Morning Reading List, 04.13.07

Good morning Washington. You think NBC should not have dropped Imus. From a tipster: "check out sudarsan r's front page first person piece in today's washpost. it's incredible." From a tipster: "Re: to drop Imus or to not drop Imus. All the handwringing of late overlooks an important point: Imus isn't funny. Why doesn't the DC press corps acknowledget his point? Or would it just underscore our ongoing insecurities and competitive nature? DC press vying to go on his show reminded me of the odd couple in high school. The hot, straight-A student who dated the dumb jock. She had nothing in common with him. But she lacked the self-confidence to ignore the high school social structure. Popularity trumped common sense. Did anyone who went on Imus REALLY think he was funny or interesting or worth the hype? Or did they just find pleasure in the attention?" A few readers wrote in about Ana Marie Cox's recent piece in time. Said one: "How does someone who essentially made her name by writing about 'ass fucking' moralize about 'childish crudeness?'" Gawker says, "Ana Marie Cox's Damascene conversion involves the voice of Imus saying 'nappy-headed hos.'" "Let us drink to unspeakable pleasures, Madam Speaker" is leading the caption contest with "Dalia, let me give you my surgeon's number. He can fix that" in a close second. An NBC release announced that "Meet The Press with Tim Russert" was number one in "the key demographics women, men and adults" for April 8. "Among the key demographic adults 25-54, the NBC program had a 1.1 rating, +38% more than CBS' 0.8, a +57% lead over ABC's 0.7, and +175% more than FOX's 0.4 rating." An ABC release announced that "Nightline" beat CBS "Late Night with David Letterman" "in both Total Viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic" for the week of April 2. The last time "Nightline" beat "Letterman" "in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 was September 4, 2006. In addition, 'Nightline' grew week-to-week in Total Viewers. 'Letterman' aired original programming last week." The Gallup Organization is looking for Internet Webcast Producer. His Extremeness asks, "Is Dana Perino Ahead Or Behind The Laugher Curve?" Romenesko gives us an Imus round-up: Los Angeles Times: "The radio host should have been fired long before his racist remarks about Rutgers' women's basketball team." Time: "The Imus Fallout: Who Can Say What?" New York Times: "This Time, the Shock Jock's Sidekick Couldn't Shield the Boss" Newsweek: "The Ugly Truth" EJ Dionne on "Saying No To Fox News." AJR: "Kicked to the Curb" Slate: "Pullout Method: How fast can Don Imus' sponsors get away?" "CBS is announcing the creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network, which will include new content deals with online distributors including AOL, Microsoft, CNET, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, and Brightcove, among others. All content will be supported by advertising and free to the consumer." Bloomberg reports, "Cable giant Comcast is buying online movie-ticket seller Fandango and says the companies will create a new Web site for viewing films and television shows. The new Fancast.com will start in the summer and allow users to view shows on demand on television, the Internet or mobile devices." "YouTube to Post Presidential Candidate Videos" Chicago Tribune reports, "InfoWorld, a 29-year-old computer magazine, is publishing its final print copies. Death is attributed to plummeting print revenues and declining readership. The magazine's online version, however, is thriving. Killing off print to focus on online is seen as a growing trend." Reuters reports, "New York Times Co. investors should not expect the Sulzberger family to change the way it runs the company despite pressure to scrap its dual-class share structure, says advisor Steven Rattner of the Quadrangle Group. Going private would only create new problems, he says." "Technorati, a blog search and ranking site, is acquiring The Personal Bee, a news aggregator that lets people organize and share content around specific topics." New York Times reports, "CBS News plans to install a new level of editorial oversight to its Web site since revelations that the CBS anchor Katie Couric read a plagiarized commentary on the site last week. CBS News execs say they are stunned that anyone would so blatantly copy someone else's work." "A new report from Nielsen/NetRatings reveals that network Web sites are seeing much of their traffic from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with NBC.com leading the rankings." Also, B&C reports, "NBC affiliates are expected to get a new media player on their Web sites this summer." From a reader: "Re Obama. Obama likes Cameron a lot. When Obama made his first trip to New Hampshire, he basically told Obama's people that their preparations were inadequate -- telling them to double the size of venues booked, etc. He was right. And I understand that Obama made a point of thanking him during the trip." Pew Weekly News Interest Index shows, "High-profile candidates and the accelerated pace of the 2008 presidential election campaign have drawn the public into the race earlier than in past election cycles." DCRTV reports, "A WAMU source tells someone who tells DCRTV that the American University public radio news talker has 'lost their last reporter. They have a news director with no news staff.'" Also from DCRTV: "The National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against CNN, upholding unfair labor practice charges by the National Association Of Broadcast Employees And Technicians-CWA, contending that the cable network illegally tore up union contracts for field camera crews and other technical workers serving its DC and NYC news bureaus in 2003." NBC announced, "The NBC News Broadcast is the Only Network Evening Newscast Honored with the Prestigious Award." Dean Starkman asks, "What Would The Audit Do?" A reader writes in to share some thoughts about the recent goings-on at NPR: "What's taking place at NPR is fascinating. It flies in the face of the adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Let's see, the late Joan B. Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray A. Kroc, left $235 million to the operation in 2004 and audience has been growing by the millions in recent years especially since 9/11 and the Iraq invasion. NPR now boasts of doubling its audience to 26 million since 1999. At the same time, it has also had three different VPs for news in the past seven years -- Jeffrey Dvorkin, Bruce Drake and now William Marimow. Two of those in less than 12 months -- not to mention the new acting VP, Ellen Weiss. Strangely enough, Marimow joined NPR by filling a new position created just for him: a secondary spot as managing editor for news sitting next to managing editor Barbara Rehm. Some speculate that Marimow's presence gave Bruce Drake the heebie jeebies. After all, it wasn't his call to bring in Marimow -- that came from NPR president Kevin Klose. In recent months there has been some talk about Barbara Rehm feeling the pressure -- time will tell how she feels about a new managing editor position being given to former ABC producer Richard Harris to supervise shows and newscasts. That was Rehm's new job when Marimow came aboard. Presumably she is now back exclusively to news management, but many inside the news room were speculating that it was only a matter of time that Weiss would be named ME. Now she is acting VP. So what gives? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unless of course we are talking about ambition. ... It is interesting how the long knives have been unsheathed. This is similar to having curtains of the Vatican or Kremlin pulled back for a teasing glimpse. Politics at its most ambitious."

Fishbowl

Morning Reading List, 04.13.07

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