Archives: April 2007

Headline News is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle again, with a second “Exposed” special by Glenn Beck.

His first special, about “The Extremist Agenda” last November, brought Beck “his best ratings ever.” He had “the #1 cable show in the demo for the night.”

CNN is running another big ad campaign for “Exposed.” The ad in the upper right is running on Drudge. “Climate of Fear” premieres Wednesday at 7pm.

It “aims to deflate what Beck perceives as the media hype surrounding global warming and to ask questions about the causes of a warmer planet and possible solutions,” the release says…

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Quoting Phyllis McGrady‘s memo:

“I am pleased to announce that Diane Sawyer and ABC News have been awarded this year’s Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in the Domestic Television category for our reporting on foster care, ‘A Call to Action: Saving Our Children.’ This prestigious award is given for the outstanding reporting of the lives and strife of disadvantaged people in the United States…”

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ABC News has hired Boston Globe writer Rick Klein as senior political reporter and author of the new version of The Note.

The new Note launches on Wednesday. “The Note’s most popular features will now publish three times daily,” ABC says. “The Note’s gathering of the best new stories and blog entries published overnight will be gathered in the Must Reads at 6:30 a.m. The Note, authored by [Klein], will publish at its usual time of 9:00am EST. And each afternoon The Note team will look at what is coming up ahead tomorrow in politics in The Note’s Sneak Peek.”

Howard Kurtz profiles NBC News president Steve Capus:

“In the space of seven days this month, the once lesser-known executive found himself in the maelstrom of two emotionally charged, fiercely debated controversies: whether Don Imus should remain on the air and whether Seung Hui Cho’s final recorded words should be broadcast to the world.”

It’s a must-read. Capus says two weeks in the limelight was more than enough: “I’m happy to go back to worrying about coverage costs…”

“The departures of Katie Couric and Charles Gibson for evening anchor jobs last year left” Matt Lauer “as the king of morning television,” the AP’s David Bauder writes. “Although the transition to a new “Today” hasn’t been flawless, Lauer has assumed his role with quiet authority and skill. No one really comes close.”

Bauder points to Lauer’s handling of the Imus controversy and the Virginia Tech shootings as example. “He is a very underrated interviewer,” says former NBC News President Neal Shapiro…

Lauer wasn’t made available for an interview…

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick writes: “Did Dateline Push Cho Too Far?”

Twelve hours before Cho Seung-Hui‘s killing spree, “Dateline NBC devoted its entire show to telling the story of psychotic murderer Robert Hyde,” he says. “Hyde’s story, it turned out, was roughly the same as Cho’s life story, except for the killing part. Cho hadn’t killed anyone, not yet.”

Here’s the rest. Mushnick wonders: “Did NBC’s show, the night before, serve as his prompt?”

“Former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele (R-MD) has joined FOX News Channel as a political contributor,” brother blog FishbowlDC reports…

> Flashback: Three weeks ago, the Politico said Steele was in talks with CNN…

A couple weeks ago, I asked: Where in the world can Lauer still go?

Matt Lauer kicked off the latest installment of his “Where In The World?” series today. But it wasn’t the most exciting debut — he was at the Boeing assembly plant near Seattle.

“What happened to Matt Lauer’s around the world adventures? Everett, Washington??,” an e-mailer asks, calling it “lame.”

Lauer had to give a disclaimer that the engine he was standing on was made my NBC’s parent company. (It led another e-mailer to ask: “How much did Boeing pay for its three hour commercial on the Today Show this morning?”)

An e-mailer wonders: “Why did Today bring in Tom Brokaw to interview George Tenet about his book this morning? Don’t get me wrong, I love Tom, but why didn’t they have Meredith Vieira take the big interview while Matt is on his world trip?”

Today had the first live interview with Tenet, following last night’s 60 Minutes segment. The Early Show also aired portions of the 60 Minutes interview that didn’t run last night…

ABC News “political analyst” Mark Halperin is joining Time “as an editor-at-large and senior political analyst effective May 3,” the magazine announced today.

The press release says he’ll continue to analyze for ABC…