Politics

Former CBS and NBC News anchor Katie Couric has extended an “open invitation” to Fox News contributor ad former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin to appear on her upcoming daytime talk show.

The Orlando Sentinel‘s Hal Boedeker caught up with Couric as she made some publicity rounds in the Florida city:

“She has an open invitation to come talk to me,” Couric said during a stop Monday in Orlando. “I’m not sure she’d be interested, but she’d certainly be welcome. She’s a fascinating figure not only on the political scene but in popular culture.”

It was Couric’s interview of Palin–featuring the new infamous “What newspapers do you read?” question–that made international news during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

Since that time there has been no love lost between Couric and Palin. When Couric guest-anchored “Good Morning America” a few weeks ago, Palin guest-hosted on rival “Today.”

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Reporters assigned to the Romney campaign took to Twitter this morning after press aides and the U.S. Secret Service attempted to block the press from asking the GOP presidential candidate questions while he worked the rope line.

Romney campaign and Secret Service attempted to keep press off ropeline so no q’s to candidate on Bain

— Jim Acosta (@jimacostacnn) May 16, 2012

Most reporters still made it to the ropeline at the Romney event, despite USSS and campaign asking us to leave and stop, but no q’s answered — Emily Friedman (@EmilyABC) May 16, 2012

A spokesperson for the campaign told Politico, “This was an error on the part of the campaign staff and volunteers. We have reminded them that press is allowed on the rope line to record the governor’s interactions with voters.”

CNN’s video of the incident is after the jump.

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France’s new first lady is familiar to many in France, but not because she’s been on the arm of France’s incoming president for 7 years, it’s because she’s been on television at least that long. The New York Times catches up with Valérie Trierweiler, the twice divorced companion of Pres. François Hollande. Trierweiler has worked as a political journalist for Paris Match and, later, on TV on the privately-owned network Direct 8. And she plans to be the first French first lady to keep her day job. Which means covering the Hollande presidency, which seems to be just fine in France.

Ms. Trierweiler stopped covering politics for Paris Match in 2005 but continued her political programs on Direct 8, something that is not widely regarded in France as posing a potential conflict of interest.

“We need rules, they exist, but hypocrisy reigns,” she told Le Journal du Dimanche in 2010. “All journalists have opinions, they all vote, they all have sympathy, friendships. But they’re not asked to justify them. We believe in their integrity, we trust them and we’re right to do so.”

CNN’s Hala Gorani reported on Trierweiler. Her story after the jump…

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CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” which is still trying to gain traction among viewers, is trying to spice up the show by adding a recurring segment featuring a “Political Strike Team” (Note: not to be confused with The Best Political Team on Television, which is different, although some people are on both TBPOT and “Strike Team,” if that makes any sense).

What is the Political Strike Team? “The best political reporters and independent political observers that OutFront has put together, that will weigh in on issues that matter to undecided, independent and swing voters,” CNN says. Read about all the members of the team here.

“OutFront” has had an “Economic Strike Team” since shortly after launching, though the new group is obviously meant to be election-centric in this election year.

That said, we noticed a key flaw in the first question posed to the team. It asked the team about President Obama’s visit to “The View,” which is “part of a week-long appeal to women, including a commencement speech at Barnard College. Will it work or backfire?”

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Before taping an appearance on “The View” Monday, Pres. Obama delivered the commencement address at Barnard College in New York City. The president implored the graduates not to lose faith in American institutions — including the media: “Every day you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal.”

“No wonder that faith in our institutions has never been lower, particularly when good news doesn’t get the same kind of ratings as bad news anymore.”

CNN “Reliable Sources” host Howard Kurtz challenges MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall over last week’s heated interview with journalist Tim Carney.

In case you missed it, Hall asked Carney about the recent Washington Post story about Mitt Romney‘s high school days, and Carney argued that it was not a big deal, but rather something hyped up by the media, including MSNBC. The debate that followed ended with Hall cutting off Carney’s mic.

Kurtz said that Carney’s argument was a perfectly reasonable one to make, and that Hall should have considered it.

WATCH:

NBC’s Natalie Morales has signed on to moderate an election-year town hall addressing issues specific to U.S. Latinos.

The special, tentatively titled “We Decide: 2012,” will air in August on nuvoTV, the first English-language cable network geared toward U.S. Latinos. Topics include unemployment, healthcare, education and immigration.

“Mainstream media has not adequately addressed the issues facing America’s Latino community in the context of this presidential election,” says nuvoTV CEO Michael Schwimmer. Schwimmer says the town hall, “will provide a unique venue for Latinos to amplify their voice across the country in English, so that the widest possible audience can appreciate Latinos perspectives on the issues.”

C-SPAN is teaming up with the White House Historical Association for a series of features examining the public and private lives of on US First Ladies.

“First Ladies: Influence and Image” will feature every first lady from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. The network will also collaborate with the WHHA for a website to accompany the series, which will feature original video and historic letters and documents.

The series is slated for a February 2013 debut on C-SPAN in primetime. Feature producer Mark Farkas will serve as executive producer.

There was quite a war of words on MSNBC this afternoon between anchor Tamron Hall and Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney. The topic of discussion was the recent Washington Post story about Mitt Romney‘s high school days, and the media onslaught that followed.

Carney argued that the story was irrelevant, and should take a back seat to more serious issues. Hall responded by arguing that the story is relevant to the national conversation, and that MSNBC was hardly leading the way in talking about the issue.

WATCH (it gets good around 5:15):

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Aside from expedited timing, President Obama’s bombshell endorsement of same-sex marriage to ABC’s Robin Roberts on Wednesday was business as usual in terms of White House media manipulation.

So says Charles Bierbauer, Dean of the University of South Carolina’s School of Mass Communications and former senior White House correspondent for CNN.

Once Vice President Biden screwed the pooch on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, the White House went into scramble mode to select the venue – and correspondent — for Obama’s guaranteed blockbuster. It didn’t take long for an offer to be made.

“These things are done in a subtle way,” says Bierbauer, who covered Presidents Reagan and Bush (41) from 1984 to ‘93. “In a sense, you’re always manipulated, but you go into it knowing that. It’s all a negotiation.

“I could imagine the White House saying to ABC, ‘Our preference for a correspondent is Robin Roberts, or we’ll give this to another network.’ It probably happens more than we know. or the White House would care to admit.”

The White House specifically requested Roberts, according to an ABC executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Networks always have the option of saying no, but that doesn’t happen, according to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The President of the United States can gain access to any media outlet and any program he chooses, on the assumption he will make news. The news value and ratings potential are so high, nobody will turn it down.”

‘Good Morning America’ and Robin Roberts were the perfect choices for this president at this time, in Jamieson’s view.

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