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29 Jan 2012 23:09

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Politics: Conservative columnist: Newt, please shut up

  • Time is not Newt Gingrich’s friend, because the more time he has, the more he talks.
  • George Will on “This Week”• Regarding the hazardous effects of Newt Gingrich’s prolonged loquacity. Will was reacting in part to Gingrich’s allegation, made earlier on the same show, that Mitt Romney is a “maniacal liar.”  Just last month, Gingrich had pledged to run “a positive campaign focused on our country’s future;” guess that’s easy to say when you’re the frontrunner.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Aug 2011 21:39

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U.S.: Out-of-context Perry quote leads to race controversy

  • controversy On Tuesday, Rick Perry gave a speech in which he referred to a “big black cloud” hanging over America. The propagation of this quote by Ed Schultz and ABC News led to charges of racism against Perry.
  • explanation Both the Ed Schultz edit and the ABC quotation excluded Perry’s full comments, wherein he makes it explicitly clear that the “big black cloud” to which he refers is the nation’s debt. Not, as Schultz claimed, the President. source
  • » There are several different elements to this. First and foremost, two respected media outlets provided a half-quote when they should have provided a full quote. The intent (if any) behind the ABC article is debatable—they later updated it to make Perry’s comments clearer—but Ed Schultz was being flatly disingenuous when he said that “[the] black cloud Perry is talking about is President Barack Obama.” It wasn’t, and that was clear in the original quote. However, it is legitimate to ask whether or not the phrase “big black cloud” was consciously chosen to evoke—however subconsciously—racial imagery. The whole strategy behind race-baiting is to suggest race with a veil of plausible deniability, and while it’s not at all clear that Perry was doing this, it’s at least a fair question to ask. What do you think?
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2011 11:26

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Culture: Katie Couric’s openly gunning to be the new Oprah

  • It’ll be sort of a little bit of what Oprah did. Obviously, no one can ever fill Oprah’s shoes, but some of the things that she did on her show, some of the things we used to do on the Today show.
  • Katie Couric • Describing to Jay Leno her plans for her new show, which will hit the airwaves around September of next year. She signed a contract with ABC on this matter yesterday, and her right-hand man for the show is Jeff Zucker, a man who can get thrown out of NBC during a huge merger, but can’t make coffee. Her transition comes at the perfect time — her main competition is pretty much gone, her rep for news reporting faltered with her time on CBS, and with the ABC deal, she gets to keep her toes in the news side if she so desires. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Nov 2010 20:17

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Politics: Andrew Breitbart learns about professional embarrassment

  • Instead of clarifying your role, you posted a blog on Sunday evening in which you continued to claim a bigger role in our coverage.  As we are still unable to agree on your role, we feel it best for you not to participate.
  • ABC News Digital Executive Producer Andrew Morse • Telling Andrew Breitbart that he’s no longer wanted for election night coverage. He blew it because he kept claiming he was playing a much larger part than he actually was. So now they just ditched him. It’s about time he fell flat on his face, y’know.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Oct 2010 10:42

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Culture: Coming soon: A TV-series remake of “Romeo & Juliet.” Yuck

  • Directed by the director of Twilight, Maybe? God, even worse! ABC has committed itself to creating not a contemporary version of the classic Shakespeare tragedy, but one set in the time of Shakespeare. And they want Catherine Hardwicke, the director of “Twilight” to shoot it. Good God. Why would anyone do this to the world? Plus, have they even considered how hard it’s going to be to work around the major plot point of the play, you know, that the lead characters offed themselves at the very end? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2010 10:37

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Politics: Is ABC blowing a golden opportunity with Jake Tapper?

  • He topped “Meet the Press” in the ratings on Sunday. Months ago, ABC decided to take their political roundtable show, “This Week,” and give it to Christiane Amanpour, a solid international journalist who might be a questionable choice for hosting a national political show. In that time, Jake Tapper, the interim host, has grown ever-more popular thanks to his fresh, social-media-friendly approach to the program. Now, his show, which ends in August, is topping even “Meet the Press” among political shows. Mediaite says they should just give him his own show. We agree. It seems like he could do a lot with it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2010 10:27

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Culture: Three early predictions of what will happen after the “Lost” finale

  • one The series will end,
    leaving a gaping
    hole in ABC’s fairly
    solid schedule.
  • two Fans will remain
    incredibly disappointed
    and ask why they
    wasted their lives.
  • three Some other show
    will take its place next
    season and it will be
    forgotten. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Apr 2010 23:20

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Biz, Culture: With the end of “Lost,” ABC wins big time on the ad front

  • $900,000 the current average rate for ads for the “Lost” finale; that’s really high
  • 400% the amount ABC gets to mark up the ad slots that night source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2010 11:01

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Politics: Polling drama: One pollster calls out another, calls for a duel

  • Using all negative statements, rather than a mix of negative and positive ones, reflects another non-standard approach, one that can further bias responses.
  • ABC Director of Polling Gary Langer • Regarding the problems he found with a Harris Interactive survey on “wingnuts” who dislike President Obama. The survey, which suggests as many as 40 percent of people think Obama is a socialist (among other things), also uses the leading phrase “here are some things people have said about President Obama,” with Langer finds particularly troublesome. He calls it “a highly manipulative approach to questionnaire design,” the kind of thing that persuades many respondents into biases. Harris Interactive must be smartin’ about this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Mar 2010 11:09

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Culture: False advertising: Christiane Amanpour isn’t joining ABC this week

  • Actually, she’s joining it at the end of April. The longtime CNN anchor, famous for her international coverage, will helm “This Week,” replacing George Stephanopoulos. It’s a bit of a change, but just look at the comments on this CNN post. Amanpour is universally loved and probably won’t damage the “This Week” brand. CNN, on the other hand, is looking like a rickety old ship that just lost its first mate. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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