TV-News+Update+4

Posted By: Tucker Bass
 * Journalistic Integrity: Protecting Your Sources**

Aww, you guys took all the good ones!

I found the FBI informant story in the NYT to be particularly interesting. In the wake of the Oklahoma bombings there was a frenzy for information. It seems as though Isham gave false information to the FBI and as the NYT implies, broke journalistic ethics by revealing his source a year later. Isham is now a CBS VP and it will be interesting to see if there is any fallout from the story.

I found a similar story from the "Smoking Gun". Apparently Fox News had a mole within its own organization to obtain the source of fellow Fox News correspondents during a story they were going to run about Jimmy Hoffa. The source had apparently been witness to Hoffa's death and the FBI wanted his name. The news anchors at Fox refused to give up their source, and the company itself had a mole attempt to get his name. While the name of the source was never identified, the article points fingers at John Roland, WNYW's news anchor in the 90's, he denies the claims. I want to believe that a news organization like Fox wouldn't enlist one of its own as a mole to get information from a colleague. Not only is it a breach of ethics but says quite a bit about the integrity of the organization.

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Facebook to Hire Former Press Secretary Gibbs? ﻿Posted by: Adam White

Facebook is in preliminary talks with former United States Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for a senior position in assisting to manage its communications division. The company is hoping to hire Gibbs before the 2012 election, which Gibbs plans to work on with the Democratic National Committee for the re-election of President Obama. This is could be big news if the two sides, Gibbs and Facebook, were to reach an agreement. Taking a step back, Gibbs would be the ideal man to help lead communications for Facebook, or any other company for that matter. Besides the President of the United States, this man had arguably the toughest job in the administration itself. Five days a week, the press secretary is responsible for defending all the president's decisions, which can be not only difficult job at times, but very stressful. All press secretaries tend to get grilled early and often by the White House Press Core. He was essentially the president's mouthpiece for the last two years. Gibbs, like all press secretaries before him, had to walk a fine line of being cautious, honest and at times, condecending when it comes explaining his bosses policies and ideas. Remember, the people asking questions to him are the leading journalists in the country and the world. Let's not forget he helped Obama get to the White House in 2008 and worked as then presidential hopeful John Kerry's press secretary in 2004. In other words, he has a lot of experience. If Gibbs can handle that job, he certainly would be a great addition to Facebook, who tries to communicate its policies and innovations to it's consumers, advertisers and to the media. He is a good speaker who is blessed with the ability to communicate sometimes complex messages using rather simple, understandable language that anyone can understand. Facebook hiring Gibbs would be like 24 Hour Fitness hiring football star Terrell Owens. It would be a great match. Gibbs and Facebook are master communicators, while Owens and 24 Hour Fitness specialize in health and fitness. Despite being 37 years of age, Owens has a body of a 27-year-old. This could also start a trend by social networks and copied by news outlets to hire expert communicators with national appeal like Gibbs. Why not put a public face into such an widely recognized company that prides itself with its openess? Hiring ordinary people is great, but hiring people who have dedicated their lives to their craft and have more experience in the profession than some of us will ever have in our lives is something else. Stay tuned to see if Facebook hires Gibbs and stay classy.

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NBC Re-thinks Ad Sales Pitch for the 'Nightly News'

Elizabeth Stone

Although viewership numbers for nightly newscasts are declining, networks like NBC still need to find ways to draw in advertisers in order keep their programming on the air. NBC is taking a creative spin on the matter by pitching the idea that since they have an older demographic of viewers they are a more valuable marketing audience. This is because NBC claims older viewers are more engaged and more receptive to ads, therefore, they are more likely to spend money on the product being advertised. Nightly newscasts are forced to become increasingly innovative in marketing and advertising strategies because television news broadcasts are a dying medium in the era of smart phones. Now that users can download their own news apps, podcasts, and broadcasts and access them anytime and place, it is harder to gain advertising revenue with declining viewership.

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=Glenn Beck to depart Fox News= Andrew Burer

==== Fox News political analyst Glenn Beck has decided to “transition” off his daily news program and began developing and producing a wide variety of television projects for “ air on the FOX News Channel (FNC) as well as content for other platforms including FOX News' digital properties.” Beck ‘s multi-media production company, Mercury Radio Arts, and Fox News have agreed to terms in which the two companies will work together to provide the new television content. Beck, who currently has the third highest rated daily news program, has been known for his harsh criticism of the Obama Administration and the recent Health Care overhaul. ====

CBS Executive Denies Being F.B.I. Informant
Post By: Sarah Jasso Article By: Jeremy W. Peters and Brian Stelter http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/business/media/06journalist.html?_r=1&ref=media

Christopher Isham, a vice president at CBS News and chief of its Washington bureau, issued a statement Tuesday April 5th, denouncing the claims that he was a government informant during the Oklahoma City bombing investigation. The reports indicated that Isham had cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and named a confidential source. He responded by stating these claims were “outrageous and untrue.” “Like every investigative reporter, my job for 25 years has been to check out information and tips from sources,” Mr. Isham said in a statement released through a CBS spokeswoman. “In the heat of the Oklahoma City bombing, it would not be unusual for me or any journalist to run information by a source within the F.B.I. for confirmation or to notify authorities about a pending terrorist attack.” An anonymous F.B.I. official, who was not involved in the case directly, stated that while Mr. Isham may have given the bureau information, he was never considered an informant.

= Matt Lauer Resigning from the Today Show = By: Rachel Mayes Article by: Chris Ariens A source at ET reported that Matt Lauer told his bosses at NBC that he will be resigning from the Today Show when his contract is up in December 2012. Lauer was quoted in 2007 by TV Newser's Alissa Krinsky saying "Let's say I do a number of years on this show, and then I leave to do something else. I'd love to be able to take my kids to school in the morning. I want to coach Little League for my kids." There is speculation that Lauer is leaving NBC to re-connect with former anchor Katie Couric who has also announced she will be leaving CBS Evening News and do and talk show with Zucker. NBC has stated that they are not going to comment on what is being stated about Matt Lauer because there is a lot of speculation around anchors today and they do not want to get involved. Could Lauer be leaving NBC because he is interested in being more of the "family man" as he quoted to Krinsky back in 2007 or will a different story come out in 2012 closer to his contract expiration ?

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Breaking News Fades, CNN Ratings Fall By Andrea Alfano 

CNN has not capitalized on the attention that it's news coverage gained, causing the network to fall into a pattern of finishing behind Fox and MSNBC in the ratings. Anderson Cooper's show is also falling behind in the ratings. It seems that even after reviving his reputation after his live reports during the political rebellion in Egypt and the natural disasters in Japan, he recently fell behind Greta Van Susteren on Fox and Ed Schultz on MSNBC. Audience interest in breaking news has faded and continues to do so. This causes problems for the all-news cable network CNN in terms of ratings. CNN and Anderson Cooper find it more difficult to compete with Fox and MSNBC. Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox continues to dominate the ratings every week, but Anderson Cooper is hanging on. CNN's lower ratings are not only alarming in terms of viewship by the audience, but advertisers are beginning to favor other networks. The competition is becoming more stiff and since breaking news is fading and ratings are falling, CNN needs to figure out how to up the ratings and gain viewership in order to be a more competitive network.