TV Press Tour: "The F Word"
The CNN press tour quotes keep coming. Princell Hair was asked about Fox's ratings success, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, and responded: "I was wondering how long it would take for someone to use the F word. There are many things that we could do to get ratings, but we're not going to do it at the expense of our brand." It continues...

Quote of the Day
NewsMax.com on FOX 03 ratings gains: "Critics may scoff at Fox's claim of being fair and balanced, but viewers seem to appreciate the lack of leftward bias so evident on CNN. They are voting with their channel selectors and Fox is getting the nod from more and more Americans."

TV Press Tour: CNN Stability in '04
TVWeek: "I'm a firm believer that if it ain't broke, don't fix it," CNN general manager Princell Hair said today."There are no major on-air changes planned for CNN ... 2004 will be a year of stability at CNN." Broadcasting and Cable: "To get CNN viewers to stick around longer, Hair says CNN needs to continue to execute the "fundamentals," like storytelling, writing and journalism, on a consistent basis. He says he is working to improve on-air presentation and showcase its journalism better."

TV Press Tour: Election Night Calls
Wolf Blitzer on election night calls: "If we're not confident a million percent we got it right we're not going to go on the air. ... We're going to wait and wait and wait," Blitzer told a meeting Tuesday of the Television Critics Association. "Only when we have every reason to believe that this is a done deal will we go on and make that exit-poll projection." Read the full AP story. (Related: VNS out, AP in)

TV Press Tour: Conventions, Crime Trials
CNN put Wolf Blitzer, Judy Woodruff, and Princell Hair in front of the media today at the semiannual TV press tour. Notable: It has "yet to be decided if CNN would provide blanket coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions." Hair said it has been decided that "CNN wouldn't provide "gavel to gavel" coverage of numerous celebrity trials expected in 2004," saying there too many other things going on in the world. (AP)

CNN to MSNBC, CNBC to FOX...
Newsblues reports that former CNN anchor Natalie Allen appeared on MSNBC Monday. She is "working as a freelance reporter for NBC News." Allen, once a popular Atlanta anchor, was fired in 2001. Also from the 'blues, two new faces on FOX News soon: 'Imus in the Morning's' Janice Dean will host weather reports, and CNBC's Martha MacCallum (anchor of recently-canned 'CheckPoint') will anchor Fox News Live. (Another former business anchor at FOX...perhaps CNBC will face foxified competition sooner rather than later.)

Matthews to Interview McNamara
Chris Matthews will interview former secretary of defense Robert McNamara on MSNBC Wednesday night. There are bound to be many questions based on "Fog of War," the compelling, must-see documentary about his life. (The NBC press release)

Fueling the Fire, Fanning the Flames
Yesterday morning, I was wondering how much play the MoveOn.org controversy fueled by Drudge would get. Only FOX, perhaps? Nope: "Ed Gillespie talked about them on CNN's "Inside Politics" and MSNBC's "Hardball," Bill O'Reilly played them on Fox, Sean Hannity played them on Fox -- and found a guest who thinks the Nazi comparison is just fine," Howard Kurtz writes in his online WP column.

Candidate Debates "Like Water Torture"
Copy and paste from today's Des Moines Register: "The debates play a role in shaping the long-term impression of the candidates by the voters and the media. It's a bit like water torture, said Candy Crowley, Cable News Network's senior political correspondent. "Debate after debate after debate, it starts to make an indentation, even on the people who aren't paying close attention.""

"Reporters at War" Premieres Tonight
Premiering tonight, a four-part series called "Reporters at War" on the Discovery Times channel. The first episode airs tonight at 8, with a new program each Tuesday evening. CNN previewed it during Blitzer's noon hour. Series producer Jon Blair said there are three particularly tough moments for a war correspondent: "The last night at home before you go...as you get to the airport on the flight out there...and when the plane touches down in the war zone."

News Judgement 101
Rantingprofs asks a question of the day: "Which story will get more attention: Domestic Diva trial reaches meaningless benchmark? Or two countries who hate one another with everything they have -- and sadly, that would include nuclear weapons -- see their leaders actually get together in an effort to cool things down?" Sadly, I think we know the answer. (CNN.com and MSNBC.com get the lead right this morning, though.)

Trials of the century in 2004?
CNN's Andersoon Cooper calls it "an alignment of the planets the likes of which we've never witnessed." The Salt Lake Tribune looks at "the potential for a rolling series of O.J. Simpson-like national obsessions fed by media overkill."

"Rolling News Phenomenon:" CNN Response
CNN Intl. managing director Chris Cramer responds to UK journo/poli Martin Bell's attack on television news in The Independent's Tuesday edition. Bell argued that the "rolling news phenomenon" isn't always a good thing. Cramer responds: "We live in a world impatient to be there. Viewers want to be taken to the story as it happens, live and unvarnished. Many will also watch a more considered news bulletin later in the day, some will read a newspaper the following morning, or a news magazine later in the week. That is the world we live in." Read the rest.