy and a dogged but respectful refusal to take a non-answer for an answer means news will be made on his show"
#4: Bill O'Reilly: "He is the best at what he does on the tube: Turning one man's opinion-whether one agrees with him or not-into terrific TV."
Honorable mention: Chris Matthews: "[He] has made it a real race for second place with CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360'" 8:53:42 AM

NAB: Crossfire Live From Las Vegas Today
CNN's 'Crossfire' is airing live from NAB this afternoon. Its Election Express bus is located between the Central and South halls at the conference. "Guests will include the Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Rep. J.D. Hayworth as well as Las Vegas icon, entertainer Wayne Newton," the press release says. After the show, Tucker Carlson will moderate and E.P. Sam Feist will participate in the "Covering Campaigns Correctly" panel. 8:01:50 AM

NAB: Super-blogging at LostRemote
LostRemote is promising in-depth coverage of NAB-RTNDA this week... 8:00:41 AM

Bush Dominates Kerry on Cable; But What About Equal Time?
Howie buries the lead in his Post Media Notes column: "In the daily battle for airtime, Bush has drawn more than three times as much live cable coverage as his Democratic challenger, yet another example of the advantages of incumbency." But Kurtz misses the big story: FOX's allegiance to equal-time laws. More on that in the near future... 12:01:07 AM

"Being on the cable news programs is very important"
Bush spokesperson Terry Holt in Howie's WP column: "We think being on the cable news programs is very important because people who follow politics and cover politics keep a close eye on their TVs during the day." 12:00:19 AM

Carville: More Than Just A CNN Commentator
The The NYTimes profiles CNN co-host James Carville. Commentator is just one of his many roles: He has "blended politics, entertainment and celebrity into a lucrative empire with a single product to sell: James Carville," the paper says. "His weekly appearances on 'Crossfire' add a mid-six-figure stream of cash to his income each year"... 11:57:43 PM

Quote of the day
From the New York Times review of 'Crazy Like A Fox:' "Scott Collins renders the fight for cable-news dominance as a schoolyard throw-down. CNN is the brainy scholar who oozes superiority, MSNBC is the new kid at school, endlessly trying to please, and then along comes Fox News, the loudmouth at the back of the class who trashes the rules everyone else lives by." 11:57:01 PM

Soldier Proposes Marriage Via FOX Videophone
She said yes: Cpl. Charlie Lauersdorf asked Shannon Carpenter to marry him on FOX & Friends this morning. Lauersdorf was live with Ollie North via videophone from Ramadi, Iraq. "I dont think we've ever had anyone in a combat zone, wearing a flak jacket, holding an M16...ask a lovely Texas girl to marry him," North said. Lauersdorf is scheduled to come home in September... 4:44:17 PM

Shields Apologizes For "Women talk too much"
Last night on Capital Gang, Mark Shields apologized for calling women dumb: "Last week at the end of one of our heated discussions, I interrupted my colleague Kate O'Beirne by saying something dumb and rude, namely, "women talk too much." To Kate and anyone else who was offended by my words, I apologize. In fact, scientific research indicates conservatives -- no, men talk too much." 4:40:06 PM

I Read The Reliable Source Transcript So You Don't Have To
Reliable Sources was pretty boring today. But there's gotta be something quotable, right?
Arianna Huffington: I think actually they were asking legitimate questions. There's a real contrast in the tone between this press conference and the press conference on the eve of war. You remember when everybody was so differential.
Kurtz: Just about a year ago.
Huffington: ...I think that is when [journalists] were really not doing their job.
Transcript... 4:07:57 PM