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Exclusive: Following Fabricated Quotes, FNC's Moody Announces Scripts Queue Changes

Only on TVNewser: Fox News staffers were informed of several changes today regarding use of the network's internal scripts queue, following the publishing of fabricated quotes written by Carl Cameron and attributed to John Kerry. John Moody, Senior Vice President, News Editorial at Fox News Channel, sent a memo to staffers today:

"Last week, we experienced separate lapses of judgment, resulting in the posting, on our website, of inaccurate material," Moody writes. "Credibility is our lifeblood. When we make factual mistakes, we affect adversely all the hard work that we've done for eight years to become the country's leading news channel." He calls Cameron's quotes a "stupid parody" that was included in the scripts queue, then picked up and added "unthinkingly" to the web site.

"For that reason, we are implementing a number of changes," he continues. "First, and immediately, the scripts queue is OFF LIMITS for editorial use until the item has been broadcast or the script is approved for use. Second, the use of scripts queue for humor, sarcasm, parody or other unprofessional conduct is strictly forbidden. Failure to follow this directive is a dismissable offense."

Two sources inside FNC have confirmed the validity of the memo...

>Also: MSNBC's Countdown will discuss the controversy with famed TV prof Robert Thompson, tonight at 8pm.

> Update: 9:15pm: As a Fox News employee myself, I was immediately struck by Moody's memo," an anonymous e-mailer says. "When I saw the language, it was abundantly clear that he wanted it leaked to the press. Notice that even in an advisory memo, he still takes the time to trumpet FNC over its competitors."

Ratings: CNN Headline News Challenging MSNBC

MSNBC's brief post-debate ratings win over CNN Thursday night didn't seem to provoke anxiety in Atlanta. "In reality they should be more concerned with their closest competition, Headline News, who by the way beat MSNBC [last month]," a CNN insider said. Headline News has started running promos touting the network's daytime ratings win over MSNBC: In September, HLN outdelivered MSNBC between 9am-6pm by 6% in P2+ and 9% in the demo. (Its primetime #'s leave something to be desired, though.)

Court TV's Grace Expands Relationship With CNN

Court TV anchor Nancy Grace will appear (even more) regularly on CNN beginning in January. "This unique relationship between the sister networks allows for cross-promotion as well as expansion of Grace's already loyal fan base," a press release said today. Grace will likely continue her appearances on Larry King Live. The P.R. calls it an unprecedented collaboration...

Carl Cameron Suspended? Of Course Not

Let's make one thing clear: FNC correspondent Carl Cameron has not been suspended. An Internet memo that landed on NewsBlues this morning is a hoax.

"Fox News suspends chief political correspondent," the site headlined this morning. But the "memo" that was printed was fake. "Anybody who actually deals with Fox knows it's not real," an industry insider says, calling it "total nonsense." The source pointed out NewsBlues' track record: "He's considered a joke by those in the big leagues," the insider said. Cameron will be in Ohio for the VP debate tomorrow...

> Howard Kurtz says Democrats believe Campaign Carl is fair...

CNN's Zahn To Host Four Town Halls

Paula Zahn will host four live town hall forums in "key battleground states" in the coming month. The hour-long programs will air during Paula's show in CNN primetime. The events will air from Racine, Wis. on Thursday, Oct. 7; Bucks County, Pa., on Thursday, Oct 14; Clark County, Ohio, on Thursday, Oct. 21; and Florida on Monday, Nov. 1. Here's the press release.

Cablers Pause To Let Helen Blow Off Steam

All three cablers interrupted their usual segments by 12:40pm, as Mount Saint Helens emitted another plume of steam. It's a battle to see who has better camera angles. "The pictures speak louder than the words right now," David Asman said on FNC. On CNN, Kyra Phillips called the images "amazing" and "beautiful." The network featured 3D Keyhole satellite maps of the volcano...

FOXNews.com "Regrets" Commies For Kerry Quote

On the same day the fake Kerry quotes issue erupted, FOXNews.com quoted a member of "Communists for Kerry" and treated it as a pro-Kerry group, not the Republican organization it is. (Atrios has the details.) Yesterday FOXNews.com admitted the error, stating that the group managed to "persuade a FOXNews.com reporter that he was indeed a Kerry supporter." They regret the error, and add: "From now on, polygraphs for everybody."

Arraf Embedded: "We Had A Front Row Seat"

CNN's Jane Arraf has been embedded with troops in Samarra for several days. Her reports began airing on CNN Friday, under an "exclusive" banner. She said her CNN crew had been trying to get embedded for a couple of weeks: "And when it finally happened, there were a couple of moments when I thought to myself, 'Why in the world are we doing this?,'" she said Saturday morning during On The Story. "We had a front row seat. It was amazing." Arraf has been traveling with the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division...

A Million Users Vote On CNN.com

CNN's Pundits Scorecard invited site visitors to rate each candidate's performance, and more than a million users have done so. Bush is averaging a C, while Kerry has a B and an A-. MSNBC.com's Question of the Day received more than two million votes last week, thanks in part to a prominent link from the MSN portal...

Rather, Jennings, Brokaw: On One Stage

Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw sat on one stage for the first time since Rathergate, and for the last time before Brokaw exits the Nightly News. "There is a kind of political jihad against Dan Rather and CBS News that is quite outrageous," Brokaw said. "I don't think you ever judge a man by one event in his career," Jennings said. Variety and the New York Daily News sum it up...

How Accurate Are The Focus Groups?

With the talk of Frank Luntz's focus-grouping on MSNBC, this segment from Reliable Sources is worth noting:

HOWARD KURTZ: ...CNNfn, during the debate had like these people in Ohio, undecided voters, hooked up to people meters and they were twisting the dials, and they actually ran like a stock market ticker, the lines across -- not across their faces, but across the candidates' podiums as it was going on. Isn't that kind of a stunt? MICHELLE COTTLE: Yeah. Of course it's a stunt. I mean, the idea that you can take a roomful of people who -- and some of these people obviously lean one way or the other, even if they're telling you they're not. They know what to say to get into these focus groups. And it's all kind of good gimmick for TV.

Here's the full transcript...

> Media Matters says "several media outlets" -- including NBC -- "turned to skewed focus groups to purportedly determine" which candidate won the first debate. The liberal group says an NBC/MSNBC Florida focus group featured "four registered Republicans, one independent, and no registered Democrats." More...

Luntz Says MSNBC Buckled To "Political Pressure"

MSNBC focus grouper (and conservative) Frank Luntz says the network had spent $30,000 preparing for post-debate focus groups, then cancelled them after a Media Matters campaign. "I think they buckled to political pressure," he tells Howard Kurtz, noting that he hasn't worked for the GOP since 2001. "For me, nothing is more important than getting it right," Luntz says...
> MSNBC spokesperson Jeremy Gaines tells Kurtz "we made a decision not to use focus groups as part of our debate coverage. This decision had nothing to do with Frank's past work or politics."
> Earlier: Is MSNBC Canning Conservative Pollster Luntz?

Media Is "A Big Blur," Critic Says

Michael Hill examined the 'Media Circus' in the Baltimore Sun Sunday: "It is all now a big blur - Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Paula Zahn, Brit Hume, Ted Koppel, George Stephanopolus, Maureen Dowd, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, Jon Stewart, Ann Coulter - so much so that it is too much trouble to try to keep straight who is trying to keep some standards of objectivity and who is trying to persuade."