What’s Hot/What’s Not: 08/12/12
What’s Hot:
Ramon Escobar and Amy Entelis – CNN tapped both to beef up its Development wing…
Romney picks Ryan – The news broke Friday night that Mitt Romney tapped Paul Ryan as his VP pick…thus giving cable news something new to drone on and on about.
What’s Not:
Strrrrrretch – NewsBusters went ape over a Billy Joel song about death pre-marital sex being played coming out of commercial because of the shooting spree in Wisconsin.
Is that my shadow? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek! – CNN, proving once again that it has more in common these days with jellyfish than creatures with a spine, saw the NewsBusters rant and caved…apologizing for playing a song about death pre-marital sex being played coming out of commercial because of the shooting spree in Wisconsin.
Me too, Me too – Not wanting CNN to be the only network this week afraid to take a stand on something, FNC’s wishy-washy maybe, maybe not Friday night coverage of the Paul Ryan news was an amazing display of a network doing everything possible not to make a definitive statement on the matter, even after (MS)NBC and CNN had done so much earlier.
Spin control – As if that wasn’t bad enough, FNC on Saturday tried to spread the word that it was first on the Ryan news. Really? You spend three hours not confirming that it’s Ryan, even as your competition did confirm it was Ryan, and you still want credit for being first? For what? Guessing? At least two blogs took that BS bait which says more about them than it does FNC’s chutzpah.
Fareed Zakaria – While he might gain some brief comfort in the fact that the Ryan news blew his story off everyone’s radar screen, make no mistake…Fareed Zakaria’s plagiarism admission is a big big deal. A firing deal. He’s suspended for now at CNN and Time. If he survives…especially if he survives at CNN…the indignation that will be aimed at that network will be most deserved. And I say that as one who has continually touted the importance of GPS on the Sunday show circuit. I will shed tears if it’s gone but I won’t shed tears for Zakaria. Not after this.
August 12, 2012 at 6:18 pm
FNC lies, and their viewers lap it up. Same as it ever was.
August 12, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Cute, Joe.
August 12, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Spud stewing over minutia: Nyet, Nein, Nada, um Not.
August 12, 2012 at 7:08 pm
FNC: “We’re number 1, we’re first, the best, the only thing that matters, the toppermost of the poppermost!” Oh stfu.
August 12, 2012 at 7:17 pm
FNC is number 1, is the best, and shines a light where liberal lies hide. God bless them and keep them safe.
August 12, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I don’t like encouraging news organisations to be “first” with a breaking story as this is why we often get misinformation from them at the outset. Conversely, I don’t think beating up on a news organisation for being cautious is very smart in the long run. Carl Cameron seemed to have all the information everyone else did, but chose to use the qualifier, “we don’t know for certain” after his report. Perhaps FNC was overly cautious or maybe had reason not to entirely trust the primary source.
August 12, 2012 at 7:26 pm
I find the complaining over FNC (or any other network) not confirming something until they were sure, foolish and hypocritical. A few months ago, we were all talking about how awful it was when a network (all of them at one time or another) went with ahead with a story, only to retract it later. So now when they take a little more time to confirm, they’re also mocked? That’s a no win situation.
As for calling “first” and it not being true… well, that may be a point. But I’d need to see more info on what happened.
August 12, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Spud has gotten carless lately in his assessments, at at least in tempering his distaste with FNC in forming some ridiculous criticisms.
August 12, 2012 at 7:30 pm
As far as Joe’s judgement that davidzurawik is a ‘conservative’…
http://bsun.md/PPy5tG
Joe’s mouth is outrunning his brain, knowledge, or both these days.
August 12, 2012 at 7:32 pm
And Joe hates his cat!
August 12, 2012 at 7:48 pm
I have no problem with a news channel waiting to confirm. I have a problem with them lying about it the next day. FNC knows they have a lemming audience who only watches them, and believes whatever crap they dish out. They should stop lying.
I love my cat!
August 12, 2012 at 7:51 pm
ICN needs a cat-bot, like Twitter. Ooh, avi idea!
August 12, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Perhaps I’m missing something but I don’t see the lie made by FNC. I do see FNC’s chutzpah that Spud points out, and it’s about nothing important so his criticism is certainly valid.
August 12, 2012 at 8:08 pm
Thing is, if you were flipping channel-to-channel, as many of us were, you might not even notice who was saying it and who was just saying it.
August 12, 2012 at 8:10 pm
I find the complaining over FNC (or any other network) not confirming something until they were sure, foolish and hypocritical.
Left unsaid in your comment is that NBC and CNN were able to confirm it. Are you going to tell me that they have better resources and access than FNC does? I don’t think so. Someone screwed up.
August 12, 2012 at 8:14 pm
See here’s the thing…the cat was out of the bag thanks to NBC and running around loose thanks to CNN. At that point someone at FNC should have corralled someone in the Romney campaign to get the confirmation necessary for them to move off that “We’re not sure but all signs point to” talking point they’d been repeating for hours.
That’s the screw up I’m referring to. FNC went dark still reporting what it reported when it first broke tape while its rivals were reporting with certitude that it was Ryan.
August 12, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Won’t miss ole Fareed…..listening to his sanctimonious leftist mumbo was irritating as a Tom Freidman enema
August 12, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Maybe if nothing else this will take him down a peg. Wasn’t but a couple months ago Mr. Knowitall was saying it was time to take a look at rewriting the Constitution.
August 12, 2012 at 8:52 pm
Spud, I think the question is “Why?” Isn’t it possible that NBC jumped the gun, CNN followed, and FNC took their time and wouldn’t be pressured until they were sure. It turned out NBC’s guess was right, but that’s only a 50/50 shot (right or wrong) that they lucked out on.
I don’t know if that’s true or not, so I think we need to know more. Much like if they had gotten it wrong, we’d want to know why and how, I think it’s reasonable to ask the same questions when they get it right. How was NBC so far ahead (how far ahead were they?)? Why did they know, when, and who told them?
August 12, 2012 at 9:07 pm
NBC was so far ahead because FNC spent the week shouting at Romney about his spokesperson. Mitt shut ‘em out.
August 12, 2012 at 9:13 pm
^^ The odds of being right were much better than 50-50. The Romney camp was out begging for some pre-announcement buzz so NBC and the rest clearly had that first source, and I heard something about a Romney-chartered plane being discovered in Ryan’s district. Of course, there’s also the stories from previous campaigns of false evidence being planted to foil the reporters.
August 12, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Isn’t it possible that NBC jumped the gun,
Jumped the gun? With three sources? Try again…
August 12, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Ah… now three sources, that I didn’t know. I wonder why FNC was so late then, and feel your original statement to be much more justified.
I guess this kinda throw the, “FNC is the mouthpiece blah blah blah” out the window. If that were the case, wouldn’t they have heard early?
August 12, 2012 at 10:43 pm
“NBC was so far ahead because FNC spent the week shouting at Romney about his spokesperson. Mitt shut ‘em out.” – joeremi
Oh, yes – because NBC/MSNBC are so kind and fair to Romney so he decided to give them the VP scoop.
August 12, 2012 at 10:45 pm
Not just late, way into the night Whatever-His-Name-Is new guy was reporting that “AP has confirmed…” but then underscores “Fox News has been unable to independently confirm…”
August 12, 2012 at 11:00 pm
Carol, if I’m a conservative politician, the one network that’s REALLY gonna piss me off if they come after me is the conservative one. Ann Coulter and Hannity were openly encouraging viewers to abandon Romney. I doubt he took it well..
August 13, 2012 at 1:29 am
Apparently you DemonNUTT’S Spud the Dud and Joey missed this Proof of what channel reported Ryan first. Study little DemonNUTT’S before spewing stupidity. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/mitt-romney-to-announce-vp-pick-saturday-morning-paul-ryan-expected-running-mate_b141320
August 13, 2012 at 4:16 am
TVNewser is wrong, and anybody who use stupid words like DemonNUTT’S is a gobsmacking idiot.
August 13, 2012 at 5:05 am
Joey is cranky, as usual. Perhaps he needs a Tom Friedman enema.
August 13, 2012 at 5:13 am
“gobsmacking” is British slang for being totally speechless, having nothing to say, for everyone’s edification but Al I suppose. DemonNUTTs is the best place to kick a demon.
August 13, 2012 at 5:15 am
Joe can say, “TVNEWSER is wrong “, but why believe him?
August 13, 2012 at 6:18 am
Okay… so now who’s right? I’m so confused… and to be honest, already bored. But TVN’s contradiction is substantial. So what’s going on?
August 13, 2012 at 6:32 am
I think Spud was premature and launched a gobsmacker.
August 13, 2012 at 8:38 am
“Ann Coulter and Hannity were openly encouraging viewers to abandon Romney. I doubt he took it well..” – joeremi
OK, Joe. I guess I understand your point.
August 13, 2012 at 9:43 am
^ There was a point?
I’m pretty sure what Joe thinks happened… never happened. So saying there was a point, would be a stretch.
August 13, 2012 at 5:11 pm
I have since deleted what was on my DVRs so can’t check back. I believe TVNewser is correct about Carl Cameron being the first one on the air with that breaking story…. BUT (seems there’s always a big but in the way), Spud is abso-freakin’-lutely correct that Cameron’s report explicitly would not confirm Ryan as the pick.
August 13, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Being first with a guess is NOT AT ALL related to being first to confirm.
August 13, 2012 at 7:47 pm
I’m pretty sure what Joe thinks happened… never happened. So saying there was a point, would be a stretch.
I’m pretty sure you have a more plausible explanation for how FNC’s proclaimed arch-enemy got the scoop?
August 13, 2012 at 7:49 pm
It wasn’t a guess. Cameron’s piece was very specific so there’s no doubt he had a source. Why they wouldn’t go further and confirm it is unknown. Perhaps they didn’t have a reliable corroborating source or maybe a decision was made not to confirm unless the source was Romney himself. We don’t know.
August 13, 2012 at 8:01 pm
I wouldn’t put it past Chuck Todd to have established some sources inside the Romney camp to allow him to break the Paul Ryan pick first among cable news channels. After all Mr. Todd is working with the Romney camp to create a pre convention documentary.
If the source had been Reuters or ABC News, I believe Fox New would have reported it differently.
But since NBC/MSNBC broke the story Fox News decided not to directly or indirectly give them credit.
Given the animosity between the two channels it seems reasonable to conclude that Fox News did not want to give them any credit with a breaking news headline along the lines of, “According to NBC News Romney will announce Paul Ryan as his VP pick on Saturday morning.”
August 13, 2012 at 8:02 pm
I think today’s discussion on the merits of hair washing school is more Intersting than who was first with something everyone knew when they got up the next morning. What the God of Silliness shouted “Get a life!” this must have been when he was talking about.
August 13, 2012 at 9:58 pm
I will give Scott Mohr some credit…he correctly identified one of the two blogs that fell for FNC’s spin.
August 13, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Ah… now three sources, that I didn’t know.
Todd said as much when NBC broke into the Olympic tape on the West Coast. That was where I first heard about this. Then I immediately switched over to cable news to see what was going on.
August 13, 2012 at 10:04 pm
But TVN’s contradiction is substantial. So what’s going on?
Simple. TVN regurgitated what was fed to it by FNC. Not so substantial a contradiction. TVN had no clue what happened Friday night. Notice that it put up FNC’s talking points immediately but didn’t know about what MSNBC did until later when it put out an update in the form of “More”.