New CBS News Prez: McManus Has No News Experience; Does It Matter?

> Update: 1:24pm: Well that didn’t take long: “According to Federal Election Commission records, McManus has made two donations in the past few years. He gave $1000 to Vermont Democratic Sen. Leahy, which should please liberals. He also gave $250 last year to Bush and Cheney’s campaign to retain the White House,” Petrelis Files says…

> “McManus is a surprise choice, never one of the names CBS insiders or outsiders buzzed about for months,” B&C reports…


> Bloomberg: “McManus inherits an evening news show that has been ranked third behind ABC and NBC for a decade and has lost 5 percent of its viewers in the last year…”

> LostRemote asks: “While sports is a form of journalism (the reporting side of it), does anyone have an issue with McManus’ appointment to head CBS News? Does it matter these days?”

> Update: 11:54am: “Doesn’t anybody remember when ABC hired Roone Arledge, who was head of ABC Sports, to run their news department? ABC News was next to nothing when Arledge took over; he rebuilt the organization and took it straight to the top,” Johnny Dollar e-mails…

> At CBS Sports, McManus helped push sports as entertainment products, New York said in 1999…

> AP: McManus will take over on Nov. 7, one day after Mary Mapes‘ Memogate book will be published…