Sen. Franken awakens AG Holder to Comcast/NBCU issue

By GottaLaff

A little reminder, via Wiki:

On December 3, 2009, GE and US cable TV operator Comcast announced a buyout agreement for NBC Universal. If the transaction completes, and pending regulatory approval, Comcast would own 51% of NBC Universal while GE would own 49%.

Al Franken has a thing or two to say about that, and A.G. Holder's ears perked up.

US Attorney General Eric Holder thought he was in a Senate Judiciary hearing about Guantanamo Bay – but Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) took the opportunity to grill the AG about the DOJ review of the proposed merger of Comcast and NBCU. Holder was circumspect, but did confess to being interested as a private citizen thanks to his status as Comcast subscriber.

Franken expressed concerns about the merger, according to a Washington Post Report, including the possibility of setting off a wave of similar mergers between other media giants that could leave the nation with essentially five sources of information.

As it stands now, we could do with a few more sources of information. America is already woefully ill-informed. And an misinformed, uninformed, dumbed-down electorate is the downfall of democracy.

If I sound like a broken record, it's because it is vital that this message get repeated over and over again until enough people hear it, believe it, and do something about it.

Electing Al Franken was a great first step.

H/t: Al Franken on Twitter

David Gregory: 'People Can Fact-Check Meet the Press Every Week on Their Own Terms'

Gregory's reaction and what he does plan to change encapsulates exactly what is wrong with Sunday tv. You'd think NBC would strive for better than the rest. According to this vid, seems maybe Gregory isn't all that worried about fact checking.

First came an announcement by ABC's This Week interim moderator Jake Tapper that the program would team each week with the St. Petersburg Times' PolitiFact to fact-check guest interviews.

Now, NBC's Meet the Press moderator David Gregory tells The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz that fact-checking is an "interesting idea" but that his program will not follow ABC's lead. "People can fact-check Meet the Press every week on their own terms."

The fact-checking concept was originally proposed by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen in December. "Nice!" Rosen tweeted yesterday in response to Gregory's quotes. "David Gregory probably thought this exercise was pointless," he continued in another tweet. "Viewers of Face the Nation [sic] can do it themselves, right David?"

(snip)

Also in Kurtz's column is news that Meet the Press will debut a new set on May 2. "The look is ultramodern," Kurtz writes. "Floor-to-ceiling bookcases, a pair of huge video screens with a White House backdrop, a small, circular glass table as well as a larger, rectangular one."

VIDEO: Cook defends fried chicken choice for Black History Month menu

By GottaLaff



I previously wrote a piece about a controversial menu honoring Black History Month that was posted at the NBC commissary.

There have been valid arguments for both sides of this story. However, I think Leslie Calhoun, the chef, wins the day on this one.

And now, thanks to GrrrlRomeo, we have a wonderful video that explains Ms. Calhoun's decisions, in her own words.

There's more here, follow the link:

One person who doesn't understand how offense could be taken: Chef Leslie Calhoun. It was her decision to select the menu items and create the sign. TheGrio caught up with her minutes after the tweet fiasco erupted and she seemed genuinely upset by the whole thing. Calhoun is an African-American and employee of Flick, a catering service that runs the NBC commissary. She said that for the last eight years she's been seeking approval from Flick management for a special Black History Month menu, and had finally been told that every Thursday for the month of February, she could serve whatever she chose. [...]

This isn't the first time this year that fried chicken and collard greens on a menu have created a stir. Last month, Denver Public Schools experienced a backlash after announcing they would serve fried chicken and collard greens in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's good to have both sides aired. Fair and balanced and all that, right?

Oh no they di-in't!

By GottaLaff
UPDATE HERE. Video of the chef that clears a lot of things up.

What better way to celebrate Black History Month than by serving up a steaming plateful of stereotype?

NBCU employee Questlove is bringing it to the attention of his 1 million plus Twitter followers.

Ooops.

Questlove, the band leader and drummer for The Roots (the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) tweeted this picture from the NBC Commissary at 30 Rock, with the comment: “Hmm HR?”

Oh, but don't worry your pretty little head about it:


Apparently, not everyone was offended by it. They're just apologizing to those of us who were.

Oh sorry. Apologized for anyone who was offended. Not only are they insensitive, they're illiterate, too.

Good thing they removed it before only a million of us saw it. Whew! Close call.

Brought to you by the very same group that makes Al Franken a little jittery.

UPDATE: The apology came from someone who has a grand total of 9 followers on Twitter. I'm guessing it won't be too effective.

H/t: Misha 1234, Raine 1967

Al Franken: 'I don't trust promises' of Comcast, NBC given past experience

By GottaLaff

I trust Al Franken, who doesn't trust Comcast and NBC:

Franken (D-Minn.), a member of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, said his previous career "has given me reason to be very concerned about this potential merger."

So much for all those "he's just a comedian" slams.

"It matters who runs our media companies," he said. "The media are our source of entertainment. They're also how we get information about the world."

"So when the same company that produces those programs runs the pipes, we have reason to be nervous," he said. [...]

"It's completely opposite of what NBC said they would do," he said. "You'll have to excuse me if I don't trust these promises."

There's more here.

And I'm already nervous.

NBC News Files Complaint with White House Over ABC's Access

Wow, this has a really odd feel about it.

TVNewser has learned that NBC News has filed a formal complaint with the White House press office over the distribution of presidential interviews, specifically that several of the most recent broadcast TV interviews have gone to ABC News -- including George Stephanopoulos's interview yesterday and Charlie Gibson's December 15.

NBC is reportedly claiming Stephanopoulos' friendship with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has helped land the interviews. But insiders tell us those decisions are generally left to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Mid Day Distraction

Conan O’Brien Says He Won’t Do ‘Tonight Show’ Following Leno

By GottaLaff

Good for Conan. He was royally screwed:

After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. [...]

But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. [...]

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next.

You can read his entire letter here.

I wonder what the legal repercussions will be.

Leno returns to prime time next month. No word on Conan yet.

By GottaLaff

(via)

Ya see, this is real news. Terrorism? Meh. Health care reform? Feh:

Jay Leno's prime-time career on NBC will end on Feb. 12. Whether Conan O'Brien's late-night career with the network will also be ending next month remains to be seen.

Speaking to reporters at the semiannual Television Critics Assn.'s press tour, NBC Universal Television Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed the network will move Leno back to 11:35 p.m. when the Winter Olympics concludes at the end of February.

I don't know about you, but I'll be watching something else.

And somehow, Fox has insinuated itself into the conversation:

Although O'Brien would technically keep the title of host of NBC's "The Tonight Show," a 12:05 a.m. program was not what he signed on for and his camp may try to test the waters. There may be costly penalties to him and NBC if he decides to go that route. Fox has whispered it may be interested in O'Brien, but that network would have a tough time persuading their affiliates to jump into late night. Fox may just be trying to make a complicated situation for NBC even more difficult.

Must they have their grimy little fingers in everything?

Video- NBC's Williams adopts right-wing "Climategate" smear: "Have the books been cooked on climate change?"

I heard this last night and could not believe the stenography.

G.E. and Vivendi in Agreement to Clear Path for NBC Sale

By GottaLaff

I just got this news alert in my inbox:

General Electric has reached a tentative agreement to buy Vivendi’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion, helping clear the path to a sale of the television and movie company to Comcast, people briefed on the matter told DealBook.

But much remains to be negotiated, these people warned.

Oh goody. Another big fat conglomerate that will be too big to avoid failing us.

VIDEO: Bye bye responsible journalism?

By GottaLaff




I'm trying to find more information:



Here's more.

H/t: hausanni

Conservative group alters NBC e-mail: "“Bite me Jew Boy”

By GottaLaff

(via, click on image to enlarge)

Bite me ALG:

NBC News president Steve Capus fired back at Americans for Limited Government Friday, after the conservative group published an email allegedly from NBC producer Jane Stone to its director of media outreach Alex Rosenwald, with one line: “Bite me Jew Boy.”

Family values at work again. Those wacky groups and their pranks!

“I’m still in shock, and outraged that this reckless organization would go out with such a defamatory, irresponsible statement,” Capus told POLITICO.

Stone did respond to a mass email from ALG. You can see his original, non-anti-Semitic content below.

“Somebody, on the other end, I’m assuming, took the return stamp from the email and then put in this hateful message,” Capus said. “I don’t know who did it. It’s outrageous to suspect that somebody from NBC News would do it.”

Don't these conservative groups remember that the Jews run the entertainment industry? Time for a refresher course:

It's time for Pretending to be A Jew for Dummeez! Lesson #1: A Jewish e-mailer would most likely avoid sending blatantly anti-Semitic messages. Now really, basic common sense dictates that one gets one's bigoted stories straight. Come on!

Capus said he contacted the group and asked them to rescind the press release that accompanied publication of the email. He said that ALG would not agree, and the instead responded with a “politically-fueled rant against NBC, and a completely irresponsible diatribe."

The real e-mail, verified by NBC, reads like this:

From: Stone, Jane (NBC Universal)
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 1:57 PM
To: 'arosenwald@getliberty.org'
Subject: Re: ALG Calls on Congress to "Put Up or Shut Up" on Defunding ACORN

Take me off this list!

Let's get to know ALG better, shall we? Here's a little something that's currently on their front page:

Obama’s U.N. Apology

H/t: mparent77772, Gr8RDH

Video- NBC's Brian Williams uses Limbaugh's words to describe UN meeting as "Star Wars" "bar scene"

Via Media Matters-

WILLIAMS: I do listen to Rush. I listen to it from a radio in my office, or depending on my day, if I'm in the car, I will listen to Rush. And he will tell you I've been listening for years. I think it's my duty to listen to Rush. I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due, because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country. No one was talking to them.

Video- 'Today' Welcomes Jenna Bush with Special Segment

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Oy.

Video- Glenn Beck Finds "Communist" Art At NBC's Headquarters

C'mon, this is a very elaborate joke, right?

What Glenn Said

Jenna Bush Joins 'Today' Show as Correspondent

They should convene a panel for the next Meet the Press with Jenna Bush Hager, Luke Russert, Liz Cheney, Megan McCain and Jonah Goldberg, and they should have Chris Wallace moderate it. They can all bash affirmative action and talk about how vitally important it is that the U.S. remain a Great Meritocracy because it's really unfair for anything other than merit to determine position and employment. They can interview Lisa Murkowski, Evan Bayh, Jeb Bush, Bob Casey, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Dan Lipinksi, and Harold Ford, Jr. about personality responsibility and the virtues of self-sufficiency. Bill Kristol, Tucker Carlson and John Podhoretz can provide moving commentary on how America is so special because all that matters is merit, not who you know or where you come from. There's a virtually endless lists of politically well-placed guests equally qualified to talk on such matters.

(snip)

UPDATE: Just to underscore a very important, related point: all of the above-listed people are examples of America's Great Meritocracy, having achieved what they have solely on the basis of their talent, skill and hard work -- The American Way. By contrast, Sonia Sotomayor -- who grew up in a Puerto Rican family in Bronx housing projects; whose father had a third-grade education, did not speak English and died when she was 9; whose mother worked as a telephone operator and a nurse; and who then became valedictorian of her high school, summa cum laude at Princeton, a graduate of Yale Law School, and ultimately a Supreme Court Justice -- is someone who had a whole litany of unfair advantages handed to her and is the poster child for un-American, merit-less advancement.

I just want to make sure that's clear.

Video- NBC Nightly News fairly covers the Healthers

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I saw this mentioned last night as one of the more fair versions of coverage. Video heavy this morning.

ABC's "This Week" Tops MTP For First Time In 10 Years

Need anymore evidence that you suck there Gregory?

For the first time since June 27th, 1999, ABC's "This Week" drew more Total Viewers and A25-54 demo viewers than NBC's "Meet The Press," the longest running show in television history. The ratings win for "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" marks the first time in over ten years that the program scored first in both categories during regular coverage. The closest ABC had come was in August 2007, when "This Week" scored first in the demo, but tied "MTP" in Total Viewers.

Do MSNBC and Fox News Have a Deal? Doubtful.

By GottaLaff

I could have left the title as cliffhangy as TVNewser did (they left out the "Doubtful" in theirs), but I'm a softy and couldn't do that to you:

A few weeks ago, a TVNewser reader emailed and wondered:

Fox News lately in their media montages is leaving out NBC News. Take Bill O'Reilly yesterday on MJ death coverage; they showed CBS, ABC, CNN and Fox but not NBC. Is there something going on behind the scenes between NBC and Fox? Maybe a cease and desist order for showing off air?

At the time we asked around, but were told by all sides there was no deal, cease & desist or anything of the sort.

Not if they want to keep their ratings up, there wasn't.

[T]he LATimes' Joe Flint reports talks were had by the chairmen of the companies that own the channels. "News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch and General Electric chief Jeffrey Immelt met up [...] to figure out how to defuse tensions between the two channels." [...]

But Flint reports any "message of peace" has not taken hold.

Keith Olbermann continued to needle Faux Noise, and O'Leilly kept on being his odious little self.

And then there was this week - from Wednesday's NBC & MSNBC coverage of FNC host Glenn Beck saying that he believes Pres. Obama is "a racist," right up until this morning, when Fox & Friends had a bit on the Tonight Show's falling ratings and blaming NBC for "squeezing Jay Leno out" of late night.

Stay tuned... because that's exactly what they want you to do.