NewsTrust - TV - Most Recent Stories

In time for Election 2012, a Stephen Colbert super PAC. What is that?

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Peter Grier - Jul. 01 (Special Report) - Stephen Colbert has a “super PAC.” The Federal Election Commission on Thursday approved his application to form such a political fundraising entity. He celebrated with a balloon drop to patriotic music on “The Colbert Report” Thursday night. “I am a super PAC, and so can you!” the comedian crowed to his studio audience. But what is a “super PAC” anyway? Is it like a regular political action committee, only with a nicer office? Are its donors richer? Must its employees wear capes.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

What's Inside Glenn Beck's Brain?

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - Apr. 06 (Cartoon) - A map of all the obsessions and conspiracies that fueled his soon-to-be-gone Fox News show.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Simon responds to Bealefeld's criticism

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Baltimore Sun - By Justin Fenton, David Simon - Jan. 18 (Comment) - "The Wire" creator David Simon responds to comments made recently by Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III that the HBO show was a "smear that will take decades to overcome":It is my understanding that Commissioner Bealefeld -- by finally choosing...

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

More TV viewers may be cutting the cord this year

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Associated Press - By Dawn C. Chmielewski, David Sarno - Jan. 04 (News) - New mobile devices and Internet-connected televisions that could let viewers cancel their pay-TV subscriptions are expected to be among the hottest items at the Consumer Electronics Show.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Ashlee Vance, Claire Cain Miller - Dec. 19 (News Analysis) - Although Google already has a deal with Sony for its Internet TVs, other television makers — Toshiba, LG Electronics and Sharp — were prepared to flaunt their versions of the systems. But Google has asked the TV makers to delay their introductions, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, so that it can refine the software, which has received a lukewarm reception.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Chasing Fox

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Magazine - By Gabriel Sherman - Oct. 03 (News Analysis) - In the spring of 2006, a year and a half after he was hired to run CNN/U.S., Jonathan Klein went to his boss Jim Walton with an idea. CNN was in trouble. While the network remained a profit engine and an iconic brand, prime-time ratings were stalled. Fox News had surged ahead in the cable-news race, and now, alarmingly, Keith Olbermann was coming on strong. His anti-Bush broadsides were transforming his 8 p.m. MSNBC show, Countdown, into a bombastic counterweight to Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, and combined, both personalities were drowning out CNN’s Paula Zahn, the respected television veteran who was anchoring a standard newscast during the 8 p.m. slot.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Coalition blasts Comedy Central project for animated series on Jesus Christ

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

USA Today - By Doug Stanglin - Jun. 02 (News Report) - It's still only in the early development stage, but some media and religion heavyhitters have lined up in opposition to comedy central's animated project about Jesus Christ trying to live as a 'regular guy" in New York, Hollywood Reporter says.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The secretive world of Oprah Winfrey

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Ed Pilkington - Apr. 17 (News) - She?s the most famous businesswoman in the world, so why does the media clam up when it comes to revelations from her past? Given that she is one of the world?s most celebrated women, with a multibillion-dollar media empire centred around her own personality, there have been strikingly few books about Oprah Winfrey. Among the many volumes dedicated to the O factor, most are published by Winfrey herself, some are children?s books and the rest are hagiographies (The Gospel According to Oprah, for example) or collections of her own quotations. Winfrey plays a central role in the US media, with her own TV studios, magazine, and the hugely influential Oprah?s Book Club, which perhaps goes some way to explaining the reluctance of the publishing ...

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fey returns to SNL for launch of 'Sarah Palin Network'

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Saturday Night Live - Apr. 12 (Comedy News) - Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey returned to host the program last night, which naturally resulted in the resurrection of her Sarah Palin impersonation.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

News Units at ABC and CBS Try to Navigate Uncertain Times

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Brian Stelter, Bill Carter - Mar. 01 (Special Report) - ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Black-and-White TV: Nonverbal Racial Bias Found in Popular Television Shows

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Scientific American - By JR Minkel - Dec. 26 (News Report) - NONVERBAL CUES in popular television shows may be one reason why some people have a harder time associating positive terms to black figures than white ones, even when both show high-status characteristics.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

More Than Ever, You Can Say That on Television

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Edward Wyatt - Nov. 14 (Special Report) - Ever since George Carlin laid out the “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” in 1972, television writers and broadcasters have been digging more deeply into the thesaurus, seizing on new ways to titillate, if not offend. And while the word “douche” is neither obscene nor profane — although this usage is certainly offensive to many people — it seems to represent the latest of broadcast television’s continuing efforts to expand the boundaries of taste, in part to stem the tide of defections by its audience to largely unregulated cable television.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Obama Top Ten List on Letterman

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Film clip - Sep. 22 (Entertainment) - Letterman top ten reasons President Obama agreed to appear on the David Letterman Show.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

At OpEdNews: My Letter to Joe Scarborough on 4/13/07

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By R. Francis Rubio - Sep. 07 (Opinion) - I wrote this letter to MSNBC two years ago about the coverage of the derogatory remarks (nappy haired comment among others) Don Imus made on his radio show about young African American women on a college basketball team. Now after the election of our new President in large part due to the youth vote finally we may be starting to get it.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

‘Mad Men’ Crashes Woodstock’s Birthday

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Frank Rich - Aug. 16 (Opinion) - While the 40th anniversary of Woodstock is getting much air time this summer, perhaps it is Don Draper’s America, the early ’60s country-at-a-pivot-point, that really resonates today.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

At MSNBC, weekends aren't newsworthy

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Scott Collins - Jun. 25 (Special Report) - In recent days, much of the news media's attention has been focused on post-election protests and violence in Iran. But at MSNBC, the crisis has taken on a bit less urgency, at least if viewers are to judge from what the network is airing.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Pixilated Over Pixels

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Maureen Dowd - Jun. 14 (Opinion) - As an explosion of pixels hits our TV screens this weekend, with the digital and high-def revolution, my unscientific survey shows women are less excited about high-def than men.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Glenn Beck - Common Sense Comedy Tour Is for Laughing at Liberals (and Hawking That Book) - NYTimes.com

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Mike Hale - Jun. 06 (Review) - Before starting his performance on Thursday night at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Mo., which was simulcast to more than 440 movie houses around the country, Glenn Beck walked over to the camera,

NewsTrust Rating: 3.1 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Cable Wars Are Killing Objectivity

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By David Carr - Apr. 20 (Opinion) - Apparently there is an ingredient in tea that causes hysteria when given to cable news anchors. How else to explain the coverage of the tax day tea parties on Wednesday, which was the day when we procrastinators finally mailed the check to the feds?

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

High Noon on the Set: Cramer vs. Stewart

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Alessandra Stanley - Mar. 14 (Opinion) - The much-hyped showdown between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer, the mercurial host of “Mad Money” on CNBC, felt like a Senate subcommittee hearing. Mr. Stewart treated his guest like a C.E.O. subpoenaed to testify before Congress: his point was not to hear Mr. Cramer out, but to act out a cathartic ritual of indignation and castigation. “Listen, you knew what the banks were doing, yet were touting it for months and months,” the Democratic senator from Comedy Central said. “The entire network was. For now to pretend that this was some sort of crazy, once-in-a-lifetime tsunami that nobody could have seen coming is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.”

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 14 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Sarcastic Times

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Columbia Journalism Review - By Alissa Quart - Mar. 13 (Opinion) - ... what really makes the show special is how it embodies the rise of what I think of as sarcasm news. More and more news programs are likely to go absurdist in the coming months and years. As faith in and loyalty to traditional anchors wither, one can even hear ironic Maddowian intonations creeping into the delivery of CNN’s not-so-funny anchor Campbell Brown on her new show.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 7 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Rich, Famous and Black, on CNBC and HBO

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Ginia Bellafante - Feb. 26 (Review) - One of the immediate repercussions of Barack Obama’s journey to the White House has been a frenzied eagerness by the news media to showcase the lives of prominent and well-to-do African-Americans. We have read about the vacation preferences of the Harvard-educated lawyers and bankers and real-estate developers in the president’s friend circle. We have seen the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” in their limos and gated worlds and arena-size kitchens. Next week BET will unveil its new reality series, “Harlem Heights,” which will follow eight, young, good-looking, ambitious African-Americans as they manage their professional and emotional lives in glamour spots north of 110th Street. Poverty rates among blacks remain proportionately higher than among whites, so presumably what it means to live in a postracial society is that everyone gets an equal-opportunity shot at “Hills” treatment.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Tyler Perry: Hollywood's new commander in chief?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Patrick Goldstein - Feb. 25 (Opinion) - Last night, I was asked to speak at an evening program at a local temple. Since the topic was "Jews in Hollywood," I brought along a true Hollywood Jew, Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal, who spoke quite eloquently and insightfully about her faith and how it's sometimes tested by her job. Being my usual contrarian self, at one point I suddenly veered off topic, asking Pascal why -- if America had managed to elect an African American president -- was Hollywood was still light years away from the day when there could be a black studio chief.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Stalled Switch to Digital TV A Classic Tale of Breakdown

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Kim Hart, Peter Whoriskey - Feb. 14 (Special Report) - The nation's switch to all-digital broadcasts has been more than a decade in the making. The federal government has spent nearly $2 billion to help people prepare. Broadcasters spent another $1.2 billion to run warning ads and millions more to upgrade equipment. Until last week, the United States seemed ready to follow the half-dozen European countries that have made the switch.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Content and Its Discontents

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Virginia Heffernan - Dec. 08 (Opinion) - For years, we in traditional media have consoled ourselves about the increasing irrelevance of our work. First, we insist that content is king. If a story, image, film or report is compelling enough — a candid photo of Malia Obama, “Slumdog Millionaire,” the columns of Maureen Dowd — it will translate into pixels. It will flourish on any platform, dominate every sport. By this logic, creators, producers, artists and journalists should attend only to producing great work and leave the current changes in the distribution and display of information to nerds in suits.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 8 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer