Ben Smith: TV: Expertise, on cable

April 13, 2011
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Expertise, on cable

An amused reader sends over this shot under the heading, "national security experts."

Posted by Ben Smith 01:32 PM
March 31, 2011
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Activists want Libya TV turned off

One of the themes to emerge from the Arab Spring is the extent to which communications are a weapon. This isn't new. Radio was a key tool in the Rwandan genocide, and coup plotters all over focus on seizing broadcasting infrastructure. Some of the bloodiest clashes in the fall of the Soviet Union came between protesters and Soviet security forces at the feet giant TV antennae in the Baltics.

There's a push today to switch off Qadhafi's three state-run channels in Libya, which lacks satellites of its own and instead broadcasts through four international satellite providers.

Says the petition, led by Johns Hopkins' Daniel Serwer and others:

Despite these measures by the international community Nilesat and other corporations continue to provide a platform for the Gaddafi's regime to spread its terror propaganda to the Libyans citizens and people around the world. Furthermore, there have been reports from Libya that coded messages have been disseminated to Gaddafi’s mercenaries and security forces via Al-Jamahirya satellite TV channel. Please tell these corporate service providers to stop broadcasting all of the Gaddafi regime’s satellite channels immediately. Tell them to stand with the international community and do their part to protect the Libyan people.

Posted by Ben Smith 09:17 AM
March 30, 2011
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A fake quote takes wing

Piers Morgan asked Susan Rice last night about that bogus Samantha Power quote.

She, in the great tradition of cable news, didn't bother correcting him.

The quote also apparently got some play on Fox.

CORRECTION: The interview appears online, but didn't air; it was also recorded before the quote had been questioned.

Posted by Ben Smith 09:08 AM
March 22, 2011
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Cable news wars don't stop at water's edge

 

 Natasha Lennard summarizes:

Senior CNN reporter, Nic Robertson, called FOX News’s suggestion that he and a number of other reporters were effectively used as human shields by Muammar Qaddafi “outrageous”.

Speaking to Wolf Blitzer on Monday, Robertson emphatically dismissed a FOX News report that claimed journalists had been invited on a tour of the Libyan leader’s compound to ward of planned British missile strikes.

FOX News’s defense correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, reported Monday that FOX News had kept its correspondent in the region, Steve Harrigan, away from the tour because the network was "concerned they could be used as human shields." But Robertson pointed out that a “non-editorial”, “non-technical” member of the FOX News team had, in fact, been on the tour, attended by journalists from CNN, Reuters, the AP and other outlets.

“When you come to somewhere like Libya, you expect lies and deceit from the dictatorship here. You don't expect it from the other journalists," said an irate Robertson, noting that he “very rarely” sees the FOX News team out on trips in the region...

Speaking to Greta Van Susteren on Monday night, FOX News's Griffin admitted that a FOX News "security guard" had indeed been on the tour, but did not retract the premise that so riled Robertson: the "human shield" claim.

Posted by Ben Smith 12:43 PM
January 31, 2011
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Meaningless SOTU reax

A useful column by James Rainey on the meaningless both of CNN's post-SOTU snap poll -- very heavily Democratic -- and of Frank Luntz's Fox "focus group," which leaned Republican even before it had been seeded with Sean Hannity's view.

Posted by Ben Smith 01:12 PM
January 25, 2011
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Penn vs. Maddow

Hard not to side with Mark Penn on this one:

A spokesman for the p.r. firm run by Mark Penn, Burson Marsteller, is calling Rachel Maddow’s description of them tonight inaccurate and misleading.

Maddow singled out Penn’s company for having represented the people behind the “1976 Argentian military junta” and “that super creepy Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.”

“They had an American p.r. firm, working for them,” Maddow said.

“Burson Marsteller, remember them? The p.r. firm now run by Hillary Clinton’s pollster from 2008, Mark Penn, who continues to pop up as a talking head. Burson Marsteller represented those guys. They also represented Indonesia when they were putting down the uprising in East Timor. Three days after 9/11, Saudi Arabia hired Burson Marsteller, I wonder why?”

A spokesman for the Burson Marsteller, said Maddow’s piece is misleading, and unfairly tries to tie the company’s current leader to former clients that predated him. Penn joined Burson Marsteller in 2005, years after the junta, Indonesia and Saudia Arabian clients contacted the firm. The people cited by Maddow are no longer clients of Burson Marsteller, according to the spokesman.

Posted by Ben Smith 10:26 AM
January 24, 2011
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Olbermann and Rendell, MSNBC and Comcast

Comcast last week went out of its way to stress that it has no operational control over MSNBC, and had nothing to do with Keith Olbermann's firings.

That may be so, but my colleague David Catanese's report that former Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell is set to sign on as an MSNBC contributor appears a bit awkward in that light. 

No politician is closer to the Philadelphia-based Comcast, which contributed heavily to his political career over the years. And Rendell's former chief of staff, David Cohen, is now the executive vice president at Comcast.

And before joining Comcast, Cohen was managing partner at the law firm of Ballard Spahr -- the firm Rendell is now re-joining.

Quite a coincidence, if nothing else.

Emails the source who pointed this out, "Comcast says they don’t want fingerprints on the Olbermann corpse; if so the Rendell move is awfully clunky."

Posted by Ben Smith 04:20 PM
December 17, 2010
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Today in blurred lines

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn suggested in an item today that he and Fox may negotiate a deal that requires debate participants to also play in the straw poll, a state GOP fundraiser:

It is not clear yet whether straw poll participation would be required to take part in the debate, set for C.Y. Stevens Auditorium at Iowa State. “Those decisions are going to be jointly made by the party and Fox News,” Strawn said.

CNN, meanwhile, is partnering with the consultant-driven Tea Party Express, a kind of party in its own right, to stage a "Tea Party Debate". The surprising release:

CNN and Tea Party Express will co-host a primary debate among the 2012 Republican presidential candidates during Labor Day week 2011. The candidates will spar in Tampa, Fla., the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention. The debate will focus on wide-ranging topics with a specific emphasis on the issues that matter most to Tea Party Express: the economy and government spending. More details about the debate will follow.

"Over the past two years, the American people have engaged in the political process like no other time in history. The Tea Party movement continues to grow and will play an even greater role in the 2012 elections," said Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express. "The debate will give presidential candidates an opportunity to focus on the issues near and dear to the Tea Party and our supporters across the country."

"The Tea Party Express is a fascinating, diverse, grass-roots force that already has drastically changed the country's political landscape," said Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming. "Undecided voters turn to CNN to educate themselves during election cycles, so it is a natural fit for CNN to provide a platform for the diverse perspectives within the Republican Party, including those of the Tea Party movement."

Posted by Ben Smith 12:12 PM
December 15, 2010
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CNN, punchy

CNN's coverage of Fox has been getting a bit punchier lately, though it's still well short of Fox's coverage of its rivals.

Today's Political Ticker dispatch leads:

Washington (CNN) — One day after CNN announced it is co-producing the first 2012 Republican Presidential Primary debate in New Hampshire, Fox News followed a similar plan.

Posted by Ben Smith 03:23 PM
December 09, 2010
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Fascinating stuff, as always

Cable television, at its funniest, is a series of utter and outrageous non sequiturs, delivered to unfazed, possibly inattentive anchors.

And never more so than in the clip above from MSNBC, during which NBC's veteran space correspondent Jay Barbree, who has covered every manned mission to space since the first one in 1961, lays plays for the end of the world.

"One day, Earth will not exist anymore. And if the human race is to survive, the human race is going to have to go onto other planets that they can live on," he says, recommending "one-way" tickets to Mars.

"Fascinating stuff, as always," says the host, Chris Jansing. "Jay Barbree, good to see you."

Moving right along.

Posted by Ben Smith 11:51 AM
November 17, 2010
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Ailes on Obama

The Fox chief defends his network's coverage of President Obama to Howard Kurtz:

But Roger Ailes says his network is just reflecting reality when it comes to the White House.

"The president has not been very successful,” the Fox News chairman says in a lengthy interview. “He just got kicked from Mumbai to South Korea, and he came home and attacked Republicans for it. He had to be told by the French and the Germans that his socialism was too far left for them to deal with.”

Posted by Byron Tau 09:26 AM
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November 05, 2010
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Kristol: Save Olbermann!

This is too easy:

MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann is ludicrous.

First, he donated money to candidates he liked. He didn’t take money, or favors, in a way that influenced his reporting.

Second, he’s not a reporter. It’s an opinion show. If Olbermann wants to put his money where his mouth is, more power to him.

Third, GE, the corporate parent of MSNBC, gives money to political organizations. GE executives and, I’m sure, NBC executives give money. Why can’t Olbermann?

Perhaps Olbermann violated NBC News “policy and standards.” But NBC doesn’t have real news standards for MSNBC — otherwise the channel wouldn’t exist. It’s a little strange to get all high and mighty now.

Between the Olbermann suspension and Nancy Pelosi seeking another term, it's the best day Republicans have had since ... Tuesday.

Posted by Ben Smith 02:56 PM
November 05, 2010
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What, Keith Olbermann supports Democrats?

Simmi Aujla's scoop today that Keith Olbermann maxed out to two Arizona House candidates and to Jack Conway is the latest in MSNBC's seemingly inevitable move toward being Fox's liberal mirror, if with less clarity and more angst about it: Olbermann's contribution was less than 1% of what News Corp. gave the GOP this cycle, and he issued neither a defense nor an apology when asked about it:

Olbermann, who acknowledged the contributions in a statement to POLITICO, made the maximum legal donations of $2,400 apiece to Conway and to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. He donated to the Arizona pair on Oct. 28 – the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann’s “Countdown” show. Grijalva, a prominent liberal who was only declared a winner in his race Thursday night, was in a tight contest against tea party-backed candidate Ruth McClung when he appeared on Countdown – one of several appearances he made on the show.
NBC has a rule against employees contributing to political campaigns, and a wide range of news organizations prohibit political contributions – considering it a breach of journalistic independence to contribute to the candidates they cover.

Olbermann, who has become of the most prominent liberal commentators on cable television, has been a critic of the political donations made by Fox News’ parent company, News Corp., which contributed $1 million each to a pair of organizations trying to defeat Democratic candidates.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin also tweaked rival network Fox over the contributions. “Show me an example of us fund-raising,” Griffin told The New York Times last month.

POLITICO discovered the Olbermann donation to Grijalva in a Federal Election Commission filing, and when MSNBC was asked for a comment, it forwarded a statement from Olbermann:

“One week ago, on the night of Thursday October 28 2010, after a discussion with a friend about the state of politics in Arizona, I donated $2,400 each to the re-election campaigns of Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords,” Olbermann said. “I also donated the same amount to the campaign of Democratic Senatorial candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky.”

In his statement, Olbermann said he wasn’t using his influence to solicit any donations for the candidates.

“I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns nor to any others in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaign at any level,” Olbermann said.

And as with Fox, of course, cash contributions are trivial compared to the cable megaphone, though nobody equals Fox's power in that respect.

Posted by Ben Smith 08:34 AM
October 18, 2010
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The Midterm stimulus

Per Keach Hagey, the big flows of campaign cash are having a marked impact on the TV ad industry:

Zenith says an influx of political ad spending and increases in spending by car, financial service and retail companies are helping improve the U.S. ad market more quickly than many had anticipated. Political ad spending on local television is 61% higher than in 2008, Zenith says.

 

Posted by Ben Smith 11:48 AM
October 01, 2010
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A CNN implosion

CNN's Rick Sanchez, seething with class and ethnic resentment, got himself in what seems to me pretty serious trouble today in a radio interview:

I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah.

Sanchez was speaking to the comedian Pete Dominick on a satellite radio show. 

The CNN host has been a regular target of Stewart's mockery, and he suggested that it was because Stewart and others harbor race and class bigotry against Sanchez.

"If I did just sit there and read the teleprompter every day, Jon Stewart would never say a word about me. He’d say I’m a good Hispanic anchor, 'Way to go, you’ve done a good job, stay right there,'" said Sanchez. "I am a complex human being, I’m not some moron."

CORRECTION: Sanchez joked about being taken for Puerto Rican, but is of Cuban descent.

Posted by Ben Smith 10:29 AM
September 29, 2010
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Minute 16 for O'Keefe

James O'Keefe's latest prank goes lamely awry, producing a painfully deadpan CNN report on his attempt to "punk" reporter Abbie Boudreau.

Instead, CNN gets a planning document:

Listed under "equipment needed," is "hidden cams on the boat," and a "tripod and overt recorder near the bed, an obvious sex tape machine."

Among the props listed were a "condom jar, dildos, posters and paintings of naked women, fuzzy handcuffs" and a blindfold.

According to the document, O'Keefe was to record a video of the following script before Boudreau arrived: "My name is James. I work in video activism and journalism. I've been approached by CNN for an interview where I know what their angle is: they want to portray me and my friends as crazies, as non-journalists, as unprofessional and likely as homophobes, racists or bigots of some sort....

"Instead, I've decided to have a little fun. Instead of giving her a serious interview, I'm going to punk CNN. Abbie has been trying to seduce me to use me, in order to spin a lie about me. So, I'm going to seduce her, on camera, to use her for a video. This bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who comes on at five will get a taste of her own medicine, she'll get seduced on camera..."

Posted by Ben Smith 10:37 AM
September 20, 2010
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Stewart vs. Beck

From Keach's and my story tonight:

 

“It’s just like everything they do – it’s really for the joke,” said one person familiar with the planning of the October 30 event who asked – in the spirit of the “Daily Show” – to be described as a “senior administration official.”

“Glenn Beck makes a big deal out of how, ‘Whatever you believe, all these people really passionate about the issues, and look at this amazing turnout.’ We’re going to show you how ridiculous Glenn Beck is because we’re going to put two comics up there and they’re going to have more people.”

Beck's response to the event:

 

"8/28 was a historic event for a lot of Americans,” Beck said in a statement Monday. “I hope that Ed Schultz, the AFL-CIO, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and whoever else wants to plan a march in D.C. have the same great success that we had with Restoring Honor."

Posted by Ben Smith 06:37 PM
September 20, 2010
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Al D'Amato, hero of the left

 

Former Republican Senator Al D'Amato goes off on an anti-Post Office campaigner on Fox Business, and Roger Ebert approves.

"You are a nasty racist," D'Amato explodes around 5:15. Worth the click.

Posted by Ben Smith 03:16 PM
August 30, 2010
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Coburn snipes at Newt

The jab at his personal life is, Andy Barr notes, a bit of a reality check on the Newtmentum, as far as 2012 is concerned.

Posted by Ben Smith 01:17 PM
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August 11, 2010
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Steele vs. the vampires

This is, I think, the coolest follow I've ever gotten to a news article: The HBO vampire show True Blood features a cable news debate over its central topic, in which a vampire spokeswoman denounced "fearmongering."

"We have all seen that leaked fundraising presentation, which outlines a blatant strategy that's designed to campitalize on fear and misinformation," she says.

This interpretation, incidentally, fully vindicates Michael Steele in his campaign against deviant vampiric, Democratic behavior.

Posted by Ben Smith 08:40 PM
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