NY Observer Bashes Fox -- But Screws Up Facts

The NY Observer screwed up its story about television coverage of political protestors, but they won't admit it. This morning, the lead of Joe Hagan's piece talked about Fox plans to cover next week's demonstrations, while they ignored massive protests in 2003:

"But Fox News hasn't always felt that way. On Feb. 22, 2003, when more than 100,000 anti-war protesters were on the streets of New York a month before the invasion of Iraq, the channel aired a single mention of it."

But there's a problem: The protests were on February 15, and FNC talked about them all day long. "I guess when attacking Fox, journalistic standards don't count," one e-mailer says. So by 11am, the Observer changed the date in the story. But they still falsely claimed that FNC didn't report it. Then around 2pm, they updated the story again.

"But Fox News hasn't always felt that way. During New York antiwar protests in 2003, Brit Hume, the channel's managing news editor, had this to say on March 23:"

"Now they just judge the channel on a statement Brit made, nevermind that FNC actually covered the protests," an e-mailer says. Worst of all, the Observer made these changes without admitting it on the web site. E-mail the Observer's columnist Joe Hagan and web editor Barry Lewis and tell them to make the edits clear. (Thanks to Krpomer for sending the original text, and thanks to the many e-mailers who pointed out the change.)

The Olympics Are A "Great Respite From The News Of The World," Katie Couric Says

I'm sorry, Katie, but this is just too easy. Quoting Ms. Couric on Tuesday's Larry King Live:

[Referring to the Iraqi soccer team and female Afghani Olympians:] "These are great stories, I think, that really define the human spirit that everybody gets excited about. And I also think it's a great respite from the news of the world, I hate to say that sometimes it's so troubling about Iraq and the situation there, and I think people get O.D.'d on the presidential campaign, and the whole controversy about the Bush campaign versus the Kerry campaign on the war records, and I think it's really nice to get away from that stuff for a period of time."

...But as Cori Dauber likes to point out, Katie barely ever covers war or politics! She's too busy playing badminton on the plaza...
> Update: 5pm: Via e-mail: "Why hasn't anyone complained about Katie, Matt, & Al being on Larry King Live opposite MSNBC's Deborah Norville... isn't that a slap in the face?"

MSNBC Increases Political Coverage For GOP Conv.

MSNBC is expanding its political coverage during the Republican National Convention next week. All the shows (save for "Brokaw in New York" at 4pm) will air from Herald Square Park, "providing convention participants as well as the general public the opportunity to participate in MSNBC's coverage," a press release says. The primetime and late night schedule is the same as Boston, but the dayside has been tweaked. From 12 to 2pm, Chris Jansing will anchor live. From 2 to 4pm, Joe Scarborough will host. From 5 to 6, a special edition of "Countdown" will air.
> Also: MSNBC will preview the convention on Sunday; here are the details.

"Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly, Intl."

Joseph Minton, the founder of Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilly, International, appeared on Al Franken's Air America radio show this afternoon to plug his web site. It is an organization "dedicated to the dissemination of information that exposes Bill O'Reilly for what he is: an ego-driven, biased individual who spreads fear, hate and misunderstanding." It features an "O'Reilly moment of the day" and "Anti-factor gear." Check out the "(please don't) Kill Bill O'Reilly" T-shirt.

Is This An Example Of FNC's Value?

From an e-mailer, printed verbatim: "Recently the NY Daily News did an excellent investigative piece concerning the thousands of people dually registered to vote in NY and FL (dual registration being illegal). As part of the piece, it was indicated that 68% of the dually registered parties were Democrats and 12% were Republicans. MSNBC and CNN reported on the story but left out the disparity between parties. Only Fox News reported it. In the pre-Fox days, TV newswatchers would have remained ignorant of all the facts because of mainstream media political bias."

Good TV Night: Ben Ginsberg, Bob Dole, Karl Rove

There were a number of quality interviews on TV news tonight. ABC's Nightline and FNC's O'Reilly Factor scored interviews with former Bush-Cheney lawyer Ben Ginsberg. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough sat down with Bob Dole to talk about Kerry's controversies. FNC's Brit Hume talked exclusively with senior Bush adviser Karl Rove. (The Note gave it three exclamation marks!!!)

Tuesday Ratings: Presented Without Comment!

FNC: Total day: 956,000 / Primetime: 1,769,000 / O'Reilly: 2,204,000 / H&C: 1,632,000 / Greta: 1,470,000

CNN: Total day: 413,000 / Primetime: 883,000 / Zahn: 659,000 / King: 1,153,000 / NewsNight: 837,000

MSNBC: Total day: 374,000 / Primetime: 338,000 / Olbermann: 351,000 / Norville: 285,000 / Scarborough: 378,000

McEnroe Watch: 45,000 Viewers Tuesday Night

John McEnroe scratched again last night. CNBC averaged 45,000 viewers from 10 to 11pm. (Meanwhile, Donny Deutsch averaged 164,000 viewers and Dennis Miller [in repeats] averaged 87,000.)

Are CNN's Political Ratings Dipping?

CNN's political coverage scratched in the 25-54 demo and its numbers hovered at MSNBC levels on Tuesday, a cable news source said. Inside Politics averaged 432,000 viewers and 43,000 in the demo. Crossfire averaged 390,000 viewers, 43,000 of whom are in the demo. Wolf Blitzer Reports earned 364,000 viewers, with 44,000 aged 25-54. "This doesn't bode well for next week's RNC," a source said...
> Also: Hardball continues to beat CNN at 7pm. On Tuesday night, Chris Matthews earned 615,000 viewers, including 244,000 in the demo, while 360 averaged 391,000 viewers and 184,000 in the demo.

Have you seen the TVNewser launch party photos yet?

Russian Plane Crashes Merit Little Coverage

CNN.com used the "breaking news" banner to report that one of the airliners sent a "hijack alert" before crashing, but the cable nets didn't merit that important enough to interrupt their taped programming.

CNN domestic didn't even pick up the International feed at midnight. As Larry King was interviewing NBC's Today Show anchors, Andrea Sanke and Charles Hodson were reporting that "there is of course speculation that terrorism is involved." "You'd think they would pick up the International live show since it's only 9 p.m. out west and some people would obviously be interested," an e-mailer says.

"Is CNN the only network with a Moscow-based correspondent?," a viewer asks at 8:30am. "So it seems given the coverage of the mysterious simultaneous plane crashes in Russia. At 7am, ABC reported the story from NY, while CBS and NBC reported the story from London." Also, FNC's Steve Harrigan is in Moscow.
> Update: 12:45pm: From an e-mailer: "CNN International provided 'breaking news' coverage for CNN-US viewers on the crash of two Russian jetliners at 1:00am ET Wednesday. CNN-US stayed with CNN-I coverage for 15 minutes." MSNBC mentioned the "hijack alert" during Scarborough Country.

How Should TV Balance Protestors & Pontificating?

There's a must-read in the New York Observer about how TV networks will cover the protests during the GOP convention. "The fear is that the presence of [the cameras] causes [disruptive behavior]," CNN's David Bohrman says. "That's really a fear. We're reluctant to pull our cameras out if there's a crowd of people. You don't want to galvanize a crowd by pointing a camera at them. You want to report on them, but you don't want to be the cause of them."

Berg Decries "Corporate-Controlled Media"

Michael Berg, the father of beheaded American Nick Berg, is still angry about an interview he agreed to with Good Morning America in June. "It was Charles Gibson who interviewed me," Berg tells Lloyd Grove. "I think Charles Gibson is part of the corporate-controlled media that doesn't want the public to know what the war is all about." He tried to wear a T-Shirt saying "Bring the troops home now" on-air, but "ABC wouldn't show it on the air," the paper says...

Michelle Malkin Still Seething About Matthews

She referred to it again Monday on her blog: "In a hysterical effort to 'block the data'--i.e., the questions about Kerry's self-inflicted wounds raised in Unfit for Command--Chris Matthews transformed my words into 'shooting himself on purpose.'...Some viewers say I should have clarified the military vs. civilian interpretation of 'self-inflicted wounds.' Most fair-minded viewers saw that this is exactly what I was trying to do--against gale force winds."