Press Releases: 11/19/10

CNBC (1)

“Haynesville” will premiere on Tuesday, November 23rd at 9pm on CNBC. The one hour documentary will repeat that evening at 10pm, 12am and 1am.

The Haynesville deposit could be the largest natural gas reservoir in North America. When the residents in rural Northern Louisiana learn they are sitting on a fortune, they struggle to weigh their big dreams against the safety of their community. Some will take the money and run while others learn to negotiate with the big energy companies who are looking to drill into the trillion-dollar natural gas reservoir that lies deep beneath their homes. Will this be easy money or the fight of their lives, in what some are calling the “new gold rush?”

“Haynesville” explores how the historic find could affect the nation’s energy picture through the eyes of industry experts, environmentalists and the people of Haynesville, Louisiana.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,086

Unverified, from an emailer…

I was watching HLN today, shortly after 2pm, when Richell Carey took a live call which was suppose to be someone weighing in on the subject of alcohol being sold on Sundays in states that enforce the Blue Law. However, the caller said, and I quote, “I have a friend who said that when he masturbates, he can xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”. Well, it totally caught the newscasters off guard and they quickly changed the subject matter.

Oh, I hope this really happened. And I hope more that someone has video of it because I don’t…

Update: After originally posting this quote intact I’ve decided to edit out half of it as it could be offensive to some people. You don’t need to read the whole thing to get the direction this was going. What happens when/if the video shows up…well then I’ll revisit the matter…

Brian Williams Gets “Confronted” by Chris Jansing over Today Show Video Appearance…

Brian Williams has been all over TV this morning. He’s made repeated appearances on MSNBC concerning his Prince Charles interview tonight on NBC. But it was an appearance on the Today show this morning that Chris Jansing wanted to talk about.

Maddow vs. Stewart: Analysis…

Andrew Tyndall uses the big Maddow/Stewart “showdown” and the suspension of Keith Olbermann to examine this “left/right/equivalency/false equivalency” thing that’s been sucking up so much media space recently. Yes, I chose this section for a reason…and you can figure out why…

3.THE POLITICS OF CABLE TV NEWS Irrespective of the political ideology of the individual cable TV news channels, Stewart explained to Maddow that the reason he lumped them all into the same category was their approach to the politics beat. So the defiantly non-partisan CNN came under fire from Stewart for its political coverage just as much as FNC or MSNBC. The 24-hour Conflictinator he called it.

Stewart had two complaints. First, the reflex instinct of the cable news channels is to shoehorn every development, every dispute into a political template: “We have all bought into the idea that the conflict is red-vs-blue. It is not the right fight.” Stewart pointed out that this politicization preceded the primetime ideologues on FNC and then MSNBC. From its invention, CNN specialized in concentrating on political stories over non-political ones and also framing stories by default as binary left-vs-right disputes. No triangulation there–everything was Crossfire. Writing in Mediaite earlier this year, Spud from Inside Cable News criticized all three networks “for going for the low hanging fruit of the cable news ratings world, the ideological partisans and political junkies. Like talk radio, cable news now looks to feed the political beast out there.” In this aspect, these complaints match Koppel’s in his Washington Post op-ed: political disputes and political commentary represent the low-cost content that attracts audiences without the expense of real newsgathering.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,085

Joe Scarborough Suspended 2 Days for Campaign Contribution Violations…

At first I thought this had to be some sort of joke but it’s no joke. Joe Scarborough has been suspended from MSNBC for two days for giving campaign contributions between 2004-2008 without seeking prior approval. Here’s a statement from MSNBC President Phil Griffin on the matter…

This morning Joe Scarborough informed me that he made eight contributions of $500 each to local candidates in Florida between 2004-08. In my conversation with Joe two weeks ago, he did not recall these contributions. Since he did not seek or receive prior approval for these contributions, Joe understands that I will be suspending him for violating our policy. He will be immediately suspended for two days without pay and will return to the air on Wednesday, November 24th. As Joe recognizes, it is critical that we enforce our standards and policies.

And here’s a statement from Joe Scarborough…

It was recently brought to my attention that I made political contributions over the past several years that are not consistent with MSNBC’s guidelines. These contributions were to close personal friends and family members and were limited to local races.

Despite the fact that these races were local and not relevant to my work at MSNBC, I have been told they violated MSNBC guidelines.

I recognize that I have a responsibility to honor the guidelines and conditions of my employment, and I regret that I failed to do so in this matter. I apologize to MSNBC and to anyone who has been negatively affected by my actions.

I gave a number of $500 contributions to my brother and three longtime family friends. These contributions were nothing more than simple acts of friendship. I gained nothing personally, politically, or professionally from these donations.

To be blunt, I had no interest in their campaigns other than being kind to longtime friends.

Because the contributions involved local, non-competitive races–and were given for personal rather than political reasons–I mistakenly believed I did not need approval from MSNBC. I also apologize for that oversight.

After learning of this situation, I called Phil Griffin and agreed with Phil’s immediate demand of a two-day suspension without pay.

I am proud to work for the NBC News family. There is nothing more important than maintaining the integrity of its highly respected brand.

I apologize to Phil Griffin, Steve Capus, and my colleagues. This will not happen again.

Free for All: 11/18/10

What’s on your mind?

MSNBC Hires Bob Morrissey to Helm Martin Bashir’s Program…

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin writes that MSNBC has hired Bob Morrissey to EP Martin Bashir’s show. I had thought that maybe Bashir’s show would launch in the beginning of December but this news suggests that was probably overly optimistic as cable nets usually take some time between the hiring of EPs and show launches.