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THE LATEST BLOG
Phelps' Media Tidbits ...
Local News As We Know It!!
A Musical Definition of News
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Saturday, August 26, 2006
Friday, August 25th
I love Friday. No, it's not about end of a workweek, or another delicious weekend of boring BBQ's. Especially as
a journalist, I finally get to hear from real reporters, and hear about their real reporting.
It's the bane of many PBSers ... Washington Week In Review. PBS stations have been trying to dump this program
for years ... it's old, it's stodgy, it's talking heads, it's inside the beltway, it's not "good television." All correct.
It's just important.
Granted ... less so than it used to be. But that's mainly a transitional issue. The New Guard is in place,
a decade or two less experienced and not as well known for pithy insights as the Old Guard. The often-grisly Old Farts
have indeed given way to the glib, more flashy and well-coiffed new generation. The logic is inescapable: as the
stories get shorter, the soundbites a matter of seconds, the internet-based attention span fleeting, we should all want
to take a moment to actually LISTEN to the only professional group overtly committed to searching for all the viewpoints and
facts, then bringing their years of experience and insight to bear on the crucial stories of the day and week.
Here's some heresy ... I think the program should be an hour long.
Of course, we suffer from much less access to the "insight stars" like Tom Friedman, Liz Bumiller, Dana Priest, John
Burns, Ken Auletta ... probably for internal political reasons, since these are all actually Boomers and at the height of
their powers. But we also know that political correctness knows no bounds. And regulars like Gloria Borger, Dan
Balz, Martha Raddatz, Doyle McManus, and Mike Duffy do a fine, if predictable, job even as you have to furrow through the
fluff to get at their insights.
This is where journalism shines ... beyond the shoe leather, the simplistic black & white of Newshour, the carefully
constructed beauty of CBS Sunday morning, the equally carefully contrived productions at Dateline, 20/20, and 48 Hours ...
what we should be interested in paying for -- in time and attention -- is real, tough, demanding journalism, practiced day
in and day out, accumulating into a penetrating view of what's really happening and why. That's true democratic communications.
We need more of it ... much more.
*****
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 24th
Not surprising ... I had written a fascinating blog tonight,
starting with the sayonara of Rob Corddry from the Daily Show ... and then my handy-dandy laptop ATE the entire thing!!
So, here's what's left:
Posted On: Mon, 2006-05-22 18:37 by neosis
Fake news correspondent Rob Corddry will be leaving The Daily Show to star in a Fox series this fall
titled The Winner, produced by Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy). “My (Daily Show) days are now officially numbered,” Corddry said
today. “I just found out last Friday.”
Corddry says the show is difficult to easily summarize in high-concept terms. “It’s not one of those
shows that can be explained with one sentence,” he said. “But it’s about a thirtysomething slacker, living at home with his
parents, who gets reacquainted with his childhood sweetheart and therefore tries to gain life experience to be worthy of her.
“It’s sort of like a weird Wonder Years because I look back on this experience as a 50-year-old man talking about these days
in 1994. “So while kind of confusing, very funny,” he said. “The word ‘vagina’ appears twice. That’s the kind of thing we’re
taking about.”
Corddry hasn’t yet finalized an exit strategy from the hit comedy news show, he said. “We’ll see,”
he said. “They have a way of keeping the family together, so I can’t say next month will be my last on The Daily Show, but
it probably will be for a while.” “It’s time for me. And I realized this,” Corddry said, referring specifically to the work
of upcoming Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones.
“I was talking to my wife the other day and I said, ‘I can’t do these field pieces any more. Jason
Jones has raised the bar too high. I just can’t say the things he says to people.’ “And my wife looked at me and took my hand
and said ‘Rob, don’t try and keep up with the Joneses.’ “I leave it in Jason Jones’s very manly hands,” Corddry said. “Very
firm, sexy, sexy hands.”
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Wednesday, August 23.
The buildup to September 5th is getting almost, well, exciting! I mean, geez, Katie's arrival,
Sam Champion AND Chris Cuoma BOTH join GMA ... and then another fabulous season of prime-time series' get underway.
Then about a week later, Meredith joins TODAY. Now THAT's cause for celebration. Although, there is this tidbit
from the
Boston Globe:
"Stupid is my middle name," says Meredith Vieira. "I
would wear a costume the first day." Suzanne Ryan asks Katie Couric's "Today" replacement if she'd like to head
up the network hierarchy one day. "Never. My ambition is to keep my kids out of prison."
Atta girl, Meredith ... let's keep things interesting!
Oh ...and don't forget that in the middle of all this is the REALLY BIG 5th anniversary
of 9/11!!
*****
I assume many missed the article in the New York Observer (which really does have excellent media
coverage, and insightful as well) on NBC's Brian Williams and how he feels about all the hoopla in TV Newsland. The
article starts out with Brian saying, "Touch my Peabody!" Really.
*****
Ya gotta love CBS and its continuing classy treatment of ole Dan Rather. They're doing a one-hour
"remembrance" of him (actually a re-edit and enhancement of a previous doc on their former star) which they're scheduled for
prime-time ... but buried on the Friday evening before Labor Day weekend! Man, by the time CBS gets done with this guy,
we're actually going to end up feeling sorry for him! And now there's this from the New York Post:
DAN Rather better hope next week's Jets game doesn't go long. A one-hour tribute to the former
CBS anchorman is scheduled to air next Friday (buried on the cusp of Labor Day weekend). But it will be pre-empted here in
Rather's hometown because of a pre-season Jets game airing on Ch. 2. WCBS officials say the tribute will probably air
after the game, which is scheduled to run until 10 p.m. But if the game goes into overtime, the tribute could be pushed
back into the wee hours of the morning after CBS' late night schedule.
Station officials say no decision has
been made yet.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tuesday, August 22nd
It's hard to know whether it is dumber to respond to the Karr/Jon Benet Ramsey situation or not to. Unlike the rest of my family, it sure seems like news to me. Not a lead story, to be
sure, and absolutely not worthy of wall-to-wall live
coverage. But cable news cutting to live courtroom coverage of his extradition hearing seems to me to be perfectly legitimate and useful coverage. Other than occasional updates, my main interest
at this point is John Ramsey and the ongoing appalling excess of the media in hounding
"news" subjects, followed by interest in how the Boulder, CO authorities so blew this
case. The latter is clearly part of having grown up in Boulder, back in the 50's and 60's when it
was still a lovely, pleasant little college town. Other than that, I hope they'll let us know whether he really did
it or not. Period.
A bad day yesterday for me and Fox. First, at a college faculty
orientation seminar another faculty member actually referred to a Fox program that
raised a serious issue in her mind. Despite the preposterousness of her premise, I resisted a
hiss. Then, last evening, I actually found myself watching "Vanished" on Fox, a series pilot. "West Wing" this
ain't, but on the other end of the scale neither is it "Commander-in-Chief". Perfectly
good production values, a vaguely plausible plot, but not much sign of intelligence
in the script. Undoubtedly, that will be easily compensated for in the regular hints of nudity
and strutting underwear. Foxxed twice ... in one day.
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