Outside Cable News

Via Poynter/National Press Club
Acclaimed CNN Correspondent Christiane Amanpour To Receive NPC’s Fourth Estate Award
By Ryan

Washington, DC – CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who transformed broadcast news coverage of major world events including wars, famines and natural disasters, will receive the National Press Club’s highest honor for excellence in journalism. The Fourth Estate Award is given annually to an individual who has achieved distinction for a lifetime of contributions to American journalism.

“I have always believed this to be a noble profession, and I am passionate about reporting the incredible stories of our time, without fear or favor,” said Amanpour. “I respect our viewers’ right to know, and I am thrilled to receive this honor from the National Press Club.”

Amanpour is the thirty-sixth recipient of the Fourth Estate Award. She is the fourth female honoree and one of the youngest ever to receive the award. Previous Fourth Estate winners include Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, David Brinkley, Brian Lamb, Helen Thomas and most recently Paul Steiger of the Wall Street Journal. The award will be presented to Amanpour at a black-tie dinner at the National Press Club on November 21.
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Via Newsday
Hastert’s Prairie Parkway push: Fox Eyes
by Mark Silva

The former speaker of the House, Republican Dennis Hastert, is among the subjects of a FOX News Channel examination of questionable “earmarks'’ in federal spending.

His earmark: the Prairie Parkway that runs near land he owned west of Chicago.

The FOX special investigative report, “Porked: Earmarks for Profit,” airs Saturday at 8 pm EDT. It is hosted by Chris Wallace with reporting by Gregg Jarrett.

The one-hour piece “exposes'’ congressmen “who have earmarked millions of taxpayer dollars on projects that they or their families have had financial interests in.,'’ Fox says in a promotional release. Hastert is “among those exposed in this documentary for his involvement with the Prairie Highway Project.'’

Expose may be a strong verb for a story that the Tribune reported two years ago.
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Via MarketWatch
TV biz journalists owe Mike Kandel a big debt
Commentary: Plus, the appropriate blame in the NYT-Emily Gould affair
By Jon Friedman

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Myron Kandel vividly remembers when he was about to begin a career in television nearly three decades ago.
At a meeting of the Society of Business Writers and Editors, Kandel, a lifelong print journalist, told some friends about his plans to join something called the Cable News Network.
Elizabeth Yamashita, a rather blunt professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, looked at the unprepossessing Kandel and shot back, “YOU are going to be on television?”

Chagrined, Kandel replied, “Yes, Elizabeth, I’M going to be on television.”

Kandel, who started at CNN in 1980, didn’t bother to mention what he told me a few weeks ago: that his entire body of TV work until that point had consisted of three appearances on panel shows.
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Via SFGate
By Amelia Glynn
Me, my ex, The Doone — and Fox News this Saturday

I’ll admit that this is a little bizarre-o, but nothing is stranger than real life, right?

Many of you read my April 29 post about pet sharing and joint pet custody. Your comments even sparked the idea behind a related story in this Wednesday’s USA Today.

Now Fox News is jumping on the bandwagon with a segment about pet custody on its morning show, Fox & Friends — starring none other than yours truly, The Doone and my ex. (I hope this doesn’t somehow brand us as closeted Republicans…) I’ve been told we will be joined by an attorney who will dispense advice to couples who are separating and navigating the ins-and-outs of sharing their pets.

Okay. I know what you’re thinking, but my ex and I have already agreed to refrain from any Jerry Springer-style shenanigans. (Although we did briefly contemplate staging a screaming match, swearing as much as possible to trigger the “bleeper” and planting my current beau in the “audience” for an on-camera brawl. NONE of these things will be happening — we hope.)

The show will air LIVE on the national Fox News Channel (on cable) at the ungodly hour of 5:40(ish) a.m. (yes. A.M.!) PST/8:40 EST this Saturday, May 31. If any of you are inspired to record it, or if you were planning to be up for the sunrise anyway, I invite you to tune in. (The segment will be about three to five minutes long.) We’ll all do our best to look awake and sound coherent.

via CNN.com May Newsletter
Calling all iReporters!

Create your own promo commercial to help us promote the new iReport.com. If the community votes your promo #1, it may get shown on CNN. You can also win cool prizes – video editing equipment or a video camera to help you create more iReports.

Enter Now

Visit iReport.com to watch and download the stories that have inspired you. Check out our Creative brief and Tool kit for some helpful hints on what makes a good promo. Promos must be 15 OR 30 seconds in length. Entries will be judged on creativity and how effectively they motivate people to check out iReport.com.

Prize Information
Grand Prize (1): One (1) Mac Notebook; 13-inch: black, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB memory, 250 GB hard drive, double layer SuperDrive and Adobe Creative 3 Production Premium. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) is $3,108.00.

First Prizes (9): One (1) Panasonic PV-GS320 video camera. ARV is $450.00 each.

Via JSOnline
Zakaria’s CNN show will give American viewers a global perspective
By Tim Cuprisin

FareedZakaria’s new CNN show, which debuts at noon Sunday, won’t be revolutionary in its format.

But he says the focus of the new “Fareed Zakaria - GPS” - that’s “Global Public Square” - will be different from most Sunday talking head shows.

“The big difference is it’s going to deal with the other 95 percent of the human race,” he says. “It’s going to be mostly focused on things going on around the world.”

You can expect Zakaria, a telegenic veteran of TV appearances that include visits to Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show,” to make it more than a dry foreign policy discussion. As editor of Newsweek International and author of books such as his latest, “The Post-American World,” Zakaria has been able to comment freely on his worldview. That won’t change with his new hosting duties.

“Look, I’ve never been a reporter. I can’t start now,” he says. “I’ve always tried to be very fair, and I’ve always tried to be honest and honorable and approach things with integrity. But I’ve always been a commentator or an analyst. This will be a show that reflects my understanding of the world.”
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Via Paid Content
NBCU And Partners Bid $3.5 Billion For Weather Channel: Report
By David Kaplan

A week after the deadline for companies to submit offers to buy Weather Channel and its Weather.com site, Reuters cites unidentified sources that the consortium led by NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is offering $3.5 billion for the cable net. Roughly half of the offer coming from NBCU, along with PE firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, is made up of $1.8 billion in equity. Blackstone-owned hedge fund GSO Capital is putting up about $600 million in debt. The consortium’s main challenger is Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). No word on what they’re bidding. But it is safe to say that Time Warner’s offer will surely come in less than the $5 billion Weather Channel parent Landmark Communications had initially sought. The company is expected to choose which side will get the cable network next week.

>Earlier: Top Contenders for Weather Channel Emerge

>Update: NBCU reportedly wins bid for Weather Channel

Via NYMag
By Benjamin Proffer
Suze Orman: ‘Women Hurt Themselves’

Suze Orman was on The View earlier today, worrying about Sherri Shepherd’s ill-fated efforts to sell her Los Angeles home. Her matronly concern reminded us of something she’d said the night before at the Gracie Allen Awards. She’s worried about women these days, you see. Her gender, according to the finance guru, is hurting its own cause. “I think women hurt themselves, because I think as women refuse to take their own power, and refuse to ask for what they’re worth, and hide behind being polite, there you go,” she said. This morning, after she left the ladies of The View, Sherri jumped on top of Elisabeth Hasselbeck and tackled her to the floor, breaking a chair. We’re not sure what it symbolized exactly, but it was poignant. Trust us. —Benjamin Proffer

>What? The lovely Elisabeth Hasselbeck was tackled? Whats that all about? Or is this supposed to be a joke?!