CNN does it right in Haiti. Fox on the other hand...

By GottaLaff

James Rainey over at the L.A. Times has a piece out that reflects the mood of the Twitterverse specifically, and most of us here at TPC generally, meaning: ClusterFox is not a news network, and when it comes to Haiti coverage, CNN wins:

CNN's determination to stick with the news stands in stark contrast to its competitors, particularly Fox News, that in prime time have increasingly been committed to building their brands with political commentary over straight reporting.

And by political commentary he means propaganda.

When critics accuse Fox of being a tool of the conservative political movement, the company's executives counter that they deliver serious news during much of the day.

And by serious news they mean propaganda.

But its prime-time headliners expose the values of the entire operation, and this week they've given abysmally short shrift to the biggest crisis in the world.

Why dwell on one of our closest hemispheric neighbors in its hour of dire need, when -- like both Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck -- you can conduct prolonged, frothy promotional interviews with Fox's newest contributor, Sarah Palin?

Why focus on all that misery, if, like Hannity on Wednesday, you can engage conservative virago Michelle Malkin in a soaring conversation about the Obama administration's "culture of corruption."

Virago. Excellent word. Mental note: Remember the word "virago" and use it often.

Bill O'Reilly played his no-Haiti card too, managing a gripping discussion Wednesday with Bo Derek about the threat to the West's wild horses.

Bill-O is limited that way. See Interview: Palin, Sarah.

[MSNBC] dedicated more than two hours to the quake in its three major prime-time shows, compared with less than seven minutes presented by Fox's biggest stars Wednesday night, according to the liberal media watchdog, Media Matters. [...]

No matter how much CNN succeeded in delivering the story, it will never make me stomach the self-promotion that it and other outlets insist on weaving throughout their coverage.

Now we're talkin'. TBPNTOTV!!!* is notorious for that, or I wouldn't have spent all that time and effort mocking them.

Can we please get through an hour without heaping praise on our correspondents' valor (however real it may be)? Maybe Gupta can't be stopped from playing both reporter and doctor (he is a neurosurgeon, after all), but how many times are we going to have to watch that video of the good doctor bandaging the head of a 15-day-old girl?

Well, now you're being harsh. Everyone knows that Gupta thrives on camera time. Of course, saying he's into health issues is stating the obvious. His own health and well-being would suffer if he were forced into reduced exposure on the Tee Vee Machine. In fact, for Sanjay, being on air is a pre-existing condition. It's common knowledge that he is covered under a Cadillac plan for that very thing.

Good thing he can afford it.

This was a longish piece, which you can read in its entirety here. And seriously, congratulations to CNN for doing what its name says it should do, cover the news.

*THE BEST POLITICAL NEWS TEAM ON TELEVISION!!!

Dr, Sanjay Gupta says he's the "nation's surgeon general"

By GottaLaff

What kind of doctor does a fellow doctor go to for a swelled head?

Q: Many of the top public-health official jobs in this administration aren't filled yet, including the job you might have taken as surgeon general. It seems as though you basically are acting as our nation's surgeon general.

A: I think in some ways you're right. And I used to think about that in some ways before the possibility of my being surgeon general even came up. The media has a very unique role, I think, in situations like this. We have to report the news, obviously, but there is a public health role as well, especially for someone like me who is a doctor on the ground here. So that is a lot of what the surgeon general does in situations like this, and with media, we reach a lot of people very quickly, so there is a lot of overlap.

And with that, he smiled broadly into the corporate Tee Vee camera, sent a quick thank-you text message to his Big Pharma sponsors, said, "Take that, Michael Moore," and sped home in his vintage Porsche 911 [Laffy Note: for the record, I have no idea what he drives].

Gupta got greedy

By GottaLaff

Sounds to me like the Tee Vee Doctor wanted more power, more prominence, and more money:

So why did CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta turn down the Surgeon General job? Howard Kurtz and Michael Shear have a diagnosis.

"One source close to him said Gupta was very disheartened by [Tom] Daschle's fate and fearful he was not going to get a prominent role in the health-care reform process... Gupta has built a lucrative media empire that includes appearances on CBS as well as CNN and book deals. Soon after his interest in the job became public, he had expressed concern to friends about the financial impact on his wife and children."

Interestingly, on an interview with Anderson Cooper, he said money had absolutely nothing to do with it. I heard it with my own little ears.

Howard Dean for surgeon general?

By GottaLaff

I changed the blog title and post, since Paddy already posted the news about Gupta.

Good:

The Obama administration confirmed that Gupta, a neurosurgeon, had taken himself out of the running because he wants to focus on his medical career and spend more time with his family.

Of course he does. Here's a little more from Think Progress:

He encountered criticism for “his mugging of Michael Moore over Sicko” and for having a cozy relationship with drug companies. On the Wonk Room, Igor Volsky floats Howard Dean as a possible replacement.

I'd love to see Howard Dean grab this one.

Dr Gupta doesn't go to Washington

This smells a little funny, especially the part about him discussing it on Larry King Live. Paging Dr Dean?

Cancel that page: The White House is not calling Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be the nation's surgeon general.

CNN is reporting this afternoon that its well-known medical correspondent has withdrawn from consideration, and will talk more about it tonight on "Larry King Live."

Gupta would have been one of the most visible personalities in that job, but critics questioned whether he could have been an independent voice on public health matters.

h/t Dr President.

Headline-O'-The-Day: Guy who's probably seen Wolf Blitzer's sack to be next Surgeon General

By GottaLaff

We're already aware that Sanjay Gupta is likely to become the next Surgeon General, but this was the most unique announcement to date:

Guy who's probably seen Wolf Blitzer's sack to be next Surgeon General

Paints quite a picture, doesn't it?

H/t: Ellen

Gupta vs. Moore

I had forgot about this until Gotta reminded me. Sorry, my head is somewhere else this afternoon.... h/t Ben.

Obama Wants Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Journalist for Surgeon General

Wha? Wow. Makes sense though.

President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

When reached for comment today, Gupta did not deny the account but declined to comment.

The offer followed a two-hour Chicago meeting in November with Obama, who said that Gupta could be the highest-profile surgeon general in history and would have an expanded role in providing health policy advice, the sources said. Gupta later spoke with Tom Daschle, Obama's White House health czar and nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, and other advisers to the president-elect.

The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of Southwest Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.