MSNBC

Morning Mika Brzezinski went on the “Late Show with David Letterman” last night recounting growing up as the daughter of the National Security Adviser. Which meant a childhood of meeting world leaders including Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, Pope John Paul II, and tapping Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the shins with a golf cart. And she also saw Pres. Jimmy Carter in a Speedo. Watch:

An unfortunate lower third appeared during a tease on MSNBC this morning. Thomas Roberts (did you hear, he has a cameo in the biggest movie opening ever?) was promoting two stories: French president Nicolas Sarkozy‘s loss at the French polls yesterday, and the Colombian prostitute at the center of the Secret Service scandal. And, this happened. It was on screen for about two seconds, before the proper “Au Revior Austerity” lower third appeared.

‘Tis commencement season, and so without further ado, we present TVNewser’s fifth annual list of who’s-speaking-where-and-when at America’s colleges and universities (in alphabetical order):

ABC/CNN’s Christiane Amanpour: University of Southern California - Annenberg School of Journalism,  May 11

NBC’s Tom Brokaw: Arizona State University , May 3…Vanderbilt University (TN) – Senior Class Day, May 10

FNC’s SVP of News Editorial Michael Clemente: Warren County Community College (NJ), May 19

ABC’s Katie Couric:  University of Virginia, May 20

NBC’s Tom Costello: University of Colorado, Journalism & Mass Communication, May 10.

NBC’s David Gregory: Emerson College (MA), May 14

CNN/CBS’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta: University of Michigan, previously on April 28

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie: Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY), May 13

MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry: Wellesley College (MA), May 25

PBS’s Maria Hinojosa: Simmons College (MA) – Morning Commencement, May 18

NBC’s Lester Holt: Pepperdine University (CA), previously on April 28

PBS’s Gwen Ifill: Holy Names University (CA), May 12… Bates College (ME), May 26

More after the jump, including Koppel, Lehrer, Sawyer, Schieffer, and three Williamses (Brian, Juan, and Pete)

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Just a week after playing the role of Chet Huntley in a live episode of “30 Rock,” Alec Baldwin was back at the anchor desk last night, jumping in for Lawrence O’Donnell during a guest appearance on MSNBC’s “The Last Word.”

“Alec Baldwin is here and I’m telling you, I have no idea when he will seize the microphone next,” O’Donnell joked. “Anything could happen.” WATCH:

MSNBC was the #2 cable news network for the month of April, delivering a clear win over CNN in both Total Day and Primetime. Compared to April 2011, however, the network is down -5% in Total Viewers and -9% in A25-54 viewers in primetime. In Total Day, MSNBC is flat in Total Viewers and -5% in the demographic.

The ratings for April, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 754,000 Total Viewers / 236,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 425,000 Total Viewers / 139,000 A25-54

“Morning Joe” continues to grow in younger viewers, posting a +13% increase in the A25-54 demographic compared to last year.

In primetime, “Hardball with Chris Matthews” is up in Total Viewers compared to last year at both 5 and 7pmET. Al Sharpton‘s “PoliticsNation” is also up +21% in Total Viewers. At 1opmET, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” is up +7% in Total Viewers and +4% in A25-54 viewers.

MSNBC’s weekend morning programming — anchored by Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry and Alex Witt — was another bright spot for the network. All three programs are up in Total Viewers compared to the same hours in April 2011 — Hayes’ program is up +14%, Harris-Perry’s program is up +7%, and Witt’s program is up +10%. Year-over-year growth was even stronger on Sundays, when the three programs were up +30%, +23%, and +14%, respectively.

The full release from MSNBC is after the jump.

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While many Washington media types were winding down their WHCD party-hopping with Sunday brunches, a few of the party-goers hit the Sunday shows. Not long after MSNBC host and after-party bartender Rachel Maddow put away her cocktail shaker, she was mixing it up with GOP analyst and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos on “Meet the Press.” At issue: what women earn vs. what men earn.

“It’s weird that you’re interupting me and not letting me make my point, because we usually get along so well,” said Maddow, who at one point said Castellanos was being “condescending.”

Watch:

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The Obama re-election campaign has a new 7-minute short film called simply “Forward.” The ad begins with the economic meltdown in 2008, with clips from TV news reports by CBS’s Anthony Mason, NBC’s Lester Holt, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and others.

While declaring, “Republicans were waging a campaign to tear the president down,” images of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh flash on the screen.

“Then there was the victory no one saw coming,” says the film’s announcer, while showing clips from NBC News’s special report from Brian Williams the night Osama Bin Laden was killed, with more clips from CNN, CBS and ABC.

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, Joe Scarborough asked, “Really? That’s it, huh? So is Fox’s slogan going to be — or Mitt Romney‘s slogan going to be ‘Balanced?’ I mean, he’s taking MSNBC’s slogan!”

“Lean forward was taken,” said Politico’s Mike Allen.

See the ad after the jump…

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There are demands for an apology from Fox News analyst Monica Crowley after she sent this Tweet Thursday just after 1pmET:

To a man?”Sandra Fluke Announces Engagement”

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) April 26, 2012

Crowley followed up with, “I love exposing the Left’s total lack of a sense of humor.” By 2:30, the term #CrowleyJokes was a top trending topic on Twitter.

But Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student who got an apology from Rush Limbaugh after he called her a “slut” on his radio show, didn’t find it funny. And she isn’t asking for an apology from Crowley. But she says Crowley does owe an apology to the LGBT community for a Tweet that was “homophobic and offensive.” (Video after the jump)

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz‘s ended his show last night talking with Fluke about it. “It’s certainly not a way I wanted my engagement be treated,” said Fluke, who got engaged to her boyfriend of 8 years. “What really bothers me about is the blatant homophobia in the statement.”

Crowley has been with Fox News on and off since the network launched. In 2004 she co-hosted a show on MSNBC called “Connected: Coast to Coast” with on Ron Reagan.

> Update: This afternoon, Crowley apologized on Twitter:

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The New America Foundation held an event this week chronicling the 2012 campaign, and one of the panels focused on the cable news channels, Fox News and MSNBC. Reason magazine editor Matt Welch and The New Republic editor Frank Foer were joined by New York contributor Gabriel Sherman, who is also writing a book about Fox News.

Welch argued that the partisan bickering we see on cable news is a “return to the normal state of affairs.”

After World War II, the journalism industry decided to scrap the sensationalism of Hearst’s era, Welch recounted. “They suppressed everything tabloid-y about American media for a long time,” forgetting that “people want to talk smack about politics the same way they want to about sports.” The resulting media environment felt artificial, Welch said. Outlets like Fox and MSNBC “make it more interesting and competitive, a richer ecosystem.”

Sherman meanwhile argued that Fox News had cracked the code when it comes to cable news:
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On NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” last night, MSNBC host Al Sharpton was a guest. Sharpton talked about the National Action Network and the Trayvon Martin shooting, but he also talked politics.

Regarding Mitt Romney‘s VP search, he said:

“He reminds me of this guy Spanky I went to school with who couldn’t get a date to the prom.”

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