James Rainey

LAT Profiles Nikki Finke|New York Profile Subject Dash Snow Dies|Thomson Reuters Looks To Buy Breakingviews.com|Next New Networks Trims Staff|Shirky Talks Jounalism Subsidies - Posted July 15, 2009
Embedded video from CNN Video FishbowlLA: The Los Angeles Times' James Rainey wrote an even-handed profile about Nikki Finke -- after the Internet journo scared the crap out of him. Unbeige: New York artist Dash Snow died Monday from a drug overdose. He gained notoriety in the New York art scene thanks to... [FishBowlNY]

James Rainey is Terrified of Nikki Finke - Posted July 15, 2009
LAT's James Rainey who's been penning media hit pieces sans actually interviewing the subjects (see Jill Stewart and Jillian Reynolds) decided to write about Nikki Finke. Did he interview her? Quote her? Fawn over her? Oh you betcha! "Why?" we wondered. Then we read his explanation in his column: Finke's words came faster... [FishBowlLA]

James Rainey Vs. Jillian Reynolds - Posted July 10, 2009
James Rainey has decided that since Channel 11 laid off a quarter of their news staff, the news bunny/topical exhibitionist Jillian Reynolds should be skewered. She should be ripped on because she's not one of the "good young people, with energy and dreams" who lost their jobs. She's a vacuous yammer-o-matic... [FishBowlLA]

Rainey vs Stewart vs Cooper vs Lacey - Posted June 25, 2009
The slugfest continues. As we mentioned yesterday, VVM Executive Editor Mike Lacey responded via a blog post to the recent LA Times story critical of the LA Weekly and its news editor Jill Stewart. Lacey ranted against the author of the story, James Rainey, and his only named source, Marc Cooper.... [FishBowlLA]

James Rainey vs Jill Stewart Continues - Posted June 24, 2009
Michael Lacy, executive editor of Village Voice Media goes after Marc Cooper and James Rainey for their attacks on Jill Stewart and LA Weekly. When we dispensed with Cooper's column, few took note, e-mails did not rain down upon us, the Columbia Journalism Review did not question our judgment. Except for Cooper's... [FishBowlLA]

Keller: Times Staffers Lax In Ethics Compliance - Posted May 21, 2009
Ever since New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (left) publicly returned a $75,000 speakers' fee earlier this month, Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey has been hounding the NYT about their ethics guidelines pertaining to speaking fees. In today's column, Rainey published a memo sent to NYT staffers by executive editor Bill... [FishBowlNY]

Keller: Times Staffers Lax In Ethics Compliance - Posted May 21, 2009
Ever since New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (left) publicly returned a $75,000 speakers' fee earlier this month, Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey has been hounding the NYT about their ethics guidelines pertaining to speaking fees. In today's column, Rainey published a memo sent to NYT staffers by executive editor Bill... [FishBowlNY]

LAT FOB: Media: Where Do We Go From Here? Panel - Posted April 27, 2009
The "Media: Where Do We Go From Here?" panel was moderated by LAT media scribe James Rainey. The panelists were Voice of San Diego's Andrew Donohue, Marc Cooper, TheWrap's Sharon Waxman and Arianna Huffington. Waxman strangely mentioned Nikki Finke's name five times during the panel. The first time there was laughter from... [FishBowlLA]

Morning Reading List 02.23.09 - Posted February 23, 2009
Good Morning FishbowlDC! Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line or let us know in the tips box below. Its day 35 covering the Obama administration and week 4 for us. FBDC wishes a Happy Birthday... [FishBowlDC]

LAT Finally Discovers Spot.us Calls in 'New' in A Headline and Wonders Why Print Media is Failing - Posted February 9, 2009
In James Rainey's column he shines a light on this new thing it's called a different model for journalism. It's Spot.us where readers pay for stories that are pitched on the site. Really interesting idea. That's why FBLA interviewed it's founder David Cohn back in November. Rainey writes: God and Google know the... [FishBowlLA]

Morning Reading List, 01.27.09 - Posted January 27, 2009
Good morning Washington. Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line or let us know in the tips box below. We've got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump...... [FishBowlDC]

Inauguration Notes: The Week After - Posted January 26, 2009
• The Los Angeles Times' James Rainey writes about some "bad media habits" displayed during the recent Inauguration coverage — "the tendency to follow the pack, to embrace critiques if they are buttressed by a politician's allies and, especially, to get swept up in the mood of the moment." Also a... [TVNewser]

Debate Reaction: Debating Ifill - Posted October 3, 2008
After a busy week, including a broken ankle and something the cablers may have touched on about a book, Gwen Ifill moderated last night's vice presidential debate. How'd it go? Some reaction: • The Los Angeles Times' James Rainey labels Ifill a "true journalist" in his story's headline. "Gwen Ifill of PBS... [TVNewser]

The Debate Round Up: Debating the Debate - Posted October 3, 2008
VP Debates are like NASCAR races. Everyone watches to see the car crashes. If there aren't any...well then it was just a night of seeing cars drive around in circles. LAT James Rainey thinks Gwen Ifill is the one that won. LAT Peter Wallsten used the word 'grizzled' for Joe Biden. The dude... [FishBowlLA]

The Politics of Bailing Out - Posted September 26, 2008
This is a video of our Senator Barbra Boxer busting on John McCain's theatrics. Is the credit crisis too close to home? The Columbia Journalism Review asks if Andrea Mitchell should be covering anything about the financial crisis. Hm? That would be like Maria Shriver covering the recall. Right? Or the budget... [FishBowlLA]

LAT In 90 Seconds - Posted September 26, 2008
Keys to the Magic Kingdom: Dawn C. Chmielewski showcases the internships you wish you had in a story today. But our favorite part of this piece, just might be the headline. It looks like something out of the Hogwarts Daily Herald: 'Sorcerers' apprentices concoct new adventures.' Katie and Sarah: James Rainey points... [FishBowlLA]

"Friendliest Interview I've Seen Since Keith Olbermann Sat Down With Obama" - Posted September 22, 2008
During Howard Kurtz' weekly online Q&A on Washingtonpost.com this morning, Kurtz was asked about last week's highly rated Sean Hannity interview with Gov. Sarah Palin (an issue also discussed during yesterday's Reliable Sources). "It was incredibly soft. The friendliest interview I've seen since Keith Olbermann sat down with Obama," wrote Kurtz. He was... [TVNewser]

"Friendliest Interview I've Seen Since Keith Olbermann Sat Down With Obama" - Posted September 22, 2008
During Howard Kurtz' weekly online Q&A on Washingtonpost.com this morning, Kurtz was asked about last week's highly rated Sean Hannity interview with Gov. Sarah Palin (an issue also discussed during yesterday's Reliable Sources). "It was incredibly soft. The friendliest interview I've seen since Keith Olbermann sat down with Obama," wrote Kurtz. He was... [TVNewser]

LAT In 90 Seconds - Posted September 12, 2008
Gibson on Palin, Finnegan on Gibson: Charlie Gibson was tough on Sarah Palin in the first of their two ABC interviews, but we think Michael Finnegan was even tougher on Gibson: "Gibson, however, mischaracterized her as simply asserting that the nation's leaders were sending troops to Iraq on a task from... [FishBowlLA]

The Huffington Post Hype, Overblown? - Posted August 27, 2008
LAT's James Rainey asks if The Huffington Post's hype will ever live up to its content. In a word: no.... [FishBowlLA]

The Huffington Post Hype, Overblown? - Posted August 27, 2008
LAT's James Rainey asks if The Huffington Post's hype will ever live up to its content. In a word: no.... [FishBowlLA]

LAT In 90 Seconds - Posted July 28, 2008
Funny Pages: A Kansas legislative hopeful (and political novice) raised $95,162.76 by launching an online comic strip -- at www.seantevis.com/3000. Liberal Bias? According to James Rainey: "The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC... [FishBowlLA]

LAT In 90 Seconds - Posted July 28, 2008
Funny Pages: A Kansas legislative hopeful (and political novice) raised $95,162.76 by launching an online comic strip -- at www.seantevis.com/3000. Liberal Bias? According to James Rainey: "The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC... [FishBowlLA]

Is Obama Playing Media Favorites? - Posted July 21, 2008
A line slipped in near the end of Mike Allen's Politico article about the media coverage of Barack Obama's overseas trip, is making some waves. Per Allen: "Among those for whom there was no room was Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent of The New Yorker. The campaign, which was furious... [FishBowlNY]

LAT In 90 Seconds - Posted June 13, 2008
Coolest Story of the Day: In Myanmar, an unnamed LAT reporter is working in secret to cover the devastation the government is trying to hide in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Leave the debate over whether reporters should go undercover to your eggheaded J-school profs. This is great reading. Google the Term... [FishBowlLA]

Jim Rainey Upbraids Political Reporters, Invents A Word - Posted June 3, 2008
LAT reporter James Rainey coins the term "discordulum," an invented region of the brain of any presidential campaign reporter which is devoted to recognizing conflict. "From this hyper-developed brain center come stories about the certain demise of some politicians (John McCain), the inevitable success of others (Hillary Rodham Clinton) and the extreme... [FishBowlLA]

LAT in 90 Seconds - Posted May 30, 2008
One Nation, Under YouTube: James Rainey does a spot analysis of how John McCain is portrayed on YouTube. The results are unflattering. And totally fun to watch. Harvey Korman, 81: Harvey Kormin, the "luminous second banana" has died. From the obit: "Korman made more than 30 films, including four comedies directed... [FishBowlLA]

LAT In 90 Seconds -- Tupac Edition - Posted March 27, 2008
Reality Check: The L.A. Times is reeling from the embarrassing revelation yesterday that a story linking Sean "Diddy" Combs to the murder of Tupac Shakur was, in a word, bullshit. In a story today by James Rainey (man, does that guy get the bum assignments), the paper does a mea culpa,... [FishBowlLA]

LAT in 90 Seconds - Posted April 16, 2007
Stealing Its Own Thunder: So much for understanding the media. CBS Corp. announced its "rapid evolution from an old-media titan into a powerful Internet player" with a "Rolling Thunder," a new online network that will partner with Microsoft, Comcast and Yahoo. They thought the news was all anyone would talk about.... [FishBowlLA]

LAT in 90 Seconds - Posted March 23, 2007
Andres Martinez Quits: We get the distinct feeling that James Rainey enjoyed writing this one. Someone's Been Sitting In "Brando" Chairs: And they're about to be sued. Britney Spears Battles The Press: This time, without an umbrella.... [FishBowlLA]

LAT in 90 Seconds - Posted January 19, 2007
Anthony Hopkins Directs an Indie Film: And it's weird. (Not exactly a man-bites-dog story, we know. But kinda cool.) A 65-Year-Old Rape Case Makes For Compelling Studio News: David Stenn's docu, The Rape of Girl 27, tells the 1937 story of forgotten 20-year-old dancer and film extra Patricia Douglas who'd been raped... [FishBowlLA]