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15 Oct 2010 13:00

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Politics: Posted without comment: Dylan Ratigan’s epic “Morning Joe” rant

Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

18 Aug 2010 20:40

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Politics: Biggest surprise of Iraq troops leaving: Rachel Maddow’s there

  • Whoa, how did that happen? Well, a lot of reasons. NBC and MSNBC nailed an exclusive in getting time with the last combat troops to leave Iraq (kudos to embedded reporter Richard Engelfor the scoop), and to celebrate, they had Rachel Maddow secretly leave for Iraq without telling anyone. Which, beyond surreal, is kind of awesome. Good show, MSNBC. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2010 00:42

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Politics: WTF: Keith Olbermann vs. Glenn Beck on “Ground Zero Mosque”

  • Not-so Kool Keith vents Keith Olbermann was very much in Edward R. Murrow mode for his “Ground Zero Mosque” special statement on Monday night, and while it was largely over-the-top, he made some good points, and an entertaining “This is America, dammit!” pitch for religious freedom.
  • Glenn guffaws, and then some Apparently, the only part of the entire twelve-minute statement Beck heard was the “This is America, Dammit!” part, because he kept replaying it over and over, and didn’t tackle the argument at all. He chose, instead, to ridicule Olbermann, saying nobody watches his show.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • 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

15 Jul 2010 10:58

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Politics: KeithOlbermnann.com: The latest part of the MSNBC Web vortex

  • KeithOlbermann.com, named for MSNBC’s most-well-known personality, was just bought by the folks at The Daily Caller, a site run by former MSNBC guy Tucker Carlson. It plans to write commentary specifically about Keith Olbermann. To top it all off, we found out about this story on Mediaite, a site owned by former MSNBC personality (and current NBC News personality) Dan Abrams. It’s like inside baseball on inside baseball – which is even more ironic because Keith Olbermann’s a huge baseball fan. 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

28 Jun 2010 21:10

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Politics: Dave Weigel: Proof that people can land on their feet quickly

  • thursday A bunch of the Washington Post blogger’s right-trashing JournoList messages are leaked.
  • friday Weigel, who blogged about conservatives, dramatically resigns from the Post.
  • mondayKeith Olbermann reports that Weigel was hired by MSNBC. Perfect fit, am I rite? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 May 2010 20:59

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Politics: Rand Paul upset that he only got a day on top of the mountain

  • I thought I was supposed to get a honeymoon. When does my honeymoon start after my victory?
  • Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul • Talking to our boy Wolf Blitzer about how his last couple of days went after winning the Republican primary. It hasn’t been good. He’s been taking heat left and … well, mostly left … for comments that he made regarding the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the last couple of days. He suggested that businesses shouldn’t have to allow everyone in. And who does he blame? The messenger. “I think what troubles me is that the news cycle has gotten out of control,” he continued. “For several hours on a major news network [MSNBC] yesterday, they reported repeatedly that I was for repealing the Civil Rights Act. That is not only not true, never been my position, but is an out and out lie. And they repeated it all day long.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Mar 2010 22:00

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Politics: Rachel Maddow’s skinny on Daylight Saving Time: It’s useless

  • The idea for this clip is pretty goofy, but it’s interesting to note the misconceptions that have come up regarding the falling back and springing forward. Farmers actually dislike the concept of Daylight Saving Time. FYI: This morning, you’ll be springing forward an hour.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Feb 2010 22:41

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Politics: Max Headroom: Joe Biden’s smile kinda weirds us out a little


  • No second-guessing Dick Cheney’s daughter is gay, so his take on this might be different from many conservatives, but he’s willing to trust the military’s judgment on allowing gays in the military, calling it a “generational thing.” Good show, Dick.

  • Biden gnashes Cheney “Let me choose my words carefully here.” After being asked on about Dick Cheney’s take on Obama’s security, Joe Biden basically rips Cheney a new one, noting the underwear bomber was treated just like the shoe bomber.

  • Eye-rooooool A mini-war broke out between Fox News and MSNBC over Chris Wallace’s eye-roll after showing Sarah Palin’s interview on Fox News last week. Wallace quickly compares Joe Scarborough to “Son of Sam,” which is awesome.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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