Nine paragraphs in, AP TV writer Lynn Elber shares a rather explosive accusation made by Tavis Smiley,  who celebrates his 2,000th Tavis Smiley episode on PBS tonight.

The logical assumption is that a prominent black media figure like Smiley would be welcomed with open arms by the White House. But according to Smiley, who has also previously talked a lot about his lack of Barack Obama interview access, it’s not just Conservatives, Liberals and some African-Americans who are upset with his pointed views:

Smiley contends that members of the Obama administration, whom he didn’t identify, have pressured sponsors to drop their support of his projects, including his anti-poverty initiatives. The White House had no comment, said a spokesman, Kevin Lewis…

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Fortune magazine’s three-day conference event “Brainstorm GREEN” got off to an intriguing start this afternoon in Laguna Niguel. Actor Harrison Ford, there in his capacity as vice chair of non-profit Conservation International (CI), participated in a 2 p.m. special session with CI CEO Peter Seligmann and Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer.

The first point made by Ford is a dramatic reminder of the surprising, costly and sometimes dangerous human reactions to environmental problems:

“For instance, what’s happening with the Somali pirates, you can look at that and recognize that it’s the collapse of the fisheries, the sustainable fishing, that men equipped with boats had no other options but to be involved in piracy, and that’s cost us and the rest of our NATO partners $2 billion to try and redress. That’s the national security connection to an environment issue, conservation issue.”

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It began last fall with the hiring of Dave Karger as chief correspondent. It continues this week with the addition of a vp of content and creative.

Fandango.com is fully committed to the idea of becoming a content producer and as the company’s new chief creative executive, Sandro Corsaro (pictured) will now lead that charge. From this morning’s announcement:

“Sandro is one of the most talented content creators in the industry,” said Paul Yanover, president of Fandango. “I’m thrilled he’ll be bringing his creativity and experience to Fandango, to help enhance the consumer experience and engagement across our platforms, driving business objectives for both ticketing and advertising.”

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Nice little scooplet for Tatiana Siegel, the one-time Hollywood Reporter staffer who recently returned to the publication’s fold.

According to her sources, it’s not just Kristen Wiig who will be stacking the Anchorman 2 deck, set to begin shooting later this month in Atlanta. Also joining the fray is none other than Harrison Ford:

Ford will play a legendary newscaster a la Tom Brokaw in the Adam McKay-helmed comedy… He previously played an anchorman in the film Morning Glory.

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The format of Francine Brokaw’s breezy 182-page book Beyond the Red Carpet: The World of Entertainment Journalists, available next Tuesday, is exceedingly straightforward. Under various themed chapter headings, the veteran Family Magazine Group reporter and current member of the TCA asks a group of colleagues to recall Strange Interviews (Chapter 4), Twilight Zone Moments (Chapter 5) and Off the Record (Chapter 10) detours.

Her panel of junket-savvy experts includes everyone from David Sheehan (KCBS) and George Pennacchio (KABC) to Hahn Nguyen (tvguide.com) and Mike Reynolds (various). One journalist who stands out by virtue of being unafraid to name celebrity names is the New York Post’s Sean Daly. Here for example is the beginning of his entry for How Rude! (Chapter 9):

Harrison Ford is the rudest a-hole in show business. Followed possibly by Tommy Lee Jones. I have actually seen Ford call reporters out for asking what he thinks are “stupid questions”…

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Although Mike Fleming’s deadline.com duties keep him very busy, he still finds the time to continue one longstanding freelance tradition. The Playboy interview.

Beginning with Robert Downey Jr. in the 1990s, Fleming has contributed around two dozen centerpiece Q&As to the publication, chatting with everyone from Denzel Washington to Harrison Ford to Quentin Tarantino. For the June issue, the A-lister across the tape recorder is Tom Cruise. Towards the end of the conversation, Fleming asks Cruise what he learned from that whole Matt Lauer-Oprah Winfrey train wreck:

“When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way, and I never have. Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited.”

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LA native Steve Cha has a B.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA and is currently working on an M.A. in theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Along the way, he also worked for several years as a professional background extra.

Earlier this year, Cha published a book about his on-set experiences called Hollywood Mission: Possible. With Christmas and Tom Cruise upon us, he is re-promoting a tale of, essentially, the Tim Tebow of background extras:

During his three-year journey, Steve evangelized many famous actors, actresses, directors, and aspirants in Tinsel Town… Steve’s revealing autobiography recounts how the gospel was shared with celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Dan Aykroyd, and many other stars.

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Oops. At the top of today’s interview with musician Ryan Adams headlined “Ryan Adams Interview: We Manage to Really Piss Him Off,”the LA Weekly has now added this:

Correction: Contrary to what was originally written, Adams did not hang up on reporter Drew Fortune. Rather, Adams cut short the conversation, and the two agreed to continue the next day. West Coast Sound regrets the error.

Never mind that Adams perhaps should have hung up on the reporter, based on how quickly the Q&A seems to have headed south. To the very first question regarding being clean and sober for six years, Adams launches into an aggressive reply about not appreciating the insinuation he never had hobbies.

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After a three-year, $12.3 million renovation, the operators of that goofy looking LAX centerpiece are partying like it’s 1967. Which is a good thing, because the 50-year-old edifice still looks like something right out of William Shatner‘s venerable Star Trek TV series.

To go along with recent nods from Esquire.com and Food & Wine, Encounter Restaurant was recently recognized by Frommers.com as a top ten U.S. airport restaurant. Per Chris Owen at travel blog Gadling.com:

The restaurant was created and is operated by a joint-venture partnership between Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services, Inc. and Connie Bass, a Los Angeles entrepreneur and operator of the Ultimate Symphony Event Planners, a full-service event planning and gourmet catering service, and Cookies By Connie #1.

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Ever wonder who all those people are flying out of Van Nuys Airport on private aircraft? Per Geoff Boucher‘s rip-roaring LA Times article, one recent such take-off was winging Jon Favreau and his Cowboys & Aliens producer Ron Howard down to Austin, Texas for a critical rough footage preview of the Universal Pictures summer release at an Alamo Drafthouse event organized by Harry Knowles.

The beauty of the piece is the way it contrasts Favreau’s deft management of the new rules of “early fan engagement” with Howard’s clear admission that dealing with Twitter, Facebook and blog buzz is still a relatively new and scary process. Explains Howard:

“There’s a conversation now with fans and it starts a long time before the movie is even finished. The frightening thing for me is if somehow the wrong story gets out there and your film is misunderstood in some way… you need to shape the message, really. But Jon is the expert at this stuff.”

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