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12 Sep 2010 02:18

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Politics: CNN asks dumb, controversial poll question about gay TV characters

  • bad CNN’s Headline News recently had a report on the “surge” of gay characters on TV, and their potential impact on culture. The anti-gay Media Research Center was quoted.
  • worse With the online version of the story, they included a poll asking: “Is the surge in gay TV characters ‘bad for society’?” GLAAD rightly got them to take the poll down, but the article is still up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2010 20:46

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Politics: Craigslist dude Craig Newmark incredibly pissed CNN ambushed him

  • If Amber had done her homework, she would have known ambushing me with questions I am not qualified to answer, or even the right person to ask, would not get CNN’s viewers the accurate information they deserve.
  • Craigslist founder Craig Newmark • Regarding getting ambushed about his service by CNN reporter Amber Lyon for a report about sex trafficking, and then folding under pressure. Newmark’s silence in the report, which ran a month ago, was deafening, without any fair explanation why he might struggle answering these questions. Simple answer: Uh, he’s not the CEO and works a menial customer service job with his own service. This is intentional, because he’s a terrible manager. Good thing, as a writer, he does a very good job explaining himself and why Lyon’s attack was all wrong. Do your homework before you ambush. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2010 11:25

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U.S.: CNN posts vaguest story in the history of journalism

  • A bunch of people were booted off a flight after “a comment” was made. What was the comment? Who said it? And why was it alarming enough that they had to be booted off a flight at Dulles International Airport? Why is this story the most read item on CNN.com right now? There’s like no information here and it says basically nothing at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 19:57

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U.S.: Snaps: Iowa’s broken Lake Delhi dam – a major flyover state story

  • After the Tennessee flooding in may, the mainstream media was criticized. Why? Because they underplayed a major tragedy that affected a lot of people – but people in a smaller state not on the East or West Coast. So, with that in mind, here’s a quick comparison of the coverage the dam breakage in Iowa has been getting so far. As of 8:29 p.m. EST, it’s not on the Reuters or BBC front pages at all. The New York Times only just put it up moments ago, and they’ve buried it. How about other sites?
  • MSNBC: Main imageMSNBC: Main imageIt’s the lead story at MSNBC, complete with a very dramatic photo to top it all off – pretty much the kind of play you’d expect.
  • CNN: Lead story (Breaking news)CNN appears to be pulling out all the stops for this story, asking for reader reaction to go with the photos on the site.

 

  • Washington Post: Lead imageIt seems like it might initially easy to miss, but the story, complete with dramatic photos, is on the front of the site.
  • Google News: Lead itemGoogle’s algorithms put it right up top, with the oil spill and the Afghanistan story. Earlier today, the German festival stampede was up top.

 

  • AOL News: Secondary leadThe site we occasionally freelance for chose to go with stampede at the German festival instead of the flooding as lead, though it’s up there.
  • Fox News: Secondary leadFox News had it on their front page, but it was below the captured NATO soldiers story and tied to other rain-related stories.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 23:42

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Politics: Rick Sanchez’s journalistic high horse rings hollow to South Florida

  • One thing you may not know about Rick Sanchez is, before he became the iconic anchor who obsessed over finding interesting tweets, he was a longtime if-it-bleeds-it-leads-style anchor in South Florida, often focusing on the most lurid, ratings-grab stories he could find – which reportedly hit a peak during the overblown Elian Gonzalez era. At least thats how Broward-Palm Beach New Times puts it. So, the irony of him talking about journalistic integrity, as he does in the Fox News-chiding clip above, is a little striking to folks in the Miami area. (Thanks Billy Wachsberger) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

15 Jul 2010 11:02

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Culture: Piers Morgan, the new Larry King? He could make bank by signing

  • $18 million for that British dude on “America’s Got Talent” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2010 19:23

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Politics: Protip: If you’re a CNN reporter, don’t praise Hezbollah leaders

Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.. #LebanonSun Jul 04 08:24:22 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Octavia Nasr
octavianasrCNN

  • What was Octavia Nasr thinking? The death of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a controversial cleric whose life and views are way more complex than this tweet gives them credit for, require more context than 140 characters. Considering her status as CNN’s Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs, it was perhaps too much of an oversight. And as a result, she was fired. “At this point,” said Parisa Khosravi, CNN’s Vice President of international newsgathering, “we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.” Oops. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Jul 2010 11:37

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U.S.: Snaps: The Democratic Republic of Congo oil blast, underplayed?

  • We needed a new feature, and we think we have a pretty good one. Basically, we’re going to take a big story and see how it’s being covered on the front page of major news sites. Is it getting underplayed? Overplayed? This time around, We’re tackling the horrific oil tanker blast in Congo, which is new enough that a lot of people haven’t heard about it (it broke in the middle of the night in the U.S.). Otherwise, it’s a slow news day. On the downside, though, the story has no art, which might hurt its play. Let’s compare:
  • BBC: Top of the pageAs might be expected, considering the nature of the very deadly incident, BBC gave it top-of-the-front-page treatment.
  • CNN: Secondary lead storyWhile it was CNN’s top news story for a while (and worthy of an alert), it was replaced by a story about slain cops.

 

  • New York Times: BuriedThe New York Times, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to give it display play, instead putting it in their wire-stories-only slot.
  • Google News: right at the topGoogle News, which chooses its stories by computer algorithms, gave it much nicer coverage, just above Serena Williams.

 

  • MSNBC: Huge headlineMSNBC.com made the story their main news item with a huge headline, while giving Serena Williams art play off to the side.
  • Fox News: BuriedFox News buried the story even further than the New York Times did, preferring instead to lead with Joe Biden’s visit to Iraq.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2010 20:12

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Culture: Larry King: He has kids young enough to be in little league

  • With this chapter closing I’m looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders.
  • Uber-host Larry King • Letting time (and low ratings) take their course. King, who’s outlasted nearly all of CNN’s on-air talent, ended weeks of speculation about his future and CNN’s overall ratings by stepping aside. He claims he’s going to spend more time with his kids, but will be back for on-air specials. This means that Anderson Cooper will be the only part of CNN’s prime-time left by the fall. We think it was a Lady Gaga hit job. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2010 19:42

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Culture: Larry King’s ending “Larry King Live” (whoa); Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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