Every time I watch a TV talking head like Glenn Beck, I usually walk away with the same thought I had every time I walked out of my economics class in college: "What the hell were they talking about?"
That's because there isn't anything journalistic or scientific about their pontifications. It's all "gut talk," particularly Beck who throws around more wild and unfocused theories about the ongoing war between "us vs. them" than a homeless preacher in a bus station. Chances are if you actually sat down and simply asked him "what did you mean by (x)", he would give you a 1,700 word answer that answered everything but the question you asked him.
Glenn Beck hates the mainstream media, but not enough to ignore it when he has a new book coming out like he does this week. He's the first guest tonight on Katie Couric's new web show, which will debut at 7 PM. In this preview, Beck reveals who he would have liked to have seen in the White House (and who would have been worse).
When Peter Jennings passed away and Bob Woodruff was injured, one of the names that popped up as a replacement on ABC World News was Diane Sawyer. Now, a couple of years later, that's actually coming true.
ABC has announced that Charles Gibson will step down as anchor of the show in January. Sawyer will take over for him. Of course, that means that Sawyer will step down from her hosting gig on Good Morning America. No, I don't think there's any chance that Gibson will switch places with her and go back to GMA, but who the heck knows (ABC is using the word "retires"). Gibson does say that he wants to continue working with ABC News in some way.
So we have two big stories here: two women as network news anchors (Sawyer and Katie Couric at CBS) and the question of who will replace Sawyer in the morning. Or maybe they'll just stick with three hosts/co-hosts (Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo, and Sam Champion). Who do you think should take over on GMA?
President Obama Katie Couric Bill Clinton Tom Brokaw Les Moonves Andy Rooney Nick Clooney Jimmy Buffett Mickey Hart Buzz Aldrin Bob Schieffer Wynton Marsalis
Walter Cronkite is a tougher act to follow than letting Metallica open for William Hung.
But now that the news legend and former most trusted man in America has passed on to that big newsroom in the great beyond, America needs someone else to trust. They need someone they can depend on to get the hard, cold facts about the important stories that truly affect their lives. They need someone to cut through the political haze of misdirection and mediocrity that cloud almost every major news story like a lingering beer fart.
That man is ... Jon Stewart. Don't like it? Blame the rest of the news media for not doing a better job.
Think about this for a moment: who is the person on television that viewers trust the most to get their news from? Someone from the cable news channels? One of the network news anchors?
Time conducted a survey across the country, asking people who the most trusted newscaster is now that Walter Cronkite is gone. Not really sure why Cronkite matters in this context because he hadn't been a newsman in quite some time, but it's interesting to see all of the statistics by state. You probably won't agree with who came in first with 44%.
It seemed like a respectful decision, but it felt a bit wrong to me. The voice over was a simple sentence: "This is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." That's it. It felt like a good way to pay tribute to his immense contributions to television news and to bridge the years between his era and the current one. And, shockingly enough, it wouldn't have felt creepy at all, just comforting.
Cronkite's family must have felt the same way, as they've given CBS permission to keep using his voice at the top of the broadcast. How long CBS will keep doing it is anyone's guess. But if Billy Mays can keep selling Oxi Clean from the Great Beyond, why can't Uncle Walter keep introducing the news?
OK, if you were to pick the weekend that Walter Cronkite died, you couldn't have picked a more ironic, odd weekend for it to happen.
Cronkite was a huge fan of the space program, and he was incredibly giddy during CBS news coverage of the first moon landing in 1969. And here we are on the 40th anniversary of that very mission. Reminds me of when Charles Schulz died, hours before the very last Peanuts cartoon ran.
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News).
But how extensive should the coverage be? Should the news channels cover it all day long? Should the networks report live from the funeral? Should the funeral be televised live on all channels? Should there just be stories of it and no live coverage at all?
Katie Couric was the guest last night on The Daily Show, only it was less an interview than a "let's see if Jon can think of some more ideas for The CBS Evening News." OK, it was funny, but at some points it seems like he doesn't really care what she's saying he just thought of another joke and wants to get it in. "News Bingo" is a funny idea though.
I was just over at TV Newser looking at the latest ratings for the cable news outlets. FOX News beats CNN and MSNBC combined all day, Nancy Grace has been beating Keith Olbermann lately, MSNBC has been beating CNN in primetime. On the networks, NBC is still ahead, followed by ABC and CBS. And that got me thinking: what do you watch for news now? I work from home and watch TV all day long, so I watch both CNN and FOX News. At night, I usually watch Katie Couric on CBS.
I don't know what the heck this video below is all about, but I whole-heartedly approve.
It's from Auto-Tuning The News, and it features the words of news people from CNN, FOX News, and CBS News (along with Hillary Clinton) put to a song. Not just their words, but they actually sing the song themselves through some neat electronic trickery. It doesn't really get going until the section with Katie Couric, which is really well done. I can't wait for the extended mix on that part.
Remember when every single person in the world said that Katie Couric would be gone from The CBS Evening News by the end of 2008? HA!
Not only is Couric not going anywhere, her show is actually doing better, thanks in part to the election coverage. It's still in third place, of course (and I think it will probably stay there for quite some time, if not forever), but her ratings are improving. The first week of this month, Couric's show trailed ABC's World News by 1.5 million viewers. That might seem like a lot, but Couric trailed that show by 2.8 million viewers the same week last year. The same thing happened last week compared to the same week in 2008. Hey, at least it's a move in the right direction.
Every time I watch a TV talking head like Glenn Beck, I usually walk away with the same thought I had every time I walked out of my economics class in college: "What the hell were they talking about?" 
When Peter Jennings passed away and Bob Woodruff was injured, one of the names that popped up as a replacement on ABC World News was Diane Sawyer. Now, a couple of years later, that's actually coming true.
Look at this cast list!
Think about this for a moment: who is the person on television that viewers trust the most to get their news from? Someone from the cable news channels? One of the network news anchors? 
Right after 
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News). 
I was just over at 
Remember when every single person in the world 
At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider, then new episodes of Life and Law and Order.
At 8, CBS has a special edition of The CBS Evening News.
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