Nicole Mitchell Sues The Weather Channel Regarding USERRA Complaint

Former Weather Channel Meteorologist Nicole Mitchell was suing The Weather Channel, but is now in arbitration regarding USERRA discrimination. USERRA is an acronym for the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Mitchell posted this on her Facebook page today…

First, thank you all for your continued support since my departure from TWC. We are making my lawsuit public because there is a much larger issue of military discrimination and legal protections that need public attention.

I talk about these issues in our press conference along with what happened at TWC, and I would be honored if you guys would support and help share this important information. (Translation…repost at will!) Thank you!

This is a partial answer to many questions you guys have asked about what happened at TWC. We finally went forward and spoke to the press today, which was nerve-wracking, and I will post the link to that conference when it is available…..

For Immediate Release

WEATHER CHANNEL SUED FOR MILITARY DISCRIMINATION

Air Force Reserve “Hurricane Hunter” Harassed, Loses Job over Service to Country

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,164

A few months ago when I wrote my epic story on MSNBC’s POV Metamorphosis I posited some questions that should be watched going forward. One of them was this…

3) How does NBC News and its staff fit in with Griffin’s POV designs for MSNBC? There may be no remaining firewall between MSNBC dayside and POV primetime because of all the crossover appearances taking place between the two, the increase of POV analysis shows, and the POV style seepage in most of its “newscasts”. But there is considerably more firewall remaining between NBC News and MSNBC in terms of POV creep.

But this could turn out to be very dicey going forward. Say a POV host or a POV inclined news anchor asks a loaded POV type question of an NBC News journalist; how does the NBC News person deal with that? Will they be expected to respond in kind? Will they push back against the question? Do they duck the question? What happens? This, I believe, is probably the single thorniest issue that will confront the two networks and the news division, especially where political and controversial news is involved.

I mention this because of what transpired on Martin Bashir’s show this afternoon. Mediaite’s Andrew Kirell writes about Martin Bashir trying to browbeat Luke Russert into agreeing with his conclusions…

When Russert refused to comply, Bashir became annoyed, interrupting the reporter by saying, “No. No. Luke, he’s right.”

Bashir said that “we sometimes see the White House say that there are those on Capitol Hill who are literally rooting for failure,” and then played a clip of Carney talking about that sentiment.

“I think that when you have a situation where action is not being taken on Capitol Hill — where it is obvious as outside economists will tell you what actions Congress could take to create jobs — there’s at least a failure to act,” Carney said in the soundbite.

“Very quickly, Luke. He’s right, isn’t he?” Bashir asked Russert, clearly hoping for the reporter to come out in total agreement with the White House.

Russert’s brow furrowed as he tried to answer in a diplomatic, journalistic fashion, saying, “It would seem that there is a desire on Capitol Hill not to allow the president…”

“Luke. He’s right,” Bashir interrupted.

“Not to allow the president to look good in any capacity,” continued Russert, before being interrupted again by Bashir, who insisted, “Luke, a quick answer. A quick answer!” (Code for: I want you to agree with Carney one-hundred percent.)

Press Releases: 06/04/12

CNN (1)

CNN en Español broadcasts special coverage for the 2012 California and New Jersey primaries

Starting Monday, June 4th through Wednesday, June 6th, CNN en Español will broadcast a special coverage of the California and New Jersey primaries, hosted live by anchor Juan Carlos Lopez, New York correspondent Rafael Fuenmayor and Los Angeles correspondent Karina Dalmas, collaborating with CNN throughout the coverage.

During the California primary, 169 delegates will be chosen for a total of 172 delegates to attend the national convention. At the same time, the New Jersey primary will send 50 delegates to the national convention.

Throughout the coverage, there will be a comprehensive analysis of the electoral candidates with an emphasis on the importance of the Latino vote and its growing population in the United States.

This special presidential primary coverage will cover issues of immigration, the economy, education, and the job industry, among other topics, which are important to the Hispanic community in the United States.

CNN en Español will broadcast the special coverage of the California and New Jersey primaries, starting Monday, June 4th through Wednesday, June 6th.

Cause and Effect…

The AP’s David Bauder writes about last week’s FnF Obama video fiasco…

Shortly after Shine’s statement was issued, some news blogs reported — without visible sourcing — that White was leaving Fox News for a job at CNN.

In cable news, CNN vs. Fox is Hatfield vs. McCoy, or Obama vs. Romney. One has little use for the other. CNN looks down upon Fox’s opinionated approach even as Fox clobbers CNN in the ratings. CNN takes great pride in a reputation as an unbiased news source, believing it both a higher calling and better business model.

Now imagine CNN executives waking up to the headline: “CNN hires Fox producer responsible for controversial Obama video.”

Not a chance. White was tainted goods.

Within 24 hours, CNN announced that White would not be working there. It’s unclear whether White had been formally offered a job but an executive at CNN, not authorized to speak about personnel issues and granted anonymity for that reason, conceded there were extensive discussions with White about employment.

Bauder then moves dangerously close to tinfoil hat territory…

Could the video have been an elaborate set-up, an entertaining one for a viewership that, for the most part, doesn’t think much of Obama to begin with?

There’s some history of Fox executives not taking it well when an employee moves to CNN.

Fox fired prime-time anchor Paula Zahn in 2001 simply upon learning she had received an offer to host a morning show at CNN, an offer she eventually accepted. In a New York Times article about her firing, Fox News chief Roger Ailes minimized how Zahn had improved ratings while at Fox with a quote that quickly became legendary.

I don’t think the video itself was a setup. I do believe the leaks about White’s CNN employement opportunity were done to sabotage White and mess with CNN.

Melissa Francis Interview…

The Improper Bostonian’s Jonathan Soroff interviews FBN’s Melissa Francis… (via J$)

Jonathan Soroff: So what can we expect to see on your new show that we don’t already see on business TV?

Melissa Francis: We want to speak to a broader audience, whether that’s someone deciding whether to refinance their home, deciding how to send their kids to college, reminding them what this thing is that Congress is spending tax dollars on—anything that involves money and impacts just about anybody. Of course, we like things that are eye-catching and that expose the hypocrisy of either government or Wall Street.

Ed Schultz Not Speaking at Wisconsin Democrat Convention…

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens has belated MSNBC response to the story that Ed Schultz appeared to be speaking at the Wisconsin State Democrat Convention this week.

An MSNBC spokesperson tells TVNewser, “Ed does not have a speaking role at the Wisconsin Democratic convention. The convention is open to press and Ed plans to attend.”

This was a flash fire and MSNBC took three days to put it out. That’s just bizarre. It should have been stomped out immediately on Friday.

Chris Jansing Profile…

Israel’s The Marker has a profile of Chris Jansing conducted while she was in that country last month and was posted online. It’s in Hebrew but ICN got its hands on an English version…which still has a few Hebrew to English translational related gaffes in it…

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Global

“For the first time in History, Americans aren’t so confident that their childrens’ lives will be better than their own.”
There isn’t a topic that veteran television journalist Chris Jansing hasn’t covered: The Olympics, political analysis and even a provocative interview with Hamas leadership. ● In an interview during her visit to Israel, she states that the single most pressing topic in the United States right now is the lack of economic equality. This will be the center of attention during the upcoming US elections. ● “America’s problem doesn’t lie with the politically radical, but with those who can sign for the biggest checks.”

By Daphna Meor & Abshalom Halutz

For Chris Jansing, MSNBC’s senior anchor woman, the last thing that the previous week could be described as is relaxing. At 11:00 a.m., right after finishing her weekday show, Jansing & Co, on Friday, she flew to the nation’s capital, Washington DC, in order to interview the Chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz. From Washington, Jansing then flew to Iowa, where she spent the weekend with promising Olympic gymnasts and their families in order to compile a series of profiles for the US competitors in the next Olympics. On Sunday, at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, she flies to Chicago. From Chicago she goes to New York, and then from New York to Tel Aviv in order to gather materials for a piece she’s working on regarding internet privacy.

“Today in the evening,” she tells us Monday afternoon, “I’m flying to New York and will arrive at 4:30 in the morning. I’ll go home, shower, and then directly to work in order to host my show at 10:00 in the morning. My friends tell me I’m insane.” Jansing has a packed day, which serves as a testament to why she’s considered one of the most admired and hard-working journalist on the MSNBC network. Even though her show airs at 10:00 a.m., Jansing wakes up at 4:00 a.m. and arrives to the studio at 5:00 a.m., reads through 12 news sites, 8 newspapers and the research she has compiled in preparation for her upcoming interviews. Jansing explains how important it is for her to stay constantly updated, and thus she makes it a fundamental point to do her homework.

Piffle…

Gretawire has her dander up about…er…uh…something…I guess…

Over the weekend I caught up on some reading and noticed the level of swipes recently taken at Fox’s CEO Roger Ailes. I thought…really? Why are some so obsessed with Roger…obsessed to the point that they are so so so busy taking swipes at him? Is it Roger’s success that makes them all crazy? or is it their inability to beat him or do better than he does? or is it a combination of both? Or is is some simmering old grudge? or worse, it is some fanciful thoughts about conspiracies? I don’t get the obsession. I think it is old fashion jealousy about his success. He has and is beating everyone else.

Of course if Roger were not enormously successful – he did take his network from zero to #1 and hold it there for 10 plus years – there would be no swipes. It is true that people don’t pay much attention to losers. You feel sorry for losers – you don’t need to try to beat them and you don’t need to try and smear them.

And if you look at those taking a swipe at Roger, you will see they are all the ‘usual suspects’ — those who would love to have his success or love to beat him at his game…or are using his success to somehow vault them into relevance.

Rule #1 when going on a rant; support your argument. What “swipes”? Greta doesn’t say. What “obsession”? Greta doesn’t say. Which “usual suspects”? Greta doesn’t say.

It’s all but impossible to give any credence to anything she says here because she doesn’t cite one lone example of what presumably prodded her into writing this for. Comeon Greta…spell it out!

Free for All: 06/04/12

What’s on your mind?

Inside All Things Bloomberg…

New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman does his best Gabriel Sherman impersonation and turns in a must read on Mike Bloomberg and his media empire…

In a way, Bloomberg LP is like Google: It has one wildly successful business model (selling data to banks in the case of Bloomberg; search in the case of Google). Efforts to expand beyond the core business of leasing terminals to financial firms have failed to produce similar results. In recent years, Bloomberg has grown through international expansion into emerging markets. But the company faces some challenges. Under CEO for multimedia Andrew Lack, Bloomberg Television has failed to eat into CNBC’s audience. Last year, talks to partner Bloomberg TV with ABC News broke down. Bloomberg has tried to attract stars, including offering CNBC’s David Faber a mid-six-figure deal. Bloomberg also went after the Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin. Neither could be swayed. Part of the problem is that Winkler remains resistant to adopting some of the entertainment values that could attract an audience. Last year, producers inserted a clip from The Princess Bride into a segment about the wild volatility in the market. “Winkler went batshit,” one person familiar with the matter said. “He wrote out a note saying that we shouldn’t mix fiction with news.” (“I think news should always be about the facts,” Winkler says. “You shouldn’t mix fiction with nonfiction; it’s oil and water.”)

Senior executives have discussed getting out of the domestic-television business, but the idea went nowhere; Doctoroff says they’re staying the course. “It fits into the strategy of broader distribution, which helps us to gain greater influence, which helps us to gain greater access, which helps us to generate market-moving, exclusive content, which helps us to sell terminals, which we then reinvest back in our media properties.”