Saturday, May 05, 2007
CNN to Make Presidential Debate Footage Available Without Restrictions
Source: CNN Press Release As previously announced, CNN will team up with Hearst-Argyle’s WMUR-TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader to host two presidential debates to be held in America’s first primary state. The debate featuring Democratic candidates will be held on Sunday, June 3, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the Republican debate will be held on Tuesday, June 5, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the historical nature of presidential debates and the significance of these forums to the American public, CNN believes strongly that the debates should be accessible to the public. The candidates need to be held accountable for what they say throughout the election process.
The presidential debates are an integral part of our system of government, in which the American people have the opportunity to make informed choices about who will serve them. Therefore, CNN debate coverage will be made available without restrictions at the conclusion of each live debate.
We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process. This decision will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire debates in June.
The presidential debates are an integral part of our system of government, in which the American people have the opportunity to make informed choices about who will serve them. Therefore, CNN debate coverage will be made available without restrictions at the conclusion of each live debate.
We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process. This decision will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire debates in June.
# posted by ATN @ 10:05 PM 
Friday, May 04, 2007
The start of non-stop 12 hour days has arrived as the store I help manage gets ready for inventory, May 21. Will blog when my schedule allows...
# posted by ATN @ 10:40 PM
Money-Raising Link Yanked From CNN.com
Source: Associated Press CNN has dropped a link from its Web site after a protest from a Latino group.
The link was attached to the Lou Dobbs home page, and concerned an organization that's raising money to fight illegal immigration, a frequent Dobbs focus.
The National Institute for Latino Policy argued that Dobbs' on-air advocacy had expanded to include an endorsement of raising money for an organization.
CNN agreed to remove the link.
The link was attached to the Lou Dobbs home page, and concerned an organization that's raising money to fight illegal immigration, a frequent Dobbs focus.
The National Institute for Latino Policy argued that Dobbs' on-air advocacy had expanded to include an endorsement of raising money for an organization.
CNN agreed to remove the link.
# posted by ATN @ 10:38 PM
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Critic: LK Anniversary Special More of a Promo
New York Daily News' David Bianculli reviews Larry King - 50 Years of Pop Culture which air tonight at 9pm on CNN:"Larry King - 50 Years of Pop Culture" enlists both Anderson Cooper and Ryan Seacrest to interview King, separately, about his past jobs, some of his past wives, and to pinpoint his best and worst interviews. Here, at least, the information is interesting. Frank Sinatra gets the nod as the biggest, and Phyllis Gates, former wife of Rock Hudson, as the all-time worst.
We see enough of her snippy one-word replies to understand why, but that's one of the only times we're treated to more than a single sentence from King's guests. We see enough of H. Ross Perot, Marlon Brando, Heather Mills and a "Color Purple"-era Oprah Winfrey to get a sense of what made their conversations with King so distinctive.
For most of this special, though, it's a phrase from Sinatra here, a call-in comment from Muhammad Ali there.
What we get are clips of the various decades, but not of King. We get Randy Jackson of "American Idol" talking about Madonna and Michael Jackson, and Robert Wagner talking about himself.
We get everything but what is expected and required: a King-size helping of Larry King's interviews through the years.
I'm not a fan of King's "What, me research?" approach to his interviews, but there's no denying he listens, makes guests comfortable, lands big exclusives and has elicited lots of quotable, even unforgettable remarks through the decades.
"Larry King - 50 Years of Pop Culture" doesn't do that. Instead, it plays more like a two-hour promo, and a bad one at that, for a real compendium that, apparently, we'll never get to see. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 8:48 AM
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Highlights of The Weather Channel's First 25 Years
The Weather Channel turned 25 today. Scott Leith with Cox News Service has some interesting tidbits about The Weather Channel:•A hundred people worked for TWC when it launched. Twelve of them remain on today’s staff of about 800. Ray Ban started with an on-camera job. He’s now executive vice president of meteorology science and strategy. Ban still likes to visit the forecast center. “I geek out. Everybody rolls their eyes when they see me coming.” Two original on-camera meteorologists still appear on TWC: Mark Mancuso and Bill Keneely.
•The first anchor desk was built from plywood and two-by-fours. “To say it wasn’t high-tech would be an understatement,” Ban said. TWC is now preparing to build studio space next to its home in an office building near the Cobb Galleria. The network will get a new look as part of the change. Groundbreaking is today.
•Advertising was the sole source of revenue in the early days. Ads were slim, and the network struggled. “We began planning for a proper funeral,” Frank Batten Sr., retired CEO of Landmark, wrote in a book about the network. The turnaround started in 1984, when cable operators agreed to pay subscriber fees.
•TWC’s revenues and profits aren’t disclosed because Landmark is a private company.
•Programming has changed quite a bit over the years. What is now the familiar “Local on the 8s” debuted in the late 1990s. The network’s first prime-time series, “Storm Stories,” appeared in 2003.
•John Coleman was a pivotal figure in creating the channel but doesn’t get mentioned much today. He had a stormy relationship with financial backer Landmark Communications, as the network bled money in the beginning. Coleman had a chance to buy Landmark’s TWC stake in 1983 but couldn’t raise enough cash. Today he’s a TV weatherman in San Diego.
# posted by ATN @ 1:00 PM
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
FNC, Fair and Balanced....
...Not Tuesday evening. The President got his time to air his thoughts on the Iraq spending bill that he plans to veto. ALL news orgs carried it LIVE. At 6:27pm ET, the Democratic leaders gathered at the microphone to respond. CNN carried it LIVE, FNC just acknowledged it was happening with NO coverage at all. Fair and balanced...I don't think so. Let's hear the FOX apologists on this one!
# posted by ATN @ 6:32 PM
O'Brien on Reporting the News
CNN anchor/reporter Soledad O'brien was interviewed by Jonathan Lieberman of The Cornell Daily Sun. Below is a portion of that interview in which " O'brien answers a few questions on reporting the news:Sun: What do you think of the criticism often directed at American media outlets covering international news, especially the conflict in Iraq: that they don’t paint a complete picture of what’s actually going?
O’Brien: I think that overall that’s very true. The American media does not paint a complete picture of what is going on, and I think nowadays you see the American public demanding that complete picture. There are a lot of questions we ask: Why don’t we show coffins with flags draped on them? By “we” I mean American society, not CNN. Why does this make us queasy? If you watch news overseas, you certainly see what we would consider to be much more graphic pictures. It’s war; it’s real. People are happy to watch that in a movie, and yet not happy to watch that when it’s actually real life. Until the American people demand it, it’s really not going to change.
Sun: Where do you see journalism crossing the line between respecting an individual’s right to privacy and reporting the news?
O’Brien: I think everybody knows the line because it makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable. One of the things that guides me and always has is that I make sure to talk to people that want to talk to me. You do that and you automatically have a different tone. People want to sit down and tell you their story, and that makes a big difference. Whether it’s a tragedy of mass proportions or a tragedy within a family that might involve two or three or four people, it’s still hugely important to them. No matter what, the strategy is still the same: talking to me will allow us to tell the story better. Often, nine times out of ten, people say, “yes I want to tell the story.” Certainly in Hurricane Katrina we saw this.
Read the entire article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 10:19 AM
TWC to Break Ground on New HD Studio on Anniversary
Source: Multichannel News In one of the largest capital projects in its history, The Weather Channel expects to spend some $50 million to develop and launch an HD version of its network.The project includes building a new, 1,100-square-foot studio at its Atlanta headquarters that will be outfitted with HD cameras and other equipment, as well as converting “tens of thousands” of on-screen graphics for HD, TWC president Debora Wilson said.
“We’re making major infrastructure investments,” Wilson said. “We consider this a cost of doing business.” The HD channel, she added, will “give us a new way to engage our viewers. Weather is so visual.”
The network is aiming to have all of its programming in HD by mid-2008. At that point, the standard-definition feed of the channel will be a down converted version of the HD one.
TWC will break ground on the HD studio May 2, which, not coincidentally, is when the network will mark its 25th anniversary. Wilson said the facility -- adjacent to the existing studio building -- is expected to be finished by January. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 10:13 AM
TWC Turns 25
Source: Multichannel News The Weather Channel turns 25 Wednesday, May 2, and it will celebrate with two weeks of special programming beginning Saturday.Former Landmark Communications chairman Frank Batten Sr. launched the network from the National Show in Las Vegas May 2, 1982.
Anniversary fare will include reflections by off-camera meteorologists on how forecasting and technology have evolved over the past 25 years, "bloopers" and original TWC video of milestones such as the first minute on the air and the first on-air live shot during Hurricane Gilbert in Texas in 1988.
The network also launched a dedicated anniversary site providing users with video content of critical weather events throughout the network's history, vintage footage, bloopers and classic ad campaigns.
# posted by ATN @ 10:08 AM
Monday, April 30, 2007
'Grrrl Power' on the Pentagon Beat
From US News' Washington Whispers :
History is being made inside the Pentagon press room, and the trailblazers in skirts and lipstick say it's a change for the better. For the first time ever, about a third of the historically male Pentagon press corps is female. The latest addition, Fox News Channel's Jennifer Griffin, brings the number of regular female reporters to nine (including our very own Anna Mulrine). "It's better than ever," says CNN's Barbara Starr. "The more the merrier," adds AP's Robert Burns.
There have been few hurdles. "I've never ever experienced any sexism from the military," says ABC's Martha Raddatz, a war correspondent who also covers the White House. "I don't feel the least bit constrained," adds Starr. "I'll stop short of following [male military brass] into the men's room, but I'll wait for them outside."
But there is a difference in coverage. "Women," says Griffin, a mother of two, "have a certain layer of empathy and emotional intelligence that they bring to a beat like this." Adds Starr, who devotes coverage to injured soldiers: "You must show the human dimension."
Still, it's no girls club. "It's not some sit around and sew in the afternoon society," says Raddatz. And yet, they do look out for each other. Consider Starr's advice for newbie Griffin: Wear sneakers or flats. "Your ultimate weapon in this building is comfortable shoes."
History is being made inside the Pentagon press room, and the trailblazers in skirts and lipstick say it's a change for the better. For the first time ever, about a third of the historically male Pentagon press corps is female. The latest addition, Fox News Channel's Jennifer Griffin, brings the number of regular female reporters to nine (including our very own Anna Mulrine). "It's better than ever," says CNN's Barbara Starr. "The more the merrier," adds AP's Robert Burns.There have been few hurdles. "I've never ever experienced any sexism from the military," says ABC's Martha Raddatz, a war correspondent who also covers the White House. "I don't feel the least bit constrained," adds Starr. "I'll stop short of following [male military brass] into the men's room, but I'll wait for them outside."
But there is a difference in coverage. "Women," says Griffin, a mother of two, "have a certain layer of empathy and emotional intelligence that they bring to a beat like this." Adds Starr, who devotes coverage to injured soldiers: "You must show the human dimension."
Still, it's no girls club. "It's not some sit around and sew in the afternoon society," says Raddatz. And yet, they do look out for each other. Consider Starr's advice for newbie Griffin: Wear sneakers or flats. "Your ultimate weapon in this building is comfortable shoes."
# posted by ATN @ 10:42 PM
Franken Sets Sights on Another Stage
From US News' Washington Whispers: We hear that correspondent Bob Franken wasn't happy when cnn didn't extend his contract. And now insiders aren't happy with his goodbye note. It takes a shot at cable star Wolf Blitzer and ends with a promise to take his show to "another stage." What happened? The star reporter wanted to cover the presidential race, but cnn wanted him to be a utility player. And insiders say he thinks he has that job lined up at another network.# posted by ATN @ 8:46 AM
