Nikki Finke - FishbowlDC

Nikki Finke: ‘You’re an Asshole’

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:30:29 +0000

On Saturday morning at 6:55 a.m. (3:55 a.m. Pacific Time) I awoke to the above message from Nikki Finke, founder of Deadline Hollywood. Apparently she didn’t enjoy our correction on Friday, which she asked for in an ultra polite note that she sent at 5: 27 a.m. Friday morning.

She wrote succinctly, “You’re an asshole.”

Bad feelings arose when we described her as a “gossip guru” on account of her years of entertainment reporting. She apparently didn’t like that, even though for us, as readers know, it’s high praise.

Memo to Finke: Good morning to you too!

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Nikki Finke is NOT a ‘Gossip Guru’

Betsy Rothstein — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:28:40 +0000

FishbowlDC committed a sin of biblical proportions on Thursday, which was that we referred to Nikki Finke, founder of Deadline Hollywood, as a “gossip guru.” Certainly we didn’t mean it as a slight but as a testament to her mastery of entertainment reporting.

Still, we received this note from her at 5: 27 a.m. this morning which would be 2:27 a.m. Pacific Time. It’s curious that a variety of respected outlets such as LAT, the AP and Newsweek have all apparently committed the same wretched sin and “error” we did. Also, please note the sentence in which she points out our “error.” It reads: “I really don’t know how media like MB can be so incredible [sic] sloppy and erroneous.”

Jing, jing-a-ling, jing-a-ling, jing-a-ling, what fun to hear the sleigh bells jingle! Happy holidays Nikki! Don’t forget to give us a ring when and if you visit Washington.

See her letter… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Nikki Finke to Newsweek: ‘I Didn’t Want Washington’

Betsy Rothstein — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:30:11 +0000

Back in the early 80s gossip guru Nikki Finke, Editor-in-Chief and founder of Deadline Hollywood, had choice words for Newsweek about Washington, D.C. “I’d specifically told the Newsweek powers-that-be that I didn’t want Washington,” she writes. “So of course they put me in D.C.”

Our siblings at FishbowlLA have a racy writeup about her antics reported on newsweekmemories.org. They include her breaking up with her married lover, flying on Air Force One and a photographer taking nude shots of her in a bathroom. Fun times?

Finke’s Washington past is plentiful. She worked for Rep. Ed Koch (D-N.Y.) before going to work for the AP in Baltimore. She has also written for WaPo.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

‘Casino Jack’ Finds Distributor

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 06:12:36 +0000

We’re hearing that “Casino Jack”, the film starring Kevin Spacy as convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has found a distributor in Metropolitan, Inc. The news is being reported by the Web site Deadline Hollywood run by Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke. The film, produced by Vitetsaki and directed by George Hickenlooper, is scheduled to release in the fall.

Certain journos around town have seen an early screening of the film. So far the reaction is two thumbs up.

Read the story here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Morning Reading List, 03.28.08

Patrick — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:15:31 +0000

Good morning Washington.

Quickly navigate Morning Reading List:

You think it was not out of bounds to ask Chelsea the Monica Lewinsky question.

Today’s “Angry Journalist” rant of the day: “I find it insulting that people with god given talents and produce revenue increasing abilities working in this newspaper biz today, have their positions cut out from under them in efforts to streamline and save costs. All my contacts will no longer work with this great publication. Most likely they’ll follow me to wherever else is smart and lucky enough to have me!”

REVOLVING DOOR

Robert Schlesinger is starting next month at US News & World Report, creating and running their new online opinion section.

Top of post

NEWSPAPERS

Reuters reports, “Sam Zell in his latest memo tells Tribune employees — the ones who haven’t been spiked — that he’s happy to see them so hard at work coming up with new ideas to help the publisher and broadcaster thrive. Employees have been so helpful, in fact, that Tribune has created an online ‘IdeaBank’ for submissions, rather than the talktoSam AT tribune.com address that he’s been using. As he explains below, this will let other people in the company see them.”

The Chicago Tribune reports, “Congrats to Mike Wilbon and his wife, Sheryl,on the birth of their first child. Matthew Raymond Wilbon arrived Wednesday, weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces and stretching to 22 inches long.”

Mark Potts reports, “The boys (and girls) on the bus in the 2008 Presidential campaign could fit into a much smaller vehicle, according to The New York Times: Far fewer news organizations are staffing the campaign this year, largely because of cutbacks in newsroom budgets.”

AJR reports, “A veteran editor says farewell to the world of dailies and finds happiness running a weekly in the home of baseball’s Hall of Fame.”

E&P reports, “Wall Street calls Microsoft’s generously priced but unwelcome bid for Yahoo Inc. a ‘bear hug’ — but will it be newspapers who get squeezed? Some of the newspaper industry’s new-media gurus think so. No matter who wins, they say, the fight will distract Yahoo at a crucial time in the rollout of its next-generation online ad tools for the 600-plus papers in the newspaper consortium.”

Richard Johnson, editor of New York Post’s Page Six column, calls other celebrity blogs “parasites.”

Washington City Paper’s City Desk asks, “WaTi: Better Reporting, Please”

Business Wire reports, “SABEW Announces Winners in its 13th Annual Best in Business Journalism Contest”

Top of post

A NBC release announced, “‘Hardball with Chris Matthews’ kicks off
its 2008 college circuit as the ‘Hardball College Tour’ hosts Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama live at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Wednesday, April 2, 5-6 p.m. ET, and will re-air at 7 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET. Matthews will interview Sen. Obama on key issues of the 2008 presidential election, including the economy and the Iraq war, with West Chester students also having the opportunity to question the candidate.”

NBC also announced, “‘The Chris Matthews Show’ was the number-two
rated Sunday morning public affairs show topping ABC’s ‘This Week,’ CBS’s ‘Face the Nation,’ and ‘FOX News Sunday’ in households nationally for the week ending March 23, 2008.” NBC tells us that the show had a 3.7 HH in D.C — easily beating FOX, This Week, and Face the Nation.

An ABC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 17, 2008, ABC News’ ‘Nightline’ outperformed CBS’ ‘Letterman’ among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.”

A NBC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research data, for the week ending Sunday, March 23, “Meet the Press” was top-rated, attracting 4.575 million total viewers”

TVNewser reports, “Following yesterday’s announcement of a reorganization of the operations and finance areas of ABC News, TVNewser has learned as many as 21 jobs have been eliminated. However, insiders tell us a number of new jobs have already been posted, and that those who were cut are being encouraged to apply for the added positions. In the end, the insider figures around 11 jobs will be lost.”

TVNewser is tracking “Presidential Candidates’ Time on the Tube”

Nikki Finke asks, “Has NBC Uni’s Jeff Zucker Lost His Mind?”

TVNewser reports, “‘Pimped Out’ Makes a Second Appearance on MSNBC”

Top of post

ONLINE MEDIA

The Washington Business Journal reports, “Former AOL directors Laurence Hooper and Dan Goodman launched a new venture on Facebook Wednesday. Leesburg-based Loladex is a local search engine that uses recommendations and ratings from online social networking platforms to return more specific results.”

Washington City Paper’s Mike DeBonis marks two years of City Desk.

Forbes.com reports, “Competition in the wire service world has just been slashed. Shareholders of The Thomson Corporation and Reuters Group have agreed to the acquisition of the latter.”

The Australian reports, “Les Hinton, the new chief executive of Dow Jones & Co, which owns The Wall Street Journal, expects strong growth for the business in the Asia-Pacific region while yesterday saying he was increasingly unlikely to make the group’s entire wsj.com website free.”

From The Washington Post’s Peep Chat on Monday, a reader named “Pinky” asks: “Which color Peep tastes the best? I say the pink. They are also the prettiest.” And Dan Zak responds: Hi Pinky. You sound like a very attractive person. I think I was 8 years old the last time I actually ate a Peep, so I consulted fellow staffers. Justin says ‘Brown is the color of flavor’ but Holly says ‘The brown cocoa ones are awful.’ So there’s that. Joe Heim says avoid the yellow Peeps, but, as a rule, I don’t believe anything Joe says.”

Politico’s Anne Schroeder Mullins and Jeffrey Ressner asks, “What up with all the thumbs on the scale?”

Eric Lichtblau shows Slate readers, “The inside drama behind the Times’ warrantless wiretapping story.”

The Scotsman reports, “Internet the last word for teenage readers.”

The New York Times reports, “Finding Political News Online, the Young Pass It On”

The AP reports, “The popular video-sharing site YouTube is giving contributors more details about who’s watching their video clips and when, offering advertisers additional insights they can use to target their pitches. The free program, known as YouTube Insight, also could help bands schedule their concerts and help anyone time the release of a new video.”

Washington City Paper’s Amanda Hess writes, “For this week’s Show & Tell, I spoke to a group of local writers, educators, and nonprofit staffers working to start up a creative writing center for District youth, ages 6 to 18. The 19 volunteers have a lot of ideas for the project, but their Capitol Letters Writing Center is still very much a work-in-progress: Currently, they’ve got no location, no students, and no money. Why don’t we help them out!” Learn how here.

Top of post

MAGAZINES

Check out Campaigns and Elections’ Political Broadcast Manual.

Top of post

RADIO

Media Nation reports, “Paul La Camera, general manager of WBUR Radio (90.9 FM), e-mails Media Nation about a recent report by Adam Reilly at ThePhoenix.com that he may bring former Boston Globe and sometime Boston Herald columnist Mike Barnicle to the public-radio powerhouse to do commentary.”

Top of post

JOBS

The Associated Press is looking for a Financial Impact Editor.

National Public Radio is looking for a Senior Producer Segments, Morning Edition.

Sourcemedia is looking for a Reporter.

Top of post

Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Morning Reading List, 01.03.08

Patrick — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:51:22 +0000

Good morning Washington. It’s Caucus Day!

Quickly navigate Morning Reading List:

You are torn as to whether The New York Time’s hiring of Bill Kristol was a wise choice.

REVOLVING DOOR

Roll Call’s Moira Bagley — a FishbowlDC hottie — is leaving the Capitol Hill newspaper to take a job at the Republican National Committee.

A reader tells us, “Sean Gallagher has joined the 1105 Government Information Group this week as editor of Defense Systems magazine. In that role, he will be spearheading Defense Systems magazine and Web site. He will also be managing defense coverage across 1105 Government Information Group’s publications.”

The AP reports, “The Federal Emergency Management Agency has hired a new director of public affairs to replace the official who was in charge during a fake news conference in October. Jonathan Thompson, most recently a deputy assistant defense secretary for public affairs, strategy and operations, will be FEMA’s new director of external affairs, FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison said in a recent memo to employees.”

Top of post

NEWSPAPERS

USAToday reports, “If you doubt that media companies can profit from going green, look at what’s in store for 2008. Indiana Jones and Madagascar sequels will be sources of renewable box office energy for Paramount and DreamWorks (DWA). New Time Warner (TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes will recycle his cable division into an independent unit. Rupert Murdoch will save trees by making The Wall Street Journal free online. And Discovery (DISCA) will go after more cable viewers by reprocessing the Discovery Home channel into Planet Green. At least that’s what some of Wall Street’s sharpest media analysts say.”

Have you played Politico’s Kingmaker yet? It’s not too late! Whoever gains the most points by March 4, 2008 wins a trip to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and whoever wins Iowa wins a $500 Amazon.com gift certificate.

CJR reports, “WSJ lacks evidence to support a sweeping, front-page claim against mortgage borrowers”

The Newseum and the National Archives present “Back Rooms to Ballot Boxes: Primary Reform, the People and the Press” featuring former McGovern-Fraser Commission lead researcher Ken Bode, American Conservative Union president David Keene and long-time journalist, columnist and author Jules Witcover. Frank Bond, Newseum producer and former anchor and reporter at WUSA-TV, will moderate. The event will be held Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 at 7p.m. at the William G. McGowan Theater, The National Archives, 7th & 9th Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The AP reports, “The Post newspapers printed their final editions Monday, ending a 126-year run. However, the final editions also carried some news — their parent company will keep a remnant alive in the form of a Kentucky-oriented online site.”

E&P reports, “Murdoch’s ‘WSJ’ Greets New Year — With Front-Pager on Kucinich’s UFO”

The New York Observer reports, “Those hyper-local opinion pages in The New York Timesâ€”lamenting global warmingâ€™s toll on a Maplewood, N.J. lake, or complaining about traffic in southern Connecticut, or opposing a plan to impose tolls on the East River bridgesâ€”are now a thing of the past. Over the weekend, readers found a note in each regional edition declaring that the local op-ed sections were being eliminated starting this week.”

A plea from the City Paper: “Cherkis: Where the Fuck Are You? Holidays are over. It’s a New Year. I need your pitches. City Desks, District Lines, covers, and then some. Get outta bed.”

A Press Club release announced, “The National Press Club … will premiere its 100th anniversary documentary, ‘The National Press Club at 100: A Century of Headlines,’ at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, in the National Press Club ballroom.”

Top of post

A NBC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research data, ‘Meet the Press with Tim Russert’ was the most-watched Sunday morning public affairs program, winning the week ending Sunday, December 23, 2007 in all categories. On Sunday, the Russert-moderated program was No. 1, averaging 3.534 million total viewers.”

C-SPAN’s Iowa Caucus Coverage for tonight will include live coverage of the Iowa Caucus begins on with a preview program at 7pm ET and will be simulcast on both C-SPAN & C-SPAN2, for the Democratic and Republican Caucus respectively at 8 p.m.

PBS NewsHour has a special half hour broadcast planned for today in addition to an 11 p.m. special broadcast with Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill, Mark Shields, David Brooks, Margaret Warner, Amy Walter and Stuart Rothenberg.

A release announced, “MSNBC presents special ‘Super Week’ coverage of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, as the first ballots are cast in the 2008 presidential election campaign. MSNBC will present continuing live coverage from Iowa and New Hampshire, with daily reports from correspondent David Shuster, on the ground in Iowa now. ‘Morning Joe’ will telecast live from Iowa Thursday morning and live from New Hampshire on Friday, 6-9 a.m. ET. Tucker Carlson will anchor ‘Tucker’ live from Iowa on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET, and live from New Hampshire on Thursday and Friday with the John McCain campaign. On Thursday night, coverage of the caucuses continues with a special live ‘Hardball with Chris Matthews’ at 7 p.m. ET and a special edition of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ at 8 p.m. ET.”

Comcast announced, “CN8′s election coverage kicks-off in Iowa, Thursday, Jan. 3 at 9 p.m. and the network will remain on the campaign trail with live broadcasts and analysis from all major events leading up to the presidential election. Featured political events will include: the New Hampshire Primary; Super Tuesday; the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention; Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates; Election Night; and Inauguration. CN8 will also cover the primaries in each of the states in its viewership area. Event coverage will initiate from the networkâ€™s Philadelphia headquarters with on-site reporters and a live panel of analysts reacting to breaking news and key issues from across CN8′s six state-of-the-art studios along the East Coast and its dozens of remote studio locations and mobile broadcast trucks.”

TVNewser reports, “MSNBC announced today that Super Week has begun, continuing with their Super Tuesday theme in the lead up to the presidential elections. The Super Week will encompass tomorrow’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses and next week’s New Hampshire primary.”

Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily reports, “Hillary Clinton On Letterman Tonight; WGA Pickets Slam Huckabee & NBC”

The New York Post reports, “NBC may broadcast “The Biggest Loser,” but in terms of 2007 stock price performance, Time Warner ran away with that title. Of the big five entertainment conglomerates — CBS, Disney, News Corp., Time Warner and Viacom — only Viacom managed to post a share price increase this year, as uncertainty over the impact of digital delivery of content and a weakened advertising environment due to a weak economy dampened investor enthusiasm for the space. (NBC is part of General Electric and doesn’t trade on its own merits like the other companies.”

TVNewser reports, “Insiders tell TVNewser that contrary to speculation, MSNBC has no plans to cancel Tucker.”

The Huffington Post reports, “Couric Newscast Lost 1.1 Million Viewers In ’07″

TVNewser reports, “ICN takes MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to task for performing on stage with Mike Huckabee at a rally last night. Huckabee was a guest this morning, on Morning Joe.”

“Fox News Channel has announced its coverage plans for the Iowa caucuses.” TVNewser has the details.

The AP reports, “ABC and Fox News Channel are narrowing the field of presidential candidates invited to debates this weekend just before the New Hampshire primary, in Fox’s case infuriating supporters of Republican Rep. Ron Paul.”

The New York Times reports, “In the first competitive move in what may become an A-list booking-war blitz, David Letterman has landed the comedian and film star Robin Williams as the first guest when ‘The Late Show’ returns to CBS television Wednesday night.”

The AP reports, “The network that burst into public consciousness with the O.J. Simpson trial and other big-name courtroom dramas in the 1990s becomes part of television history Tuesday, renamed truTV to emphasize its prime-time action programming.”

TVNewser reports, “Network Anchors Pack Their Bags (Some Lost) For Iowa”

“Daily Intelligencer picked up on an uncomfortable exchange this morning during Meredith Vieira’s interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton on the Today show.” Read more here.

Huffington Post reports, “Anchor Wars: Williams And Gibson End The Year Neck-And-Neck”

Top of post

ONLINE MEDIA

TVNewser reports, “The ABC News/WMUR/Facebook debates set for Saturday at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire have become a hot ticket for the media trying to cover them. An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser that the 550 credentials are nearly spoken for.”

Mark your calendars! The Washington Blogger January Meetup is Wednesday, January 16 at 7:00PM at Regional Food and Drink. For more info, click here.

The New York Observer reports, “In 2007, one online outlaw became the most trusted news source on the Hollywood writersâ€™ strike. How Nikki Finke outfoxed the big boys”

Washington Post reports, “Increasingly, ‘Fans Are Setting the Agenda’ in the Blogosphere”

Poynter Online asks, “Why on earth wouldn’t CBS News make the Sunday Morning packages available on its site, like NBC, ABC, and (for that matter) most of the material from its other news shows?”

ValleyWag reports, “Denton to pay bloggers based on traffic.”

A release announced, “The Washington Continent, the District’s newest daily, will add an ‘Election ’07′ section on Jan. 5. The ‘Election ’07′ section will include breaking political coverage and commentary from a veteran team of reporters.” For more info, click here.

Top of post

MAGAZINES

Politico’s Michael Calderone reports, “The New Republic won’t endorse before Iowa”

Top of post

RADIO

An NPR release announced, “NPR News continues its award-winning tradition of exploring American culture and tradition through in-depth, long-form journalism with a new six-month series examining classic fictional characters and how they both reflected and affected American life. ‘In Character,’ a multimedia series, begins January 2 and will air across all NPR News programs. Virtually all NPR News hosts, correspondents and reporters will provide segments. At NPR.org, ‘In Character’ will feature additional audio and video material about the characters profiled in the series, archived stories and a series blog.”

Redding News Review reports, “Radio One next week will end its more than six-year relationship with XM Satellite Radio. Lee Michaels, national program director for Syndication One News/Talk and XM 169, told Redding News Review that Washington, D.C.-based XM will take over programming at Black-oriented talk Channel 169 The Power on Tuesday.”

NPR announced, “NPR News will produce eight live consecutive hours of Iowa Caucus coverage on Thursday, January 3. The programming will be available on-air on NPR Member stations around the country and online through live streaming on NPR.org. Robert Siegel, senior host of All Things Considered, will anchor from NPR News headquarters in Washington, D.C. beginning at 4:00PM (ET), with All Things Considered host Melissa Block joining him at 6:00PM (ET).”

Top of post

JOBS

Living Cities is looking for a Director of Communications.

The Maryland Gazette is looking for a Sports Editor.

Top of post

Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Morning Reading List, 06.08.07

Patrick — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:53:03 +0000

Good morning Washington.

An NBC release announced that “According to Nielsen Media Research data, ‘Meet the Press with Tim Russert’ topped the Sunday morning public affairs competition, winning the week ending Sunday, June 3, 2007 in total viewers, homes and in the key demographic adults 25-54.” On Sunday, “Meet the Press” attracted 3.308 million total viewers, a 37% advantage over CBS “Face the Nation”, 40% more than ABC “This Week”, and a 202% lead over FOX “News Sunday”.

An ABC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research for the week of May 28 2007, ABC News’ ‘Nightline’ continued its growth trend in Total Viewers. ‘Nightline’ grew year-to-year while its competitors declined. In addition, second quarter to date, ‘Nightline’ increased 4% in Total Viewers while both ‘Letterman’ and ‘The Tonight Show’ decreased.”

“News about an Atlanta man infected with a dangerous form of tuberculosis drew a large audience last week. The saga of the man’s illness and his travels abroad was the second most closely followed news story of the week â€“ trailing only the situation in Iraq,” according to the Pew News Interest Index for the week of May 28.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “generation ago, federal regulators opened the way for consumers to buy telephones rather than rent them from the phone company. Now, the government has its sights on the television set-top boxes that consumers rent from cable or satellite companies.”

Freelance writer Kelly DiNardo has started her own blog.

Reuters reports, “General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal said on Wednesday it will allow personal Web sites to link to video snippets of NBC programs such as ‘Access Hollywood’, underscoring the Internet as a growing destination for video entertainment.”

Multichannel.com reports, “The newly anointed NBC Entertainment co-chair, Ben Silverman, is complaining that Nikki Finke ruined his big weekend when she blew out the blogsphere with her breaking news that Silverman would replace Kevin Reilly, and then said, ‘but as one source tells me, 36-year-old Ben ‘can barely manage his way out of a paper bag’ because of his extreme lifestyle, relentless ass kissing, and constant jetting around in his private plane.’”

MediaWeek.com reports, “Anyone who’s spent time watching lots of bad videos online in search of a few good ones knows Michael Caruso’s frustration. Caruso, the former editor of Wenner Media’s Men’s Journal and of CondÃ© Nast’s Details, has channeled that frustration into a new Web site he founded, The Daily Tube, that promises to compile the best new videos across several subject areas: humor, celebrity, music, late-night category, political, sports and Web-based stars.”

Reuters reports, “Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said on Tuesday it is ready to begin auctioning advertising airtime on 2,300 participating U.S. radio stations, expanding on an existing plan to sell cable television ads.”

“Newspapers hoping to retain their readers and survive in the technological age must venture into the online and cellphone spheres, a World Association of Newspapers (WAN) meeting heard on Tuesday.”

ABC.com reports, “Last.fm, How Stuff Works, Comedy Central’s Honesty and EepyBird.com are among the top winners of this year’s Webby Awards.”

Media Matters has looked into how the press is covering the various looks of the White House candidates, including Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

A reader writes, “Milbank has funniest little antenna extending 3 inches from his cell phone, which is clipped to his belt. Sweet, but nerdy.”

Old-House Journal is looking for a Managing Editor.

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is looking for a Communications Director/Associate.

Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Taking Out The Trash, 02.22.07

Patrick — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:55:46 +0000

This is a close one. Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks are in a tight race. Starbucks has the lead so far.

An NBC release announced that “NBC Nightly News with Brian
Williams” “was back on top as the most-watched network evening newscast during the week of February 12-16, 2007, attracting 10.168 million total viewers,” 108,000 more than ABC’s “World News” and 2,392,000 more than CBS’s “Evening News.”

LAObserved has the memo from Bill Keller to the New York Times newsroom in which Dick Stevenson is announced as the “newly anointed as political editor.”

An ABC release announced that “World News with Charles Gibson” was the “#1 evening newscast among Adult 25-54 viewers” for the week of February 12-16. Among adults 25-54, “World News” attracted 90,000 more than NBC’s “Nightly News” and 600,000 more than CBS’s “Evening News.”

The PEJ News Coverage Index indicates that Iran was the third biggest story of the week February 11-16. “Only the debate over Iraq (11%) and the densely populated 2008 presidential race (9%) edged out Iran” (7%).

Correction: Bob Woodruff’s special “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports airs on ABC Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 10 p.m. ET.

Congratulations to three Posties, who have just been honored in the 2006 Virginia Press Association writing contest.

Josh du Lac won first place in critical writing for a package of stories that included “The ‘You’re Beautiful’ Boy: Soooo Sweet James Blunt” (3/15), “In Any Language, a Whole Lotta Shakira Goin’ On” (8/31) and “America’s Most Wanton: R. Kelly Does Washington” (4/15).

Wil Haygood won second place for feature story writing for his Magazine piece “Showing the Way” (6/11) about his nephew, Andre.

Neely Tucker won third place for feature story writing for “The Avenger,” his profile of prosecutor June Jeffries (8/6).

Julie Mason has the skinny on Tuesday night’s Tony Snow event.

The AP reports that the “New York Times Co., which owns newspapers, broadcast outlets and Web sites, said Wednesday that January sales slipped 0.4 percent on weakness at its New England and regional media groups.”

Philip Merrill College of Journalism Dean Thomas Kunkel announced that George Solomon, former sports editor of The Washington Post and a visiting professor has been named the school’s Shirley Povich Professor. “Kunkel said Solomon will occupy the Povich professorship until it can be filled permanently by another outstanding sports journalist. The college will begin that search in the fall.”

Nikki Finke is all over the Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and David Geffen drama.

Don’t forget to watch Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson on “30 Rock” tonight.

Yippee! The Washington Times’ “Fishwrap” finally has a permanent URL.

Washington Flyer scores Leo DiCaprio on the cover of their latest issue.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.