Ummmmm... Wrong Day

Can someone tell WLS Chicago Meteorologist Jerry Taft that Thanksgiving is Tomorrow and not Today.

Seems he might have been getting into the Thanksgiving wine a bit early.

Fox News Host: Lara Logan is a Hero

CBS has suspended.... errrrrrr......asked Lara Logan to take a "leave of absence" for giving the Eye network a black eye with her bogus Benghazi report. 

And while many Journalists feel that Logan at least deserved that punishment, one Fox News Anchor is calling Logan a "hero".

Fox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Today that Lara Logan’s botched reporting on Benghazi made her a “hero journalist” and he was shocked that CBS News would force her off the air.

Of course, Huckabee has no experience as a Journalist and a ton of experience as a politician, where lying is the norm.

This morning, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked Huckabee to respond to the news that Logan had been effectively suspended indefinitely from 60 Minutes.

“Very shocked,” Huckabee said. “And I think that the fact is that we’re missing the big story here. We still don’t know what happened in Benghazi. Our government lied to us, they covered it up.”

“Lara Logan is certainly a hero journalist to at least attempt to get the story out,” he added.

We doubt that Fox News will do it, but maybe Huckabee should be given a leave of absence as well.

Just saying.... 

H/T The Raw Story

A New Day, a New Low

When Jeff Zucker was hired at CNN, some thought he could turn the network around. Early on, Zucker set his sights on fixing the morning show and bringing ratings to CNN in the AM.

From the looks of things, he's not doing very well.

On Monday, CNN's morning show, 'New Day' tanked in the ratings. The show pulled just 45,000 viewers in the demo and only 196,000 viewers overall.

CNN has spent millions in hiring staff, a new set and promoting New Day. 

Over on their sister network HLN, the show goes on with little promotion and the staff is tiny compared to the New Day staff. Yet..... Morning Express with Robin Meade pulled 117,000 viewers in the demo and 216,000 overall.

Here's a breakdown of the numbers from Monday:

Al Roker Correcting CNN

So how bad is it at CNN mornings?

Bad enough that Al Roker is correcting the network on Twitter.

CNN tweeted out this morning that a "deadly Noreaster" was headed up the East coast and CNN was covering the story from every angle.

Al Roker jumped on Twitter to tell CNN the storm was not in fact a Noreaster and told viewers to switch to the Weather Channel for details.

Ouch!

Not long after Roker's tweet, CNN stopped calling the storm a Noreaster. Al seemed pleased:

So to get this straight, Al Roker hosts the Today Show on NBC. He also hosts Wake up with Al on the Weather Channel. And now he is editing CNN.

Move over Ryan Seacrest, Al Roker is the hardest working man in show business. 

MSNBC Fires Alec Baldwin

We said that hiring Alec Baldwin was a mistake for MSNBC and it appears that network finally figured that out as well.

The cable news network that admits they stink at covering news, fired Alec Baldwin moments before he quit.

Huh?

Baldwin got word that MSNBC was going to can his ass, so pulling a George Costanza, he quit before he got fired.

Either way, he's gone from the network after doing only two shows. A career that was so short it would make AJ Clemente proud.  

MSNBC had suspended the Actor turned anchor after he lashed out at a photographer in Manhattan, allegedly calling him a “cocksucking fag.”

You can only hope that MSNBC has learned a lesson with Baldwin, but it's more than likely they haven't and will continue to hire non-news people to anchor news at the network that doesn't like to cover news. 

That Didn't Last Long

When longtime Assistant News Director John Houseman got pushed out the door at WPIX, he quickly landed a gig across the street at WCBS.

Just a month into that job, Houseman is out of work again. 

After 30 years at WPIX, Houseman was pushed out when new News Director Mark Effron came into the station.

WCBS announced last month at Houseman was hired at the station as an Executive Producer. 

Now the word is that Houseman has "resigned" from WCBS after just a few weeks. 

AJ Clemente is proud once again. 

H/T Tuned In 

Muff Shaving Anchor Bumped up in Indy

Lori Wilson who because a YouTube star after FTVLive posted a video of her has been bumped up to the main chair. 

Wilson is the new 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.  at WISH in Indianapolis. Wilson is currently anchoring WISH 5:00 p.m. newscasts, which she will continue to co-anchor as part of her new role.   

“We are fortunate to have a Hoosier native with such a strong news background and experience to replace Debby Knox,” said WISH News Director Steve Bray.  “Lori’s talent, integrity, and storytelling are fantastic.  Since joining WISH-TV, Lori has done a tremendous job of connecting with our Central Indiana viewers. 

Wilson was working at WCAU in Philly when she informed viewers that she had no clue what shaving your muff meant.

FTVLive posted the video on YouTube and it has gotten over 3 million views.

Here it is if you haven't seen it:  

Signing off in Chicago

WFLD in Chicago has gone through a number of anchors over the years, but one thing remained was Robin Robinson.

Robinson signed the station's newscast on the air in 1987 and while her co-anchor changed many times, she stayed.

Until last night. 

Robinson signed off Tuesday night after 26 years as principal news anchor at Fox O&O. 

But as Robert Feder says, she left no doubt that it wasn’t her decision to leave the anchor desk: “This is what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be,” she told viewers.

At least until a better job comes along, Robinson, 56, will deliver “Chicago at the Tipping Point” special reports for the Fox-owned station. Morning news anchor Dawn Hasbrouck will succeed her on the 9 p.m. newscast alongside co-anchor Jeff Herndon.

“This is it,” Robinson said in her closing remarks. “This is a little bit hard. From the very first story I reported on a television newscast I thought — I knew — this is what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be: Right here in this chair. Now I’m leaving ‘the chair’ after nearly 30 years here at one station with the smartest, most engaged audience anywhere, some of the best colleagues in what I consider not just a business but a service. Not making news but making it matter to you.

“The good news for me, and I hope for you, is that I’m not done telling stories. I just won’t be sitting in this chair.”

Turning to co-anchor Herndon, she said: “Jeff, it’s been great getting to know you. And you have that rock solid work ethic that Chicago really appreciates. I know you have a great ride ahead of you. I’ll try not to be too big of a back-seat driver. That might be hard, but . . .”

The Chicago native and veteran journalist has been at Fox 32 since its news operation launched in August 1987. Her record run paired her with co-anchors Kris Long, Walter Jacobson, Mark Suppelsa, Jeff Goldblatt, Bob Sirott and Herndon. Before that, Robinson worked three years as a reporter and weekend anchor at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.

Bryant Gumbel Sticks up for Matt Lauer

Bryant Gumbel stopped by Katie Couric's soon to be dead talk show to talk about the problems on the Today Show.

Gumbel took the time to stick up for his buddy and golfing partner Matt Lauer.  

"There were a lot of missteps along the way," Gumbel told Couric. "I feel badly that Matt wound up getting blamed for the missteps because it wasn't his doing. I just didn't get the whole thing."

He continued, "I also don't get why it's such a big deal when someone in this business gets let go. As you know, it happens to all of us at some point. It's a big boy league and you move on. But in my opinion, the wrong guy got blamed."

H/T HuffPo

Ummmm.....

When you're anchoring the newscast, you might not want to be looking at hot chicks on the Internet, just before the show starts.

Just saying.... 

Anchors Caught Faking It

KBJR in Duluth covering the Christmas City of the North parade last Friday night.

As you know, it can get cold in Duluth, so the anchors were bundled up in their winter coats.

Although it was a bit odd that you could not see the breath of anchors Michelle Lee, Kevin Jacobson or Barbara Reyelts.

Maybe that was because the anchors never left the station!

The three sat in front of the chroma key in the studio and covered the parade. 

And no one at the station saw anything ethically wrong with this? 

Just asking... 

H/T Mix108.com

Miami Producer Quits Citing Hostile Work Environment

Sources tell FTVLive that the 11:00 Producer at WFOR has quit saying she could no longer work in a hostile work environment.

Sources say that an investigation was quickly launched and sources tell us that SEVERAL others who were questioned privately admitted those allegations are true.

Word is that the CBS suits in New York are not happy and now News Director Liz Roldan and GM Adam Levy are both skating on thin ice. 

Stay tuned, it's just starting to heat up in Miami. 

Security Cameras Catch Phoenix Anchor's Fall

KTVK's security cameras caught an embarrassing moment for Anchor Scott Pasmore. 

Last Friday, when it was pouring rain in the Valley of the Sun and Pasmore was rushing back into the studio when .... oops!

Let's go to the video:

CBS Asks Lara Logan to Take Leave of Absence

CBS has basically suspended 60 Minutes corespondent Lara Logan and  producer Max McClellan for their role in the botched Benghazi report that aired on 60 minutes.

Although CBS News boss Jeff Fagaer is calling in a "leave of absence" for both of them, make no mistake, it's a suspension.

Here is the internal memo that Fager sent out to the staff at CBS: 

By now most of you have received the report from Al Ortiz about the problems with the 60 Minutes story on Benghazi.

There is a lot to learn from this mistake for the entire organization. We have rebuilt CBS News in a way that has dramatically improved our reporting abilities. Ironically 60 Minutes, which has been a model for those changes, fell short by broadcasting a now discredited account of an important story, and did not take full advantage of the reporting abilities of CBS News that might have prevented it from happening.

As a result, I have asked Lara Logan, who has distinguished herself and has put herself in harm’s way many times in the course of covering stories for us, to take a leave of absence, which she has agreed to do. I have asked the same of producer Max McClellan, who also has a distinguished career at CBS News.

As Executive Producer, I am responsible for what gets on the air. I pride myself in catching almost everything, but this deception got through and it shouldn’t have.

When faced with a such an error, we must use it as an opportunity to make our broadcast even stronger. We are making adjustments at 60 Minutes to reduce the chances of it happening again.

There is a lot of pride at CBS News. Every broadcast is working hard to live up to the high standard set at CBS News for excellence in reporting. This was a regrettable mistake. But there are many fine professionals at 60 Minutes who produce some of the very best of broadcast journalism, covering the important and interesting stories of our times, and they will continue to do so each and every Sunday.

Jeff Fager
Chairman, CBS News
Executive Producer, 60 Minutes

WABC Hires New Anchor

WABC in New York has hired Rob Nelson as their new Weekend Morning Anchor. 

Nelson comes to WABC from ABC News where he was a correspondent. He also anchored World News Now and America This Morning for three years.

Here is the internal email that was sent to the staff at WABC: 

From: "Edwards, Camille D." <Camille.D.Edwards@abc.com>
Date: November 26, 2013, 12:15:27 PM EST
To: #WABC-TV News <WABC-TV.news@email.disney.com>
Cc: #WABC-TV Department Heads <WABC-TV.dpthds@disney.com>
Subject: New Weekend Morning Anchor

I’m very excited to announce that we’ve hired Rob Nelson as our new weekend morning co-anchor and reporter.  Rob is currently a correspondent for ABC News, where he also anchored World News Now and America This Morning for three years.  He’s anchored breaking news coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado. Rob got his start in journalism as a newspaper reporter at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. That is where he transitioned into television as a reporter and anchor at WWL-TV. Rob is from South Jersey and graduated from the University of North Carolina.
 
Rob will join our great weekend morning team after the first of the year. I know you will join me in welcoming Rob to the WABC and Eyewitness News family.
 
Camille Edwards
Vice President/News Director