Saturday, October 02, 2004

 

Watching Mount St. Helens

Looks like CNN will be keeping it's eye on Mount St. Helens over the rest of the weekend as the volcano is predicted to 'do something" before the weekend is up. CNN has been providing good updates on the activity since Friday afternoon when the first major action came. There are alot of web resources available including a mountain webcam and a "seismo cam" and Lost Remote.com has them all indexed for ya.

# posted by ATN @ 6:43 PM
 

Where Are They Now?


As a kid growing up and watching CNN I found some of the reporters names funny to say over and over again. And Charles Zewe was one of those names. Not sure how long Charles was with CNN but I know it was a while. Anyway these days Charles is one of the co-anchors for Louisiana Public Broadcasting's monthly public affairs program Louisiana Public Square. During his years with CNN, Zewe he was a Headline News anchor and the first national correspondent for the network’s affiliate feed service, CNN Newsource. Also while at CNN, Zewe served as the network’s Southwest correspondent and was assigned to a wide variety of national and international news stories, including the 1991 Gulf War, the deployment of U.S. troops to Bosnia, CNN’s Emmy-award winning coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jon Benét Ramsey murder case, and the O. J. Simpson murder trial along with national politics such as the presidential nominating conventions and campaigns.

# posted by ATN @ 8:55 AM

Friday, October 01, 2004

 

PZN's Debate Fact Check

Well Paula Zahn has implemented a "fun way" to "fact check" statements made by John Kerry and Dubya in the debates. Using a replica of the warning lights used in the first debate, CNN Correspondents Andrea Koppel, Jamie McIntyre, and David Ensor had to respond in under 30 seconds on how factual statements made during the debate are. It was a good break from just "storytelling."

# posted by ATN @ 8:32 PM
 

Fox News Puts Words in the Mouth Of John Kerry

Talking Points Memo has COMPLETE coverage of FOXNews.com's accidental posting of fabricated quotes from Carl Cameron attributed to John Kerry.

# posted by ATN @ 6:32 PM
 

Robert Novak Breaks Hip


From Broadcasting & Cable: Just when it’s getting fun, Robert Novak, 73, the veteran columnist and one of the hosts of CNN’s Crossfire is going to be hobbling.
Early Friday morning, the day after the first presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., Novak slipped in in his Miami hotel room shower and broke his hip, a source told B&C. Novak and his Crossfire counterpart Paul Begala were in Florida to fire at each other for Thursday's show and to help with CNN's coverage of the debate.
The source said Novak will require a partial hip replacement, but had no estimate of how long that will keep him off the campaign trail, or at least trailing far behind it.
But the source also reported that Novak was busily editing his column on the laptop computer in his hospital room.

# posted by ATN @ 6:29 PM
 

Partisan Debate Watching....


The debate ratings numbers shouldn't come as any surprise. TvNewser is reporting that Fox News Channel averaged a 9.6 between 9 and 10:30pm Thursday night, Nielsen ratings show. CNN delivered a 4.4 and MSNBC earned a 1.2. IMO if any channel should be dissappointed it should be MSNBC as they continue to find their audience. From Drudge: FLASHBACK: IN 2000, Among cable networks, CNN (3.27 million) outdrew combined audience of Fox News (1.88 million) and MSNBC (1.03 million)....

Broadcast Networks WHOOP Cable nets: ABC News 11.50 million CBS News 13.48 million NBC News 17.2 million

# posted by ATN @ 5:19 PM
 

Aaron Brown Talks About Media Bias


News Night Anchor Aaron Brown spoke to students this week at the University of Southern California on the growing popularity of biased reporting. Dean Geoffrey Cowan of USC's Annenberg School for Communications hosted the "Open Forum on Politics, War ... and More," which was to discuss Thursday night's presidential debate. Brown told the group "We seem to be in a time when we only want to hear what we want to believe." "For us, for CNN, it's a challenge," he said. "For the country, it's dangerous." Participants at the forum compared Brown's and CNN's objective approach to reporting with Fox News' more popular, lucrative and conservative reporting. You'll find the complete article HERE.

# posted by ATN @ 3:33 PM
 

Long Gaps in the Scrolling Ticker


Did anyone else notice this, this morning? No news for the ticker?

# posted by ATN @ 8:11 AM
 

Where Are They Now


If there ever was a CNN Original, it is Bill Tush. Bill started work for Ted Turner reading the news at Turner's struggling television station WTCG Channel 17. There, Bill became everything from newsman to commercial spokesman, and even introduced the station’s movies. But he first became nationally known as the wacky guy who read the news in the middle of the night, sometimes with a German Shepard at his side, on SuperStation WTBS. BUT in 1979 that newscast was canceled to make way for the development of Cable News Network. In 1980, he led a cast of zany actors in a one hour comedy show called Tush. The show ceased production in 1981 and soon after, Bill took off to Hollywood to host a new celebrity talk show on CNN, called People Now. In 1993, he was appointed senior entertainment correspondent for CNN’s entertainment unit, and relocated to NYC where he hosted Showbiz Today and Showbiz This Week. In January 2002, after 28 years, Bill Tush left Turner Broadcasting System to pursue other interests including writing and producing. His website Bill Tush.com offers pictures and video clips of his time with Turner Broadcasting.
Source: Bill Tush.com

# posted by ATN @ 8:07 AM

Thursday, September 30, 2004

 

Let's Hear From You: Your Thoughts about CNN's Debate Coverage


Well CNN pulled out all the stops with the first Presidential Debate. What are your thoughts? Please post comments in the comments section!

# posted by ATN @ 10:12 PM
 

Not CNN Related BUT Interesting....


According to a Neilsen Media Research Study viewers of the Comedy Channel's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" are smarter than those who watch Bill O’Reilly. According to the Neilsen study, viewers of "The Daily Show" are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch "The O’Reilly Factor." O'reilly recently refferred to viewers of "The Daily Show" as "stoned slackers." BTW, CNN-International airs "The Daily Show: Global Edition twice on the weekends. The CNN International version is a compilation of the best comedy sketches that aired during the previous week on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune

# posted by ATN @ 11:58 AM
 

Sanchez Stuck in The Big Apple for a While...


A source tells CNN Blog Rick Sanchez will be the "Now in the News" reader on Amercian Morning for a while. For a while now all of the "AM" people have been scrambled as Soledad O'brien has been on maternity leave. Soledad is set to return to work October 18.

# posted by ATN @ 9:10 AM
 

Aaron Brown Sounds Off on Fox News and Politics

The Seattle Post Intelligencer recently caught up with Aaron Brown to get his thoughts on several issues. News Night kicked off it's weeklong West Coast tour Monday in Seattle. One of the questions posed to Aaron was, "Let's not dance around the big elephant in the corner: Why is CNN being beaten by Fox News?" His answer, "I'll answer that in obnoxious detail, because I think it's complicated. They're more entertaining, and I don't mean that pejoratively. ... They are conservative talk radio on television, and they are very entertaining about it. So they have very entertaining personalities, and they go about it in a very entertaining way. I think they also play this stuff as a home game. The Republican Convention, for them, was a home game. I don't generally think I ever say anything important, but if I'm going to, this is it: We seem to be in a time when people only want to hear that which they agree with. And it's a very destructive thing to do for democracy. It's not healthy for democracy. But if you look at the rise of conservative talk radio, and the rise of Fox, and this has nothing to do with whether they're entertaining or not, it just has to do with people only wanting to hear one side of things.
That's not what we do. We're not in the business of talking about the news. We are in the business of gathering the news. ... We need to learn to be, in our story selection and execution, as compelling in gathering and telling and reporting the news as they are in shouting about it. And we'll see if we can do that. "

You'll find the complete Q and A HERE.

# posted by ATN @ 12:05 AM
 

CNN's Debate Day Schedule

>> American Morning, with Bill Hemmer, live from Coral Gables, 7 a.m.-10 a.m.
>>News from CNN, with Wolf Blitzer, live from Coral Gables, noon-1 p.m.
>>Judy Woodruff’s Inside Politics, live from Coral Gables, 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
>> Crossfire, live from Coral Gables, 4:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
>>Wolf Blitzer Reports, live from Coral Gables, 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
>> Anderson Cooper 360º, live from Coral Gables, 7 p.m.-8 p.m.
>>Paula Zahn Now, including “Prime Time Politics,” live from Coral Gables, 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
>>Special Debate Preview, with a live studio audience at University of Miami’s Whitten University Center with Blitzer, Jeff Greenfield, Carlos Watson and special expert guests, 8:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
>>The Presidential Debate, in Coral Gables, live and commercial-free on CNN/U.S. and CNN-International with a simulcast on CNNfn of Hemmer reporting live from Columbus, Ohio, with an undecided voter focus group, 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
>>Special Post-Debate Wrap-up, continues at University of Miami’s Whitten University Center with Blitzer, Greenfield, Watson and special expert guests and with Woodruff and Cooper live with reactions from the debate spin room, 10:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m.
>>Larry King Live, a special debate edition, live from Los Angeles with special guests, 11 p.m.-midnight
>>NewsNight with Aaron Brown, live from Los Angeles with local reaction to the debate, midnight-1 a.m.

# posted by ATN @ 12:01 AM
 

Where Are They Now


Today's edition of Where are they now features yet another former CNN'er who retired after some 20 years with the network. Charles Bierbauer joined CNN in 1981 and retired in 2001. Bierbauer was a correspondent for CNN in Washington D.C., where he covered the Supreme Court, the Bush and Reagan administrations and the presidential campaigns from 1984-96. Today he is dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina. One of the last BIG stories Bierbauer covered while at CNN was the 2000 Election fiasco involving the Supreme Court.

# posted by ATN @ 12:00 AM

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

 

Once Per Night OR Once PERIOD?


As you know News Night is "On the Road" this week and while in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday Aaron was interviewed by The Oregonian. In the interview Aaron is asked about the Dan Rather, 60 minutes fiasco. And here's a portion of Aaron's response to that question.

"Cable rode that story forever because they hate Dan, or they think TV is too liberal, or just think all news coverage should be mud wrestling." "NewsNight," he added, tries to take a more moderate approach. "We did one story and moved on. I could probably do better numbers if I did mud wrestling. But I have to live with myself." He smiled. "OK, maybe we do a little mud wrestling. But that's not who I am."

Now to me Aaron is saying the Dan Rather controversy was mentioned once per show and not dwelled upon all through the program, every night like OTHER cable news outlets did. Meanwhile another cable news blog is interpreting the statement entirely different. They are saying Brown lied when he said "We did one story and moved on." Sounds like a "spin job" to me! What do you think? Post comments in the comments section!

Update 1:45 p. m. 09/30: That "other cable news blog" posted an e-mail received from Mr. Brown this morning:
"I believe what I said to peter was that we did "the" story and moved on. The conversation had to do with the non stop "mud wrestling" that the story generated which we did not do. But there is no doubt I considered it an important story and that we covered it. I did a page two essay on it, we looked at the backlash among some affilates and its impact on media generally. I did not and do not think it was the MOST important story and I did not allow it to dominate the program at the expense of all else as some others did. That's not what Newsnight is. That was the context of the conversation with Peter."

# posted by ATN @ 10:30 PM
 

News Networks Will Ignore Camera Rules at Debate


Source: Indianapolis Star With the first presidential debate Thursday, television networks plan to ignore an attempt by the Bush and Kerry campaigns to stage-manage the event by dictating which camera shots they can and cannot use. The networks object to a provision in the debate agreement between the two candidates that says the networks cannot show a reaction shot of Democrat John Kerry when President Bush is speaking, or vice versa. "The campaigns have agreed to this," said Princell Hair, CNN general manager. "We haven't.
"We have access to these cameras, and we're going to -- as we would with any news event -- decide which is the best way to broadcast this," he said. "A producer in the booth will make those determinations, not some people in the campaign." Fox News Channel is operating the cameras at Thursday's debate, scheduled for the University of Miami campus. Fox is expected to provide each network with feeds from several cameras, giving them each discretion on which shots to air. MORE

More networks respond in a related story at CNN.com.

# posted by ATN @ 11:07 AM
 

CNN still in Second Place

Source The Washington Dispatch: New Media giant Fox News flexed its collective muscles in the third quarter of 2004 besting the combined competition of its rival cable/satellite networks. The numbers are astonishing. According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News pulled in an average of 1.8 million viewers while CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Headline News combined reached 1.7 million viewers. Fox had 9 of the top 10 top programs during the third quarter of 2004. Only CNN’s Larry King could break up the sweep, nabbing 6th place. MORE

# posted by ATN @ 11:02 AM
 

Where are they Now


Today we feature Frank Sesno. Sesno pulled lots of duty while at CNN. Frank was vice president and Washington bureau chief for CNN and he also served as host of CNN's flagship weekend public affairs program, “Late Edition with Frank Sesno.” If it was going on in D.C., Frank knew about it. Today, Frank is the head of the School of Journalism at George Mason University in Washington D.C. From time to time you can find Frank on the air at CNN analyzing and commenting about both political and journalism issues in the news today. Here's the press release from 2002 naming Sesno as a professor at George Mason University.

# posted by ATN @ 10:45 AM

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

 

Cable News Ratings a Sign of Things to Come in the Presidential Election...


CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld seems to think so. Here's a portion of his Tuesday, September 28 "Bits and Pieces" entry.

I have found time to do this once more and if you’re a Kerry fan the results ain’t good. FoxNews has more viewers than all other three networks combined.

Prime Time September 20th - 26th

FoxNews 57.5%
CNN 24.3%
MSNBC 11.1%
Headline News 7.1%

Total Day

FoxNews 51.5%
CNN 25.3%
MSNBC 12.6%
Headline News 10.6%

Analysis

If this is predictive of the election Bush is pulling further ahead. Worse case for Kerry only Republicans watch FoxNews while some CNN, MSNBC and Headline News viewers are Republicans or independents. If that’s the case, it’s a Bush landslide. Otherwise it’s still 52% to 48% Bush over Kerry and Kerry’s got a shot.

These are the worst numbers I’ve seen for Kerry and far and away the worst numbers I’ve seen, so far, for CNN.

# posted by ATN @ 6:45 PM
 

Gaza Kidnappers Free CNN Producer


GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen freed an Israeli Arab producer for CNN television unharmed on Tuesday a day after kidnapping him in the Gaza Strip. Riad Ali said his captors told him they were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
But the Brigades issued a statement saying they had no connection to the abduction, and condemning it as an act of chaos that hurt the Palestinian cause.
"Of course I do not know if they were really from al-Aqsa or not," Ali said of his captors, who snatched him from a CNN car they stopped in Gaza City on Monday. MORE

New Addition: "We are obviously enormously relieved that our producer, Riad Ali, has been released today," said CNN President Jim Walton. "His ordeal serves to highlight the dangers faced by journalists around the world and we at CNN are grateful that this incident ended the way it did." More info on CNN.com

# posted by ATN @ 4:10 PM
 

Where Are They Now?


Ever wonder who anchored the very first newscast on CNN on June 1,1980? The husband and wife team, Lois Hart and David Walker co-anchored the inaugural broadcast on CNN. Where are they today? Well they are still an anchor team and are working at KCRA in Sacramento, California.

# posted by ATN @ 8:05 AM

Monday, September 27, 2004

 

CNN Pulling Out ALL the Stops for Debate Coverage

Source: CNN Pressroom: CNN will dedicate two networks and an entire evening of prime-time coverage for the first presidential debate on Thursday, Sept. 30. The CNN election team led by Wolf Blitzer will kick off CNN’s six-hour event at 7 p.m. with Anderson Cooper and Paula Zahn both anchoring their shows from the site of the debate in Coral Gables, Florida. A highlight of CNN’s debate coverage will be an innovative real-time meter gauging the reaction of a focus group of undecided voters in Columbus, Ohio. CNN’s Bill Hemmer will follow the debate as audience members register their reactions live on CNNfn.

CNN’s Sept. 30 debate day line-up
>> American Morning, with Bill Hemmer, live from Coral Gables, 7 a.m.-10 a.m.
>>News from CNN, with Wolf Blitzer, live from Coral Gables, noon-1 p.m.
>>Judy Woodruff’s Inside Politics, live from Coral Gables, 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
>> Crossfire, live from Coral Gables, 4:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
>>Wolf Blitzer Reports, live from Coral Gables, 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
>> Anderson Cooper 360º, live from Coral Gables, 7 p.m.-8 p.m.
>>Paula Zahn Now, including “Prime Time Politics,” live from Coral Gables, 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
>>Special Debate Preview, with a live studio audience at University of Miami’s Whitten University Center with Blitzer, Jeff Greenfield, Carlos Watson and special expert guests, 8:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
>>The Presidential Debate, in Coral Gables, live and commercial-free on CNN/U.S. with a simulcast on CNNfn of Hemmer reporting live from Columbus, Ohio, with an undecided voter focus group, 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
>>Special Post-Debate Wrap-up, continues at University of Miami’s Whitten University Center with Blitzer, Greenfield, Watson and special expert guests and with Woodruff and Cooper live with reactions from the debate spin room, 10:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m.
>>Larry King Live, a special debate edition, live from Los Angeles with special guests, 11 p.m.-midnight
>>NewsNight with Aaron Brown, live from Los Angeles with former California Gov. Jerry Brown and local reaction to the debate, midnight-1 a.m.

# posted by ATN @ 8:00 PM
 

CNN confirms that one of its employees has been kidnapped


Israeli news agency Haaretz is reporting that CNN Assistant Producer Riad Abu Ali was kidnapped on Monday evening in Gaza City. The Palestinian Authority is in contact with the armed men in an attempt to negotiate his release.According to initial reports, the armed men tracked Abu Ali's car as he departed CNN's production offices in Gaza City. When he reached the city's Rimal neighborhood, the armed men stopped the car and grabbed Abu Ali."We had no indication that this was going to happen," said CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman Monday evening in a live broadcast. "This is something I've never experienced... These men were not very communicative. They asked which was of us was Riad and that was it."
Update 1:40 p.m. CNN Issues Statement
CNN has released a statement from Jim Walton, president of the CNN News Group: "We are working actively for Riad's safe return and are in touch with his family, offering them our full support during this difficult time. We have not yet heard from his abductors but urge them to release Riad immediately. He is a veteran journalist of the highest integrity."
You'll find complete CNN.com article HERE.

# posted by ATN @ 1:29 PM
 

CNN employee seized in Gaza


DUBAI (Reuters) - An armed group has kidnapped an Arab-Israeli employee of CNN news network in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera television says.
"Our correspondent in Gaza said an armed group has kidnapped an Arab ... who works as an assistant producer for the CNN team in Gaza," the channel said without giving further details.
CNN, owned by Time Warner, could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
Bloodshed has worsened in the Gaza Strip ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli settlers and soldiers by the end of 2005.

# posted by ATN @ 1:01 PM
 

SURPRISE

Yes I was surprised when I woke up, turned on CNN and saw someone at the American Morning anchor desk I didn't know. With the sound off on the tv I was still puzzled THEN CNN finally puts up his name, Rick Sanchez.(no bio up on CNN.com yet) Yep, he finally made an appearance after covering Hurricane Ivan some weeks ago. Rick was filling-in for Bill Hemmer. It will be interesting to see where CNN puts him for a "regular" shift.

# posted by ATN @ 8:46 AM
 

Where are they Now?


Today's edition features one of CNN's most famous former weather anchors, Flip Spiceland. Flip can be found these days at WXIA in Atlanta. Flip anchors the station’s morning and noon newscasts. Flip was one of the CNN "Originals" having spent some 21 years at the network. Flip fell victim to the layoffs following the AOL/Time Warner merger in 2001.

# posted by ATN @ 12:02 AM

Sunday, September 26, 2004

 

Terri Schiavo’s Parents Talk to King in First Joint Interview


CNN Press Release: In an exclusive joint interview, the parents of Terri Schiavo, Mary and Robert Schindler will appear on Larry King Live on Monday, Sept. 27, from 9-10 p.m. (ET). This is the first time Mary Schindler will reveal her personal thoughts since the Florida Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the law enabling Gov. Jeb Bush to order their daughter’s feeding tube reinserted. They will take viewer calls.

# posted by ATN @ 1:29 PM
 

Where are they Now?


Former CNN Meteorologist Arch Kennedy has found a new home at WFTV in Orlando, Florida. An article Saturday in the Orlando Sentinel says he will handle the weekend weather on WFTV and sister station WRDQ-Channel 27. Kennedy comes to the station from ABC affiliate WSB in Atlanta.

# posted by ATN @ 1:28 PM

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