Outside Cable News

Via Deseret News
Glenn Beck will speak at festival’s patriotic service

PROVO — Radio and cable news personality Glenn Beck will speak at the patriotic service held in conjunction with America’s Freedom Festival at Provo.

Beck, who hosts his own cable news talk show on CNN Headline News, as well as his own radio show, is known for his candid opinions and strong sense of patriotism.

In addition to Beck, the June 29 service at Brigham Young University’s Marriott Center will feature singer Michael Ballam.

The service will also include performances by the Freedom Festival Concert Band.

The 7 p.m. event is free to the public.

“We’re honored that Glenn would accept our invitation to speak at this year’s patriotic service,” event chairman Boyd Craig said in a statement. “He joins a long, distinguished string of national, state and local leaders who, over the decades, have set aside political and other differences, and addressed the community as fellow Americans, unified in an Independence Day celebration of our common American heritage of family, freedom God and country.”

Beck will also host the 2008 Stadium of Fire event on the Fourth of July at BYU’s LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Via Mother Against Drunk Driving

MADD Announces Winners of the 6th Annual MADD Media Awards

National Television: Drunk Driving Issues – Nancy Grace, CNN Headline News

MADD will host a luncheon to honor the 2008 Media Award Winners during the National Conference in Dallas, Texas on September 5, 2008. For more information, visit www.madd.org/media-awards.

>Read the rest at MADD.

Via NY Daily News
Finding happy news in local news
BY RICHARD HUFF

Greg Kelly was a good fit on WNYW/Ch. 5’s “Good Day New York” this week. Kelly is the son of the NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and is a Fox News staffer. And at the start of this week, he was in the seat left vacant when Ron Corning was cut.

During his run, Kelly bounced between serious and not-so-serious news. He admitted at one point he’d seen the “Sex and the City” movie, but added that he couldn’t tell the difference between Manolos and Keds.

That’s good, no?

Later in the week, Kelly took part in a segment on Father’s Day gifts.

“I used to cover the White House,” he said on the air. “Now I’m modeling flip-flops.”

Now that he’s come to terms with that drastic career shift, he should be given the job full-time.

Ch. 5’s Christina Park, as always, had just the right thing to say. After a series of segments built around Anne Craig’s wedding preparations, Park said to Craig: “Thanks for participating in our bridal booty camp - and your booty looks beautiful.”

>Read the rest at NY Daily News.

Via Die Jüdische

The Israel Project Launches TV Ad Campaign to Increase Pressure on Iran and Stop Rocket Attacks on Israel

Ads to Air as Thousands Expected at National Mall to Celebrate Israel’s 60th Anniversary

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Israel Project (TIP) is launching a major TV ad campaign to highlight Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and encourage enhanced pressure on Iran to peacefully end its illegal nuclear program.

The ad campaign consists of two 30-second spots that will begin running Sunday (June 1) on CNN, CNN’s Headline News, MSNBC, CNBC and FOX News Channel in Washington, D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia. The TV ads will air hundreds of times until June 5.

>Read the rest at Die Jüdische.

Via CNN
Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S.
By Glenn Beck

Editor’s note: “Glenn Beck” is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and hosts a conservative national radio talk show.

NEW YORK (CNN) — “Jobs Americans just won’t do.”

I can’t stand that line, but more importantly, I don’t even understand it.

Americans spend months at a time at sea fishing for crab or drilling for oil; two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Americans clean bathrooms, subway stations and crime scenes. Americans man toll booths, pave roads, embalm bodies and inspect sewers. Yet people really expect us to believe that they won’t pick strawberries or oranges?

It just doesn’t add up.

Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal published a story about a shortage of H-2B visas, which are issued twice a year to nonagricultural seasonal employees. Because our government can’t get out of its own way, they recently let an important “returning workers” provision expire resulting in thousands of foreign workers being shut out of the country this summer.

That’s inexcusable. I know this will come as a huge shock to those who only like to hurl insults, but I think we should be issuing more work visas, more student visas, and more green cards. And I think we should cut the red tape and bureaucracy that’s constantly blocking the front door.

>Read the rest at CNN.

Via Multichannel News
Headline News To Salute Troops On Memorial Day
Viewers Asked To Submit Photos, Videos To Honor Military Personnel
By Linda Moss

In preparation for Memorial Day weekend coverage, Headline News has been soliciting iReports–videos, photos and audio content submitted by the public–to honor military personnel that it will air on Morning Express with Robin Meade on Memorial Day from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., officials said Friday.

Morning Express viewers and CNN.com users are asked to send their thoughts and wishes for U.S. military personnel to iReport.com, CNN Worldwide’s first uncensored, unfiltered, unedited, user-generated community Web site.

Current “Salute to Troops” iReports include submissions from mothers wishing safety for their sons and daughters in active duty; tributes to those who lost their lives during service and even one from a South African couple thanking the U.S. troops and wishing all Americans a happy Memorial Day.
(more…)

Via NHRA
Forces on CNN, Westways, and even in Wal-mart

Thanks to the amazing stories of Ashley Force’s first career win, the inspiring comeback of her legendary father, John, and the growing popularity of both, images of the John Force Racing team have been showing up far and wide.

A CNN special produced by Ray D’Alessio that focuses specifically on John Force’s comeback from career-threatening injuries incurred in the crash of his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car last September at the Texas Motorplex in Dallas, Texas, will air this weekend on CNN Headline News.

The piece, developed from an interview last month in Atlanta before the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals in which Force was runner-up to his daughter, Ashley, will air twice an hour between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern time, on Sunday, May 25.

>Read the rest at NHRA.

>Update: Video after the jump.
(more…)

Via THR
Report: U.S. cable news snubs Asia disasters
Pew Research shows dichotomy in interest, coverage
By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK — Tens of thousands have died in the natural disasters in Myanmar and China, but the coverage has been fighting for airtime with campaign 2008 on U.S. cable news channels.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said Thursday that there was a fair amount interest among Americans for news about the Chinese earthquake, about as much as the ongoing presidential campaign. But it accused cable news channels in the U.S. of devoting way more coverage to the political campaign than the earthquake.

A Pew survey conducted last week said that 22% of Americans said they followed the Chinese earthquake more closely than any other news story over the week of May 12-18. It was slightly ahead of the percentage of Americans who closely followed the 2008 presidential campaign (22%) but nowhere near the top news story of the week, gasoline prices (31%).
(more…)

>Or it might be a new one all together?

>Update: Prime News seems to be sportin’ something a little different.. after the jump.
(more…)

Via Observer
Glenn Beck Signs Huge New Two-Book Deal with Simon & Schuster
by Felix Gillette

The Media Mob has learned that conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck has just finished signing a huge new two-book deal with Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions. According to a source with knowledge of the deal, the agreement will net Mr. Beck, the host of Headline News’ “Glenn Beck,” approximately $3 million. The initial print run will be a whopping 750,000 copies.

This past fall, Threshold Editions published Mr. Beck’s “An Inconvenient Book,” which immediately debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. According to Executive Vice President and Publisher Louise Burke, Threshold Editions has shipped over half a million copies of “An Inconvenient Book,” with no returns to date, making it a big hit for the imprint.

Ms. Burke said that Mr. Beck’s next book will be a work of fiction, based heavily on the real events of his childhood (including the death of his mother during his teenage years) and will be titled “The Christmas Sweater.” The holiday-themed tome is expected to hit the bookshelves in Fall 2008. Throughout the holiday season, Mr. Beck will promote the “Christmas Sweater,” while touring the country performing his annual Christmas show.
(more…)

Via AJC
Fox News finds recipe for morning success
By KRISTI E. SWARTZ

Though CNN has made some prime-time ratings headway in recent months, Fox News Channel is still No. 1 in terms of overall viewers, and the gap between them is no more apparent than in the morning.

“Fox & Friends” has twice the number of viewers than CNN’s “American Morning” nationally and in several key cities — including CNN’s home turf of Atlanta, according to data from Nielsen Media Research and the two cable channels.

The big three broadcast networks still rule early morning TV across the country. But “Fox & Friends” recently finished third for 72 consecutive months in metro Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and several other major markets. “American Morning” was No. 4 and CBS’s “The Early Show” was No. 5 in those markets.

What is Fox News’ secret? A more stable cast and faster pace, experts say.

“Fox is a new kind of television,” said Paul Levinson, chairman of Fordham University’s communication and media studies department. “It’s a program that’s more in tune with YouTube, with the Web and with the way television has been evolving in the 21st century.”
(more…)

Via Observer
New MSNBC-New York Times Show Limps Out of the Gate
by Felix Gillette

On Monday, MSNBC kicked off The New York Times Special Primary Edition, a new irregularly recurring daytime political show hosted by John Harwood in which Times scribes chew over news from the campaign trail.

So how did the show’s premier do?

Not great!

According to Nielsen data, “The New York Times Special Primary Edition,” finished fourth among cable news networks in the 2 P.M. time slot.

Here are the numbers in terms of total viewers:
(more…)

Via CVG
CNN goes MENTAL over GTA IV
“We’re training our kids to be killers”!

And so it begins: CNN reporter Glenn Beck has gone proper off on one, warning parents on television of the new ‘murder celebrator’ Grand Theft Auto IV, which he says is “training our kids to be killers”. Ban this sick filth!

“Whatever happened to Pong?!” asks a furious Beck, going into a frenzied rant we thought only existed in GTA’s own media-mocking radio shows.

“Here’s what you need to know tonight; in Grand Theft Auto your son, husband or boyfriend can hire a prostitute, have sex with her and then beat her to death with a baseball bat.

“When a police officer comes after him, he can either light that police officer on fire or cut him in half with a chainsaw. This is entertainment?!”

The CNN presenter continues: “We are training our kids to be killers and we are training our sons to treat women like whores.”

Brilliant ideas there from Glenn, but unfortunately as far as we know there’s no chainsaw or flamethrower in GTA IV. We dare not suggest he hasn’t played it, though…

Watch the full CNN rant on You Tube.

Via BloggingStocks
Battle of the Brands: CNN vs. Fox (and MSNBC too)
by Jonathan Berr

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

The heads of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC along with their corporate masters at Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) must be giggling with delight at the prospect of the Democratic presidential race continuing past the hotly contested race in Pennsylvania.

After all, controversy means more viewers, which of course means more advertising dollars. They probably wish that the Democrats would beat each other up in 30-second TV spots every year, but alas Americans elect a president every four years, which is probably a good thing for everybody. Still, the cable networks are going to ride this gravy train for as long as they can.

Like anything else in cable news, picking a winner in this battle of the brands depends on how you look at it. Fox, the home of Bill O’Reilly and Shepherd Smith, attracted 1.89 million viewers during Monday’s prime time, the most of any network, according to Nielsen data cited by TVNewser. CNN attracted 1.03 million on its main network and 572,000 on its Headline News channel, while MSNBC was watched by 676,000.

Before conservatives start declaring Fox the top cable network yet again, remember that statistic does not represent the whole picture. Cable news advertisers are most interested in viewers aged 25 to 54 who are most likely to be interested in buying mutual funds and other products that they are shilling. That’s where things get interesting.

Based on that demographic, Fox was seen by 377,000 people in prime time, which advertisers care the most about, fairly close to the 311,000 viewed by CNN. It is still ahead of the 245,000 who watched MSNBC and the 218,000 that saw Headline News. Sometimes CNN even manages to beat Fox in the ratings on certain shows in certain nights. Fox, though, rules the roost, much to the horror of some.
(more…)

Via Telegraph
The most influential US political pundits: 20-11

20. JOE KLEIN
19. DONNA BRAZILE
18. FRANK LUNTZ
17. ANDREW SULLIVAN
16. GLENN BECK
15. BILL MAHER
14. CHUCK TODD
13. KEITH OLBERMANN
12. BILL O’REILLY
11. STEPHEN COLBERT

>Check out the others at Telegraph. Btw, the last installment should be released tomorrow.

Via CNN
Glenn Beck: U.S. is a suicidal superpower
By Glenn Beck

Editor’s note: “Glenn Beck” is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET.

NEW YORK (CNN) — If you’re a poor sap who needs to eat or drive in the near future, then you might want to consider taking out a second mortgage (assuming you could even get one) pretty soon.

Food and gas prices have been all over the news lately, and even a big dumb rodeo clown like me can see that it’s all connected. Our policies, which try to cater to everyone from oil company executives to environmentalists, end up benefiting no one — and now we’re all paying the price.

I know that real economists probably will say that the causes of these skyrocketing prices are extremely complicated to understand, but the truth is that it’s actually pretty simple: We’ve done this to ourselves.

I don’t know if it’s because of our arrogance, our stupidity or maybe both, but I believe that history may one day judge America as the most suicidal superpower of all time. After all, what country that cares about its future would do what America has done to its supply of food and fuel, two of the most critical things that any civilization needs to survive?

For example, look at the way we treat our food supply. We’ve spent decades giving billions of dollars in government subsidies with incentives for the wrong things, we’ve mandated that huge areas of farmland stay open for “conservation” and we’re using grains that could feed tens of millions of people to make a crappy biofuel that you can’t even buy anywhere.

That’s not arrogance?

>Read the rest at CNN.

Via Lake Sun Leader
Cable news squawk shows are not journalism
By Jules Molenda

Our news editor, Joyce Miller, stuck her head in my office a week or so ago to tell me that she was moving up in the world: CNN had called her and wanted her for an on-air interview.

That’s pretty impressive for a small-town newspaper scribe, I thought. I asked her what they had called her for and when she’d be on.

‘It’s about my story on the kids in the clothes dryer and I’m not going on,’ she said.

In case you missed it, we ran a story in mid-April about a young woman whose boyfriend had allegedly place her two youngsters (separately) in a clothes dryer and turned it on.

The details that came off the police report that we used as our source were sketchy. The information on it consisted of police interviews with an 8-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy and ‘ not surprising - somewhat conflicting interviews with the two adults involved.

Sadly, child abuse such as is alleged here is pretty common in the U.S., but the clothes dryer angle was somewhat unique.
(more…)

Via Multichannel News
By Linda Moss
CNN Plans For Pope Benedict’s First Official U.S. Visit
Multiplatform Effort In The Works For Papal Visit Next Week

CNN will engage a multiplatform effort to cover Pope Benedict’s first official papal visit to the United States next week, officials said Thursday.

Online as well as on CNN/U.S., CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and Headline News, CNN will report on the pope’s address to the United Nations, his meeting with President George W. Bush, his visit to Ground Zero in New York and other events.

The pope’s visit will take place from April 15 to 20 in Washington and New York.

This trip to the United States marks Pope Benedict’s sixth country that he has visited since becoming pope in 2005. There are more than 67 million Catholics in the United States and more than a billion Catholics worldwide.

Soledad O’Brien will anchor CNN’s live coverage April 20 as Pope Benedict visits Ground Zero of the World Trade Center and officiates Mass in New York’s Yankee Stadium.

O’Brien will be joined by weekend CNN Newsroom anchors T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen reporting from location and CNN’s Vatican analyst John Allen.

CNN’s coverage begins with the pope’s arrival on Tuesday, April 15, and continues with contributions throughout the visit from Jim Acosta, Wolf Blitzer, Jason Carroll, Ines Ferre,Ed Henry, Juan Carlos Lopez, Colleen McEdwards,Kyra Phillips, Richard Roth and Mary Snow.
(more…)

Via The Badger Herald
By Bassey Etim
Cable news revealed, reproached

After another week of research, it’s become clear that cable news is an art form that is one part comedy and two parts tragedy. It is a land where Larry King can be considered the entertainment guy, a land where cutting corners means we’re subjected to the same creepy 20-second Anna Nicole Smith b-roll for hours on end, where Nancy Grace causes the distressed mothers of missing children to commit suicide and gloats about it later, and where the graphics are cheesy and the anchor hair is always perfectly stiff and ready for action.

>I’m not sure Nancy gloated or bought the gun.

As part of The Badger Herald’s continued effort to find the perfect cable infotainment show for college students, I am proud to present The Urban Correspondent’s Comprehensive Guide to Primetime Cable News.

Mid-Afternoon

CNN: “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”

Between Wolf Blitzer’s yelling, his 4-foot-9-inch frame, the giant TV screens that surround him at all times and Jack Cafferty’s incomprehensible muttering, this show is akin to being trapped in a $2 billion carnival fun house. Blitzer’s concerted efforts to report the news in a comprehensive, fast-paced format are consistently interrupted by Jack Cafferty, who, based on empirical evidence, is Wolf Blitzer’s crazy uncle.

Despite its foibles, you would be hard-pressed to make an argument that cable news’ record holder for consecutive starts, Wolf “Iron Man” Blitzer, doesn’t host one of the best shows on cable.
(more…)

Via cnn.com/hln

NOT JUST ANOTHER CABLE NEWS SHOW
Premiering Saturday, April 5

This new series will take a lighthearted look back at famous – and infamous – stories that made the news, including some of the most unforgettable political blunders of our time. “Not Just Another Cable News Show” will air each Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., with re-airs at 9 p.m. and midnight.

• Watch a preview of ‘Not Just Another Cable News Show’

>Earlier post about it.

>May I ask, what is Nancy Grace doing in this? Its a pretty sharp promo IMO, but Grace seems out of place. Sorry for the very end getting cut, but I’m busy watching a movie..

Via LocalNews8
By: Megan Boatwright
Glenn Beck Speaks at D.A.R.E Graduations in Rexburg

Why would a well known radio celebrity for CNN like Glenn Beck, fly from New York City to Rexburg, Idaho just to attend a couple of D.A.R.E. graduations? The answer is easy, passion.

“They almost killed me,” Beck said while referring to drugs and alcohol. “I am really one of the lucky ones to be alive, and make it out of the drug seen.”

His passion was evident tonight at Madison High School, as the Beck explained his children were the reason he finally sobered up.

As soon as he took the stage he turned his back to the parents, and spoke directly to students applauding them for their commitment.

“The D.A.R.E program is set up to let kids know you can trust the cops,” said Beck. “The sheriff is a friend of yours; you just have to have that support from the community.”
(more…)

Via Cleveland Indians/MLB
By Jon Cooper
CNN personality impresses during BP
Headline News anchor Robin Meade shines against Willis

ATLANTA — At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Indians pitching coach Carl Willis is an imposing figure. It’s difficult to imagine anything throwing him off his game.

Then again, beauty has been known to tame the savage beast. On Saturday afternoon at Turner Field, that’s exactly what happened.

Robin Meade, a CNN Headline News anchor and star of “Morning Express with Robin Meade,” was the beauty who threw the veteran pitching coach for a loop during a batting-practice session that will be featured in a future segment of her show.

“[Willis] apologized. because he was so tired at the end,” said Meade, an Ohio native and a former Miss Ohio. “He said I was intimidating.”

“It was kind of like trying to hit the bat and throwing to your kids, so to speak,” said Willis with a laugh. “But after throwing to all the guys to try to let off a little bit, I lost it. She’s an intimidating figure at the plate.”
(more…)

Anyone know who this is filling in for Nancy Grace?

Via CourierPost
CNN to offer self-mocking comedy show

>Additional information on this which was posted earlier.

CNN Headline News isn’t the first place you’d look for comedy, but the network says it will try to have fun with some of the clips in its news archives.

“Not Just Another Cable News Show” will premiere April 5, the network said today.

“It’s an entertaining way to recall some of the more memorable moments captured on video,” said Ken Jautz, executive vice president at CNN Worldwide.

The 30-minute show will be on Saturdays at 7 p.m. EDT, then repeated twice later in the evening. It will be followed each time by “News to Me,” a series that shows hot Web videos.

The sober CNN has avoided such light material in the past. A few years ago, CNN International aired reruns of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” for overseas viewers.

Via MediaWeek
By Anthony Crupi
CNN Headline News Preps Highlight Show

Bowing April 5, Not Just Another Cable News Show will run every Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight.

CNN Headline News is setting up an outpost in the sleepy territory of weekend prime time, prepping a 30-minute clip show that shares some genetic material with VH1’s Best Week Ever.

Bowing April 5, Not Just Another Cable News Show will run every Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight, unseating the network’s weekend encores of Glenn Beck.

Built on a foundation of clips culled from CNN’s 28 years of video archives, each episode will be leavened with appearances from guest commentators like Time.com Washington editor Ana Marie Cox, Upright Citizens Brigade co-founder Matt Walsh and Huffington Post editor Rachel Sklar.
(more…)

Via News Journal
By JAMI KINTON

Richland County deputy, crime writer, guests on Nancy Grace

MANSFIELD — After Dorchester Publishing bought the rights to two of her crime novels in December, Stacy Dittrich said, “things just started exploding.”

Things such as being asked to join a women-in-crime blog, being invited to appear on CNN’s “The Nancy Grace Show” and garnering the attention of a movie producer.

In mid-February, the Richland County sheriff’s deputy was contacted by crime writer Diane Fanning, who asked her to be a part of “Women in Crime Ink,” a blog updated daily featuring columns from 17 women across the country, including best-selling true-crime authors, award-winning print and broadcast journalists, a CBS News producer, television personalities and criminal justice professionals.
“We can write about anything we want, anything crime-related,” Dittrich said.
(more…)

Via AP
By David Bauder

Iraq War Fades Out As TV Story

NEW YORK (AP) — Remember the war in Iraq?

The question isn’t entirely facetious. The war has nearly vanished from TV screens over the past few months, replaced by stories about the fascinating presidential campaign and faltering economy.

Yet Americans continue to fight and die there, five years after the war started in March 2003.

“It’s no big secret that this is a war that everyone has grown tired of,” said CNN correspondent Arwa Damon, whose documentary “On Deadly Ground: The Women of Iraq” is airing several times this month. “Iraqis are aware of it. They think it’s a story that people are tired of hearing about. That’s what makes our job more crucial.”
(more…)

Via Newslab/JS Online

Bombarded by ‘breaking news’
By JENNIFER FLATEN

“And now we bring you expanded coverage of this breaking news.” What could it be? I had turned the radio on in the middle of her sentence. Was there a bad accident? Another tragic shooting? Nope, Brett Favre may be announcing his retirement.

The giant media machine was in full motion. Everyone was set up for an all-out blitz of this event. Except, at this point, there was nothing to cover. A news conference had yet to be scheduled. So even with no official announcement, the media was ready to talk and talk some more about Favre and retirement. And they did so for hours on end, endlessly rehashing what little they did know.

When did reporting the news give way to talk about what could happen endlessly before it even starts? The Favre retirement hoopla was just another example of a disturbing trend.

Did his retirement announcement merit coverage? Of course it did. Did we need to see a reporter live at Lambeau Field in the dead of night talking about Favre’s possible retirement? No, we did not.

Obviously, media outlets disagree. They know the public wants this type of coverage or they wouldn’t provide it. “Give the people what they want” is their slogan.
(more…)

Via The A&T Register
By Mike McCray

Playing with a parents’ emotions

I usually don’t have a beef with the way people in the media choose to target their audiences.

Whether it’s BET cutting its news department in favor of umm…something, or local news stations claiming to be the best thing since sliced bread because they have a Doppler radar but what I do have a problem with is the way CNN’s Nancy Grace consistently plays with the psyches of naive mothers everywhere.

Nightly she uses sensationalist journalism tactics and vivid imagery to attack the traditional values of these women and recently used the death of UNC student body president Eve Carson as her vehicle.

Grace, nearing tears as she usually is, linked the similarities between the death of Carson and of another woman at Auburn University. Alright, I’ll go with that.
(more…)