O'Reilly & The President: Day One

O'Reilly didn't play softball with President Bush. Part one of his 30-minute interview aired tonight on the Factor. The transcript is now online. O'Reilly's short questions were effective.

> "I've got fifteen questions for you," O'Reilly began. "If they're dumb, tell me they're dumb. Because the audience will like that."

> Bush's comments on several issues are making news: His hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Iran situation, his lack of regret over the 'mission accomplished' banner and border patrols have been picked up by the wires.

> What's the story behind this item in ABC's Note today?: "Finger pointing within BC04 about whose idea it was to do the O'Reilly interview."

Should A President HAVE To Meet The Press?

"President Bush doesn't really like the press, and with good reason," Bill O'Reilly says in his newspaper column today. "The media gotcha game has been elevated to almost hysterical levels, and any mistake or misstatement by a President is front-page news. Would you want to walk a high wire every day?" No, but I'm not the president. O'Reilly suggests that's the reason Bush "rarely gives in-depth interviews." Does anyone else have a problem with that?

Ratings: CNN Highlights Year-To-Year Gains

September and third quarter ratings for individual weekday programs came out this afternoon. CNN is trumpeting its "strong year-over-year viewership gains" for its political and primetime programs. Anderson Cooper 360 outperformed Hardball for the quarter and the month, a press release today notes.

"In Sept. 2004, Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics, Crossfire, Wolf Blitzer Reports, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Anderson Cooper 360, Paula Zahn Now and NewsNight with Aaron Brown all delivered their best P2+ audiences since April 03," CNN says. (360 and Now premiered on Sept 8, 2003.)

Ali Abducted: No Statement Of Responsibility Yet

Palestinian militant groups have denied involvement in the abduction of CNN producer Riad Ali, the Associated Press reports. "A statement on the Hamas Web site called for Ali's release, saying that journalists 'are playing an important role to help the Palestinian cause.'"
> Also: CNN.com's story about the situation...

CNN Releases Statement Urging Riad's Release

CNN has released a statement from Jim Walton, president of the CNN News Group: "We are working actively for Riad's safe return and are in touch with his family, offering them our full support during this difficult time. We have not yet heard from his abductors but urge them to release Riad immediately. He is a veteran journalist of the highest integrity."

DEVELOPING: CNN Producer Riad Ali Abducted

CNN producer Riad Ali was abducted by armed men in Gaza City this afternoon. Correspondent Ben Wedeman explained the situation to CNN viewers at 1pm.

The CNN crew left their Gaza City offices about 90 minutes ago and headed in the direction of their hotel. "A car pulled out in front of our taxi," Wedeman said. "A man pulled a revolver out of his pants and asked, 'Which one of you is Riad?'"

Ali identified himself, and the kidnappers ordered him out of the car. They were wielding several weapons. "They clearly had planned this [and] followed us...to that spot," Wedeman said.

CNN staffers are making contact with many security sources. "None of them seem to know anything about where Riad could be," he said.

Kyra Phillips called Riad "one of our own." He has worked on the international desk in Atlanta, and travels frequently to Gaza...

> Updates: As of 1:20pm, an e-mailer says CNN and MSNBC have not covered the producer kidnapping news yet. // The Jerusalem Post has background info about Ali...

> Update: 2:41pm: The Haaretz report that two CNN crew members were beaten and robbed is not true, a source says.

Newsflash: CNN Producer Kidnapped In Gaza

Quoting Reuters: "An armed group has kidnapped an Arab-Israeli employee of CNN news network in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera television reported on Monday. 'Our correspondent in Gaza said an armed group has kidnapped an Arab ... who works as an assistant producer for the CNN team in Gaza,' the channel said without giving further details."

CBS Profiles Arguing, Finger-Pointing O'Reilly

Mike Wallace profiled Bill O'Reilly on 60 Minutes last night. Highlights:

> O'Reilly said Wallace was one of his biggest inspirations.

> On his constant finger pointing: "I can't stop."

> O'Reilly enjoys arguing: "It's a battle of wits, who's the quicker draw intellectually. I enjoy the joust."

> Robert Greenwald will love this: "We went back and did research on the last six years of 'The Factor.' Do you know how many times I told people to shut up? Six. Three times in anger and three times just, 'Ahhh, he didn't want to shut up about things.'"

Ads Using News Clips: A Copyright Violation?

The broadcast networks deserve credit for taking a stand against political advertisements that include their news footage. The Associated Press explores the topic today: "Networks say the interviews are copyrighted and thus cannot be used without permission. That has prompted sponsors of some such ads to discontinue running them. Others have not canceled their spots, claiming they fall under the "fair use" provision of copyright law, which permits use of clips for criticism, news reporting, teaching or research. Copyright experts say the line can be gray and can require courts to intervene..."

Rather's Retirement: Place Your Bets Now

It's a lot more complicated than Drudge's "CBS Plans For Spring Rather Retirement" headline. Here are the two important sentences in today's NYT piece about Dan Rather's future: "CBS has never disclosed a timetable for replacing Mr. Rather...but in the weeks before Sept. 8...officials atop the network and its news division had begun discussing a transition plan." And: "The options under consideration include having Mr. Rather step down sometime next spring..." More
> Also: From B&C: "While the morning line inside the new division is that the 72-year-old Rather, who has two years on his current contract, will likely survive the wreckage, the whole debacle could hasten his departure from the CBS Evening News anchor desk."

Wallace Beats Stephanopoulos In D.C.

Paul Bedard's latest USN&WR column includes a Whisper about "Chris vs. George:" "A lot of Chris Wallace's pals said he was crazy to leave ABC to take over the Fox News Sunday show, but his homies aren't laughing now. Especially his ex-colleague George Stephanopoulos, whose This Week has been eclipsed in the Washington-area Nielsens by Wallace. Why does that matter? The local affiliate just moved This Week to run directly against Fox News Sunday, so rookie Sunday host Wallace gets hometown bragging rights in the matchup."

"Networks Praise Kerry, Fox News Buries Him"

Quoting Howard Kurtz: "If you were watching the network evening news in June, July and August, you would have seen somewhat favorable coverage of John Kerry -- six out of 10 evaluations were positive -- and somewhat unfavorable coverage of President Bush. If you were watching Fox News Channel's 6 p.m. newscast, you would have seen about the same coverage of the president. But Kerry's evaluations were negative by a 5 to 1 margin." That's right -- the Center for Media and Public Affairs has a new study...

Comparing The Networks' Vetting Procedures

Television Week offers a fascinating glimpse at vetting procedures in this week's issue. It notes that many CBS News segments are reviewed by lawyers prior to air. The same is true at NBC and ABC. But "at cable news networks, the preponderance of live programming requires a different approach," Michele Greppi notes. More...