tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38065446723011040442024-03-12T19:27:55.599-07:00The Nightly DailyI used to write about Brian Williams until he lied his way into obscurity and self-destructed like a North Korean missile.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.comBlogger586125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-38589424765735843662019-01-25T03:06:00.000-08:002019-01-25T04:02:59.548-08:00Riding Dead Cows Down The Charles River (A True Story)In the mid-1980's, I lived in a section of Cambridge, Massachusetts known as Cambridgeport. I was paying around $350 a month for a one-bedroom apartment within walking distance of Harvard Square and Central Square. My apartment was near Magazine Street, whose southern terminus was Magazine Beach Park.<br />
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At one time, Magazine Beach had been an actual beach, with sand, swimming, water sports and other aquatic activities. But in 1949, the state of Massachusetts enacted a prohibition on swimming in that part of the Charles River because of concerns over pollution. So by the time I lived there, Magazine Beach was a park with trees, grass, picnic tables and softball fields. The dominant structure at Magazine Beach is the Magazine, a low brick building that had been built in 1818 as a storage facility for gunpowder and ammunition. In 1899, it was converted to a bath house.<br />
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In the early years of the Republic, there was apparently a fear that some foreign army (perhaps those pesky Hessians) may try to invade the new country by sailing inland along its rivers, marauding and plundering in their figurative and literal wake. So magazines filled with ammunition would allow musketeers to readily defend against such enemies from strategic vantage points. Communal magazines to store gunpowder were also in the best interest of public safety. By mandating that townspeople keep their gunpowder in communal structures, it reduced the risk that they would accidentally blow themselves up in their homes by cooking food or lighting a pipe too close to their personal supply of gunpowder.<br />
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Magazine Beach sat on land originally known as Captain's Island, a spot of high land that became an island at high tide. A historical timeline of the Magazine, Magazine Beach and the surrounding area can be found at the Magazine Beach <a href="https://magazinebeach.org/nature-history/" target="_blank">website</a>. That website includes a link to a Historic Structure Report about the Magazine (or access the report directly <a href="https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/rn/powder-report.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>) with lots of interesting old photos and drawings. And there is a fascinating in-depth history of Magazine Beach called "History on the Charles: The Story of Captain's Island and its Powder Magazine" by Nina S. Cohen and Marilyn Wellons. Read it <a href="https://magazinebeach.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/magazine-beach-history.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. (The late-19th century redesign of Magazine Beach--including renovations turning the Magazine into a bath house--were based on plans created by the Olmsted brothers, sons of noted architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose voluminous body of landscape design work included New York's Central Park.)<br />
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Anyway, in the mid-1980's, I was working at a department store in nearby Watertown. My store was located in the Arsenal Mall, which (before being converted to a mall) had its own rich <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watertown_Arsenal" target="_blank">history</a> as an arsenal going back to 1816. One of the women I worked with at the time had actually worked at the Watertown Arsenal during World War II. Another of my co-workers was a guy named Bill, a part-time maintenance man at the store. Bill's full-time job was as a custodian for the Boston Public School System, and he was fond of telling people that he had the fourth highest seniority out of all the BPS custodians. Presumably that meant something in terms of salary, vacation and other benefits. One day I was chatting with Bill in our store's break room, and when I told him I lived in Cambridge near Magazine Beach, he told me that when he was a kid (which I guessed to be in the late 1930's or early 1940's), he and his friends would spend their summers hanging out at Magazine Beach. I guess it was a pretty cool place to hang out, even though the Ramones never wrote a song about it ("It's not hard, not far to reach/We can hitch a ride to Magazine Beach."). In those days, Bill told me, both sides of the Charles River were still dotted with stockyards and slaughterhouses, a one-time burgeoning industry in the area. And every now and then, he said, a cow carcass would slip into the river from one of the stockyards and get carried downstream by the current. On more than one occasion, a dead cow would come floating by Magazine Beach while Bill and his friends were there. And when they saw a cow carcass drifting by, Bill and his friends would swim out to it, grab onto one of its hooves, hoist themselves onto its body and try to stay atop it for as long as possible. Riding dead cows down the Charles River, he called it.<br />
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I haven't seen Bill in close to 30 years, and if he's still with us (and I certainly hope he is) he would probably be in his late 80's, or perhaps even his 90's. But as long as I live, I'll never forget Bill's story about riding dead cows down the Charles River.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-7077988726996770362016-10-04T17:24:00.000-07:002016-10-05T12:58:51.304-07:00I Was Traumatized At A McDonald's In 1974Like many tail-end baby boomers, McDonald's was a part of my childhood. Starting in the late 1960's, my mother would take me to the McDonald's at Coney Island Avenue and Avenue U in Brooklyn once or twice a month. That was frequent enough to satisfy my Johnson/Nixon-era fast-food cravings but infrequent enough so that it was something fun and exciting to look forward to. I would always order a Big Mac, fries and a Coke or a shake (alas, the Quarter Pounder wouldn't be introduced nationwide for another few years). And after I finished, I'd go back to the counter and order a Filet-O-Fish as a <i>digestif</i>. I doubt that I could eat that much today (not that I would even want to).<br />
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By the time I was 12 or 13, I was going to McDonald's on my own. The McDonald's on Kings Highway and East 16th Street (near the B/Q subway stop) was a regular lunch destination for me and my friends in junior high school. In 1974, when I was in 8th grade, McDonald's began a promotion: Every time you bought a Big Mac, you were given a game card. When you pulled off the perforated strip (this was before scratch-off technology was invented), it revealed one of the seven ingredients that made up the Big Mac: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun.<br />
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(For some reason, McDonald's did not make a game card for the eighth Big Mac ingredient, ammonium hydroxide, which was added to their beef to create the concoction known as "pink slime".)<br />
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This is great, I thought. By trading the cards with my friends, I'll get so many free Big Macs that I won't have to pay for one until 1980. But of course, there was a catch. Like all games of this nature, one of the ingredient cards was severely short printed. In this case, the culprit was special sauce. After a few weeks, my friends and I had amassed a cache of two all-beef patties, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions and sesame seed buns. But there was nary a special sauce to be found. We heard occasional rumors of special sauce cards popping up in Canarsie or Bay Ridge, but those were never confirmed.<br />
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(There was a similar promotion around this time by Good Humor. When you finished eating an ice cream, the newly-uncovered upper portion of the stick would reveal one of the letters of GOOD HUMOR. When you had all the sticks to spell out the full name, you could redeem them for a free ice cream. Since you needed three O's, that letter was triple-printed, but one of the letters–I think it was the U–was short-printed. After weeks–perhaps even months–of U-less frustration, I appealed to Benny, the long-time Good Humor vendor for my neighborhood. He must have taken pity on me because the next time I saw him, he clandestinely slipped me a U stick which he had in his pocket. Benny was great. He had a Good Humor cart, rather than a truck, which he pushed up and down the streets of Brooklyn for 8 or 10 hours a day. I like to imagine that he joined Good Humor right out of the army in 1945 and had kept the same route for decades, but of course I didn't really know anything about him. I do know that he must have had the strongest legs in Brooklyn, as sometimes a street's incline made his task seem almost Sisyphean. [The photo below isn't actually Benny, but that's the exact style of push-cart he used.])<br />
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But my frustration with my inability to procure a special sauce card couldn't be solved with an appeal to a McDonald's employee. For one thing, I didn't know any of the McDonald's workers. And even if I did–and even if they had access to a secret supply of special sauce cards–I doubt any of them would have cared enough to give me one. I resigned myself to growing old without ever getting any free Big Macs. And all my dreams of the great things I was planning to buy with the money I'd be saving on Big Macs–like a G.I. Joe with Kung Fu grip–were fading fast.<br />
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But then one day...it just happened. I pulled off the perforated strip, and there it was. Special sauce. I was elated. Ecstatic. Euphoric. It may not have been on par with Charlie Bucket getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but at the time it sure felt that way.<br />
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I was so excited that while still at the counter, I yelled to my friends who were seated about 15 feet away, "HEY GUYS!! I GOT A SPECIAL SAUCE CARD!!" But even before they could react, an older high school kid who had been loitering nearby walked over, grabbed my wrist with what felt like a Kung Fu grip, snatched the special sauce card out of my hand, and casually strolled out of the building. I was devastated. Heartbroken. Inconsolable. I don't remember if my friends laughed, but they probably did. I would have laughed if I had seen it happen to one of them.</div>
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After "the incident," I couldn't bring myself to go back to McDonald's for quite a while. I spent some time eating at Burger King, but it really wasn't the same. A Whopper was okay, but it was no Big Mac. I mean, who puts mayo on a burger? I know their jingle said, "Have it your way" and "Special orders don't upset us," but still...mayo? Really? (Burger King's jingle was pretty catchy, but I made up my own words. Instead of "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce/Special orders don't upset us," I used to sing "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce/I have a tomato fetish.") </div>
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In retrospect, eating alone at Burger King made me feel like George Costanza (in the <i>Seinfeld</i> episode "The Pool Guy") eating at Reggie's–the bizarro diner–after Susan became friends with Elaine and he couldn't go back to Monk's–the gang's regular diner–because his worlds had collided.</div>
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Eventually, I began eating at McDonald's again, but when I entered high school, there wasn't a McDonald's close enough to get to and back from in the 45-minute lunch period. So instead we went out for pizza or ate in the school cafeteria ("Tuna, turkey or spiced ham?" was the cafeteria lady's mantra. Scream it loudly and shrilly a couple of dozen times and you'll have some idea what a lunch period in my high school was like.). By the time I got to college, McDonald's had lost most of its allure. One of the guys who lived in my dorm freshman year worked in the town's local McDonald's (having worked at a McDonald's in his home town, he fancied himself as something of a burger expert), and sometimes he would bring back food when his shift was over at midnight. One night, the food he brought back made everyone sick, so that pretty much put the kibosh on any desire I had for a Big Mac or Filet-O-Fish. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in years, but whenever I pass one, I always go in and grab a fistful of napkins (rather than take them one-by-one from the bottom of the dispenser, I like to open the dispenser and grab a four-inch stack). Their napkins are pretty good–they still use large trifold napkins long after places like Starbucks and Whole Foods switched to smaller bifold napkins. But recently, a few of the McDonald's near me removed their napkin dispensers from the plastics-and-paper area, requiring customers (and non-customers) to go to the counter and request them. So I guess they showed me. </div>
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These days, when I get a craving for fast food (which is about twice a year), I go to Wendy's. I first ate at a Wendy's in suburban Ohio in 1982, while driving cross-country with a couple of friends. I was impressed with the cleanliness, the pleasant service, and especially the taste of the food. Their burgers were much better than those at McDonald's or Burger King. I made a mental note to never eat at those places again, and to instead go only to Wendy's. Well, New York City isn't suburban Ohio, so you can blow a big kiss goodbye to the cleanliness and pleasant service. But the food is still better than McDonald's or Burger King. And they still use trifold napkins, which are available in bulk right in the dining area, with no need to go to the counter and beg for napkins like Oliver Twist asking for more food.</div>
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Wendy's also had a memorable commercial, but instead of a catchy jingle, they had a clever tag line.</div>
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The closest Wendy's to me is on East 14th Street between University Place and Fifth Avenue, and there's always an interesting mix of people there. Depending on the time of day, you might find after-work business people in suits, skateboard punks and runaways from nearby Union Square, families of foreign tourists looking for a cheap meal, drug addicts nodding off into their Frostys, and, of course, homeless people. I try not to eat too much red meat, so I skip the burgers and order a spicy chicken sandwich (no sauce), fries (no salt) and a Diet Coke (no ice). But even Wendy's smallest size soda is way too much liquid for me, so I take it with me when I leave and try to finish it on the way home, although I never can. They should really have an extra-small size of soda.</div>
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And whenever the Wendy's server hands me my food, I instinctively look around to see if there's anyone loitering nearby who looks like they might want to grab something out of my hand. In fast food restaurants, old habits die hard.</div>
Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-55043262973193568082016-06-30T03:06:00.000-07:002018-12-30T20:05:10.951-08:00Lester Holt Is Just Brian Williams Without The NarcissismEver since Brian Williams lied his way out of his job as NBC Nightly News weekday anchor 17 months ago, people have been lavishing praise on his replacement, Lester Holt. Lester is a professional. He's a serious news reporter. He's a real journalist, they say. Many people, including myself, hoped that Lester was the Moses who would finally lead NBC News out of the Brian Williams desert and return the organization to its former place of prominence and journalistic respectability, as exemplified by the legendary journalist/anchors Tom Brokaw and John Chancellor. Maybe Lester would take the news seriously. Maybe he would break with recent tradition and devote the entire broadcast to real news. Maybe he would stop padding Nightly News with idiotic drivel. Maybe...maybe...maybe...<br />
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Nah. The truth is that in the 17 months since Lester Holt began anchoring Nightly News, nothing has changed. The only difference between Nightly News under Brian and Nightly News under Lester is that Lester reports fewer Springsteen stories and doesn't waste our time reporting the death of every Medal of Honor recipient like Brian did (it should be noted that Brian was a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, a private organization that solicits donations for the Medal of Honor Society. So every time Brian reported on a Medal of Honor recipient, he was promoting an organization on whose board he served. He was essentially fundraising with no disclosure). <br />
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Before taking over for Brian, Lester Holt was an adequate weekend anchor in an undemanding and low-pressure environment. He flew under the radar. But unfortunately, under the spotlight of five-day-a-week scrutiny, Lester has shown that he's just Brian Williams without the rampant egotistical narcissism. It's not breaking news to report that Brian Williams had the biggest ego on TV (bigger, even, than Brian's fellow NBC host Donald Trump). Whenever possible (and as anchor, it was usually possible), Brian began news stories with phrases such as "If you're like me..." or "For those of us..." (the latter phrase was always followed by a self-congratulatory statement like "...who love dogs...," "...are Supreme Court buffs...," "...who played high school football" or "...who are die-hard New York Giants fans..."). Lester opts for the more humble "So many" (as in "...the credit cards so many use..." or "...the cars so many drive..."). Humility aside, Lester is just the latest snake oil salesman to stand in front of the NBC cameras at 6:30 PM Monday through Friday (holidays excluded) and use his carnival barker's bag of tricks to keep people tuned in to his broadcast. Unlike Brian, Lester doesn't make Nightly News about himself. But like Brian, Lester's Nightly News isn't really about news, either. Lester's primary job isn't to report important events–it's to maximize ratings so the NBC News sales department can charge the highest possible ad rates for Nightly News commercials (and also so that the NBC prime time lineup can have the best possible lead-in). And like his predecessor, Lester does not allow ethics to stand in the way of ratings. He will say practically anything to keep viewers watching. He frequently uses phrases like "late word," "late details" and "late developments" to describe stories that had already been reported by other news organizations 12 or more hours before Nightly News came on the air. He regularly uses decidedly non-news terms like "shocking," "stunning," "amazing," "incredible," "breathtaking," "chilling," "spectacular," "astounding," "remarkable," "heartwarming," "inspiring" and "jaw-dropping" to titillate viewers and hard-sell the news–or, more specifically, the twaddle that he passes off as news. By the way, those are the same words regularly used by Mario Lopez, the host of "Extra," the show that follows NBC Nightly News in many markets and the show from which Nightly News has become virtually indistinguishable. Maybe NBC should just merge the two shows and call the new program "NBC Nightly News Extra With Lester and Mario." Just think of how much fun <em>that</em> show would be.<br />
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When the Nightly News producers or the NBC corporate weasels need someone to plug NBC's news or entertainment shows (like "The Today Show," "The Tonight Show," "Meet the Press," "Saturday Night Live" or "Little Big Shots"), Lester's their guy. When they need someone to promote NBC/Universal movies (like "Jurassic World," "Race" or "Unbroken"), Lester's their guy. When they need someone to shill for NBC Sports (witness the amount of time Nightly News devotes to "news reports" on NBC sporting events like horse racing or NASCAR), Lester's their guy (and just wait until Lester begins devoting half of Nightly News to hyper-aggressively plugging the Olympics). When they need someone to read a sham news story to promote a product made by a regular NBC sponsor (like McDonald's, Bayer or Nabisco), Lester's their guy (before Lester, of course, Brian was their guy). Lester will look directly into the camera and make his sales pitch without any visible trace of embarrassment. And another thing he will do is look directly into the camera and lie to the viewers. <br />
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Lester always begins Nightly News with a 70-80 second intro in which he teases the 5 or 6 stories that are most likely to excite viewers and keep them from changing the channel (Those 70-80 seconds could be used to report on an important news story rather than tease the insipid stories Lester will be reporting, but that's a discussion for another time). It's no different than when a drama series begins with teases of that night's sauciest moments (without actually giving anything away), an age-old TV ploy (previously used for radio dramas and movie serials) designed to keep asses in the seats. But what Lester doesn't tell us is often as important as what he does tell us. On the June 23, 2016 Nightly News, this was the third story Lester teased at the top of the broadcast: "Movie theater hostage crisis! A masked gunman holding dozens! Chaos and panic! Fears of another mass attack as police storm the cinema!" <br />
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At minute 15, before the broadcast's first commercial break, Lester teased the story again: "Still ahead tonight–panic inside a movie theater when a gunman storms inside and takes hostages! Police on the move rushing to the scene!" <br />
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After the commercial break–18 minutes after Lester first teased the story–he finally tells us one important fact that he had heretofore omitted: The movie theater hostage crisis was <em>in Germany</em>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CSeB2mh6cWiEObZpMu81t1f6E7VRd5_i55H1_W-lxwNgNC254JkIqvhoz2WzlFyAE03DW3a3Qpbc8lsBZHpKHCAcoyhJfRbiANpuCyYvEXUYLhvHiF_GgeiHX2Y-9ZeVkM-0yKe5Lac/s1600/lhgermany3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CSeB2mh6cWiEObZpMu81t1f6E7VRd5_i55H1_W-lxwNgNC254JkIqvhoz2WzlFyAE03DW3a3Qpbc8lsBZHpKHCAcoyhJfRbiANpuCyYvEXUYLhvHiF_GgeiHX2Y-9ZeVkM-0yKe5Lac/s320/lhgermany3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
So are we to believe that Lester simply forgot to mention this salient bit of information 18 minutes earlier? That in the rush to impart all the important news of the day, it had just slipped his mind? Of course not. In collaboration with his producers, Lester intentionally withheld the location of the story–as he has done many times before–as a tactic to stimulate the viewers' interest and keep them tuned in under false pretenses. It's a well-known fact in the U.S. news business that viewers are far more interested in domestic news than in foreign news. News from foreign countries (especially those with strange-sounding names) is a turn-off. Even news from our neighboring countries of Mexico and Canada often causes people to zone out and lose interest. Lest Lester supporters (not to be confused with Leicester supporters)...<br />
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...think that this was an isolated incident, here are some other instances when his teases intentionally omitted the foreign location of stories so as to fool the viewers into thinking they were in the U.S.:<br />
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On the August 18, 2015 broadcast, Lester teased a story about a bombing: "Manhunt for a bomber! Authorities say this is the killer caught on camera as a new explosion rocks a major tourist city and a mystery deepens!" However, Lester waited five minutes before telling us that the bombing was in Bangkok. (It goes without saying that Lester's use of the word "authorities" was meant to imply "U.S. authorities.")<br />
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During the March 16, 2016 Nightly News intro, Lester teased a story about a prison escape this way: "A shocking escape caught on camera! A helicopter hijacked at gunpoint–flying over a prison as inmates grab hold and hang on for their lives! Guards helpless to stop them!" It wasn't for another 12 minutes that correspondent Blake McCoy finally revealed that the prison break had happened outside of Montreal, Canada.<br />
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On May 4, 2016, Lester's intro included a tease for a story about a wildfire: "Towering inferno! Frantic evacuations as a massive wildfire explodes out of control torching entire neighborhoods! Even the emergency operations center staff forced to flee!" Seventeen minutes later, Lester finally told us that the fire was in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.<br />
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The following night, Lester also teased the fire story without mentioning Canada: "The monster inferno exploding–now bigger than New York City! Tonight we go behind the fire lines! An astonishing scope of devastation!" I guess Lester should be commended–this time it took him only four minutes to finally reveal that the fire was in Canada. (Of course, mentioning New York City was clearly meant to imply by association that the fire was in the U.S.)<br />
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And again the next night: "Running for their lives! The monster inferno caught on camera devouring a home minutes after a family escapes and watches everything they have burn!" This time, Lester regressed a bit–he didn't mention that the fire was in Canada until six minutes into the broadcast.<br />
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On the June 30, 2016 broadcast, Lester teased a story at minute 15 about a house tumbling off a rain-eroded cliff and crashing into the houses below: "Over the edge! Shocking destruction triggered by heavy rains all caught on camera!" It wasn't until eight minutes later that Lester finally admitted that this happened in Nagasaki, Japan.<br />
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During the April 2, 2015 Nightly News intro, Lester teased this story: "Campus massacre! At least 147 killed, scores injured as terrorists unleash a horrifying attack!" Eventually–five minutes later–Lester got around to telling us that the attack had actually happened in Kenya. Thanks, Lester.<br />
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(It should be noted that the accompanying video clips for these teases are always carefully edited to avoid showing any images that would indicate that the action was happening outside the U.S.)<br />
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So Lester and his producers found a loophole, a crafty way to keep people tuned in and boost ratings: Don't tell the viewers that the story being teased happened outside the U.S. Which is the same thing as tricking them into thinking it happened <em>inside</em> the U.S. Which, by any standard, is lying. But Lester doesn't care. If bamboozling the viewers will keep them from changing the channel and give him bigger ratings, he's all for it. Yes, Lester Holt is a professional. He's a serious news reporter. He's a real journalist.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-33221247035067822792016-06-13T23:15:00.002-07:002022-01-25T16:34:53.706-08:00Brush With Celebrity–The Day I Met "Grandpa" Al LewisIn 1988, I was working at a Boston-area department store (FYI–it was more like a Target than a Nordstrom). One day our store manager informed us that we would be hosting an in-store signing by Al Lewis, who had been appearing on TV shows since the early 1950's but was best known for having played Grandpa on <em>The Munsters </em>in the mid-1960's (and in subsequent sequels and remakes).<br />
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Lewis had lent his name to a series of videos called <em>Grampa's Silly Scaries</em>, <em>Grampa's Monster Movies </em>and<em> Grampa's Sci-Fi Hits</em> which were collections of cartoons and live-action sci-fi and monster movie clips from the 1930's to the 1960's that featured introductions and commentary from Lewis. (I assume that the videos' producers called him "Grampa" rather than "Grandpa" to avoid tempting a lawsuit from the producers of <em>The Munsters</em>.) Lewis's agreement with <a href="http://oddity-archive.wikia.com/wiki/Amvest_Video">Amvest Video</a>, the company that produced the videos, apparently required him to promote the videos with personal appearances in malls and stores like the one I worked in. We didn't get many "celebrities" (even D-listers like Al Lewis) in my store, and since I had enjoyed <em>The </em><em>Munsters</em> as a kid I thought it would be kind of cool to get his autograph. I wasn't interested in buying any of the videos, but his promotional people provided photocopied pictures that Lewis was willing to sign. <br />
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On the day of Lewis's appearance I waited for the crowd to thin out (not that there was much of a crowd to begin with) and got on line to get an autograph. When I was about third or fourth in line, I noticed that there was a kid who seemed to be about 9 or 10 years old at the front of the line. When one of the promotional people motioned for the kid to step forward to get Lewis's autograph, he bounded up to the signing table and, in the hope of getting a personalized signature, eagerly proclaimed, "Hi Grandpa! My name is Billy!" Without looking up, Lewis responded, "What the hell do I care what your goddam name is," and quickly scrawled his autograph on Billy's paper before turning his attention to the next item that was presented for him to sign. Now, I don't know if Lewis was channeling crusty old Grandpa Munster, or if he was just genuinely mean, but poor Billy was devastated. He slunk away from the table, his chin aquiver. Needless to say, when it was my turn to get Lewis's autograph, I didn't dare say a word until I had the signed paper in my hand, after which I only muttered a sotto voce, "Thanks, Grandpa."<br />
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To this day, whenever I stumble upon a rerun of <em>The Munsters</em>, I can't help thinking back to the time when poor little Billy was traumatized by "Grandpa" Al Lewis.<br />
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(Above: One of my most prized possessions–my autographed picture of Al Lewis.)<br />
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<br />Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-11917238786894729902016-03-24T01:40:00.001-07:002016-04-19T02:48:45.097-07:00Why I Didn't Like Fleetwood Mac In The Summer Of '77<div style="text-align: left;">
In the summer of 1977, I went on a teen tour across Europe, a follow-up to my successful 1976 teen tour of the U.S. For those not familiar with teen tours in the '70's, it was a group of several dozen teenagers guided across Europe (or some other continent) by a woefully inadequate number of adult chaperones (three, in our case), while the tour operators huddled in their New York offices and prayed that no one died. My memory of all the specific cities we visited is a bit hazy, although I recall being in London, Paris, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Bern, Amsterdam and Madrid. (I would consult my photos for verification except that I don't have any. During a reunion with some of my tour-mates the following year, I asked a friend of mine to hold my photos in her bag during dinner and I forgot to get them back before we said goodbye. I haven't seen her since.)<br />
While we did a good part of our traveling by plane that summer, we also spent a lot of time on a chartered bus driven by a German guy named Hans (although most of the girls on the tour called him "Hands" because he was always trying to grope their <em>titten </em><em>und arschen</em>). Our bus was equipped with a cassette deck and a decent sound system, but because we weren't told about this amenity in advance, we only had 4 tapes among the 3 dozen-or-so teens on the tour. These were the pre-Walkman days when people didn't routinely travel with cassettes because a high-tech portable cassette player looked like this:<br />
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Our music choices that summer were limited to the Beatles' <em>1962-1966</em> and <em>1967-1970</em> (affectionately known as the "Red" and "Blue" albums) and Fleetwood Mac's 1975 eponymous album and its follow-up, <em>Rumours</em>. (I can't recall whose tapes they were, but I'm guessing that one person brought the Beatles tapes and another person brought the Fleetwood Mac tapes, because if four people had randomly brought those four tapes it would have been a really weird coincidence. Or maybe one person brought all four tapes. It was 39 years ago. I really don't remember.) On the bus there were two distinct camps: Those (including myself) who always wanted to hear the Beatles, and those who always wanted to hear Fleetwood Mac. (There was a smaller contingent of 4 or 5 girls from Florida who were obsessed with Bad Company, but unfortunately for them we didn't have any Bad Company tapes.) As soon as we took our seats for the start of a bus trip, the shouts would begin: "Beatles Red!" "Beatles Blue!" "Fleetwood Mac Rumours!" "Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac!" (No one ever shouted out "Fleetwood Mac eponymous!") Over the course of the summer, I would guess that we probably heard each album about the same number of times, but at the time, it seemed like Fleetwood Mac was <em>always</em> playing and that the Beatles were <em>hardly ever</em> playing.</div>
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Prior to the summer of '77, I sort of liked Fleetwood Mac. I wasn't a huge fan, but I certainly didn't dislike them, like some of my friends who dismissed them as "that California easy-listening faux-rock shit." It would, of course, have been impossible to listen to pop/rock radio in the mid-to-late '70's without hearing a healthy dose of their songs (at the time, my radio station of choice was New York's WPLJ-FM) and I was certainly not immune to the catchy charms of "Monday Morning," "Second Hand News," "Over My Head," "Don't Stop" or any of Stevie Nicks's shawl-encrusted songs about lost love, witches or past lives. I have a vague recollection of seeing them do a filmed concert performance (later called a "music video") of "Rhiannon" on "The Midnight Special" in 1976. That may have been the first time I saw Fleetwood Mac perform, as opposed to just hearing the radio versions of their songs. I don't exactly remember what I thought of that 1976 performance at the time, but now it's nothing short of amazing. I only wish that the editor had included more shots of Stevie dancing during the instrumental break, because the close-up of Christine's hands playing piano isn't particularly stimulating. (I'd also like to go back in time 40+ years and tell Stevie that "Love can be unkind" would be a good rhyme for "Dreams unwind," but I think the song turned out pretty good without my help.)<br />
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During that teen tour summer, however, I grew to resent the Fleetwood Mac supporters and, by extension, the band itself. I saw my pro-Mac tour-mates as obstacles whose main goal was to rock-block me from hearing those 54 exquisite Beatles songs over and over and over. And then over again. (Ironically, though, one of the rituals among my friends and I that summer was to form a circle with our arms around each other and sway back and forth while shout-singing "The Chain." At the time, I thought that we could have just as easily picked "A Day in the Life" or "Let It Be" as our group song, but in retrospect there was something about the droning melody and lyrical simplicity of "The Chain" that readily lent itself to teen rituals like dancing around in a circle or slaughtering farm animals.)</div>
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While I didn't exactly hate the band or their songs, I opposed them in the way one might root against a college sports rival. You always want your team to win, and that summer, my team only had a .500 record. I carried my Fleetwood Macrimony through my college years and into the mid-'80's, but sometime around 1987–the year Lindsey left the band–my distaste for them faded and I once again found myself able to appreciate and enjoy their songs (the two events were completely unrelated–I'm certain that Lindsey didn't leave Fleetwood Mac because the band was back in my good graces).<br />
In fact, when Fleetwood Mac reunited for the <em>The Dance</em> in 1997, I became mildly obsessed with them. I used to study that concert video like the Zapruder film, looking to discern subtle meaning from the body language and looks exchanged between Lindsey and Stevie, especially on "Landslide." (I also found Mick fascinating, with his glaring eyes and intense facial expressions, but Christine and John not so much. They seemed remote and disinterested–not only in each other, but in the songs, as well.) A woman who lived in my building at the time was similarly obsessed with <em>The Dance</em>, and we used to watch the video together in her living room while mimicking Lindsey and Stevie's mannerisms and stage moves (I usually got to be Lindsey). At the end of "Landslide," we would even exchange the "Thank you Lindsey"/"Thank you Stevie" closing salutations–<em>just like the real Lindsey and Stevie! </em>(Watching that video today makes me nostalgic not just for that time in <em>my</em> life, but for that time–and earlier times–in Lindsey and Stevie's lives.) My friend and I thought our Lindsey/Stevie moves were pretty slick, but in hindsight, we were probably like a couple of out-of-shape exercisers who thought they were doing a good job keeping up with "The 20 Minute Workout." </div>
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(Although I must admit that I still think I did a pretty good job of swinging my imaginary guitar neck from one side of the mic stand to the other, like Lindsey did [at 5:04] during "Silver Springs." I owned that move.)</div>
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Decades removed from my anti-Mac bias of the late '70's and '80's, I have now come to realize that Lindsey (with his strummy-picky-plucky playing style) is one of the great guitarists of his era and "Go Your Own Way" is one of the great songs of the 1970's, although for 25 years I was mis-hearing the song's lyrics. Whereas Lindsey was singing "Loving you/Isn't the right thing to do" and "You can go your own way/Go your own way," I had thought he was singing "Loving you/<em>Is</em> the right thing to do" and "You can go your own way/<em>Don't</em> go away" which would have made it one of those passive-aggressive "go/don't go" songs, instead of the straightforward end-of-a-relationship song that it is. I'm grateful for the lyrics sites on the internet that finally allowed me to learn the actual words to that song and others. (For example, it was nice to find out what Mick was singing on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Gimme Shelter." And for years I thought that the "Honky Tonk Women" line "I laid a divorcee in New York City" was "I later did four straight in New York City.") But keep in mind that not all lyrics sites get the lyrics–or titles–right:<br />
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The version of "Go Your Own Way" from <em>The Dance</em> is my favorite live version of the song, not only because of Lindsey's exuberant guitar playing and enthusiastic stage-roaming, but also because of Mick's incredible drumming (with a percussive assist from Lindsey at the end).</div>
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I don't own any Fleetwood Mac studio albums, I've never seen them in concert, and the radio station I currently listen to rarely plays them, but it seems that they're destined to enter my life–for better or worse–every 20 years. So now I'm curious what they have planned for 2017. Maybe a <em>Rumours</em> fortieth anniversary tour. If that happens, perhaps I'll get in touch with some of my old tour-mates and arrange a reunion with them at one of those concerts. And maybe then I'll finally get my photos back.</div>
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Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-6810983014950354022015-02-07T00:04:00.000-08:002015-02-08T03:33:56.118-08:00Some Thoughts On Brian Williams' Successor At NBC Nightly NewsNow that Brian Williams has been exposed as a self-aggrandizing liar and has become the laughingstock of the internet (and has decided to take a leave of absence as detailed in this memo: <a href="http://press.nbcnews.com/2015/02/07/a-personal-note-from-brian-williams/">http://press.nbcnews.com/2015/02/07/a-personal-note-from-brian-williams/</a>), the NBC powers-that-be are, of course, huddled in their caves desperately reading the tea leaves and trying to figure out a way to salvage the shining jewel of their news empire. At for-profit network news organizations, ratings are just as important as they are in the entertainment divisions because they determine ad rates and affect lead-ins to prime-time programming. And even though Brian's crown is now badly tarnished, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Nightly News's ratings have gone up in the days since Brian's lie was exposed. People love seeing a pompous news-ebrity knocked off his haughty pedestal by a phantom RPG and I'm sure that many viewers have recently tuned in to Nightly News in the hope that they can catch Brian telling another lie, or perhaps get the chance to see him fall on his sword on live TV. Nightly News is now the season's hottest reality show. But the long-term effect of Brian's plunge from grace will ultimately be measured in dollars. If Nightly News cedes its top spot in the all-important Nielsen ratings, NBC News President Deborah Turness and Chairperson Pat Fili-Krushel won't hesitate to David Gregory Brian's ass (assuming he returns from his leave of absence). Even if Nightly News maintains its slim ratings lead over David Muir's ABC World News, the question remains as to whether Nightly News can continue with a damaged anchor who is trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons. If Turness and Fili-Krushel do decide to make a change, I can think of a few worthy candidates--and some less-worthy ones, as well. (Like many people, I would love to see Tom Brokaw back in the Nightly News anchor chair, but considering his age and recent health problems, that seems unlikely.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIFeSJS6b160pWel0lXFRXAe81REfEwVIDadbQieLkzL8IoHaNez2fW1s3moI0NZmsrhhV3dpfoYv61BfuBt0ol7HMIYQD7t6U96a6MKCbfaG7xh3dleocP9XYdPMLJAek3Ud3pEcQVY/s1600/bwvalor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIFeSJS6b160pWel0lXFRXAe81REfEwVIDadbQieLkzL8IoHaNez2fW1s3moI0NZmsrhhV3dpfoYv61BfuBt0ol7HMIYQD7t6U96a6MKCbfaG7xh3dleocP9XYdPMLJAek3Ud3pEcQVY/s1600/bwvalor.png" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Brian Williams reporting on "Stolen Valor" on the 2/22/12 NBC Nightly News...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz81Ezf8CNys4ZDYhMR_-c8p56GWV7Bqva1ItRvz8z9BxZAmHfocysm5Q0ndRtojxNfHTMfki0yPUNhc-Xn7ID92tEZGpKX1Tnu9GDZ5NkesuOBQ0a5hNLU9ammDTLB5Su9eFFXwt5bZw/s1600/bwliar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz81Ezf8CNys4ZDYhMR_-c8p56GWV7Bqva1ItRvz8z9BxZAmHfocysm5Q0ndRtojxNfHTMfki0yPUNhc-Xn7ID92tEZGpKX1Tnu9GDZ5NkesuOBQ0a5hNLU9ammDTLB5Su9eFFXwt5bZw/s1600/bwliar.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
...and in a later photo.<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Lester Holt</u></strong>: Holt has over 30 years' experience as a reporter and anchor, including 14 years as a local news anchor in Chicago. For the past seven years, he has anchored the Nightly News weekend edition and ably filled in back in 2013 when Brian needed shoulder surgery from constantly patting himself on the back. Despite my occasional criticism of Holt, he is a skilled and smooth anchor who I believe has earned the right to move into the weekday anchor chair should that spot open up. He has a good sense of humor, although, unlike Brian Williams, he is not desperate to appear funny and does not report gratuitous news stories for the sole purpose of leading up to a punch line. Holt is concise where Brian is verbose, and understated where Brian is grandiose. His affability seems genuine, rather than part of a calculated persona to be donned every night before airtime. Ironically, Holt is an accomplished pilot and musician, two things that Brian desperately dreams of being. Holt's main drawback is that he may not be thought of as a strong enough personality (meaning ratings-grabber) to be the public face of NBC News.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7p6-K5c5FzUtPiFD5NEoHYm0a6jKL7woxl9gsCqkynmsNEiBo8xmEOo2KpXWtQUY-Hw4O19062sE6ATVKbO-FhFexjUMtUZ7extP0Y0pMZW1_rC14v8TMuxxuACP2kQnhBSFnK5ED_o/s1600/lester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7p6-K5c5FzUtPiFD5NEoHYm0a6jKL7woxl9gsCqkynmsNEiBo8xmEOo2KpXWtQUY-Hw4O19062sE6ATVKbO-FhFexjUMtUZ7extP0Y0pMZW1_rC14v8TMuxxuACP2kQnhBSFnK5ED_o/s1600/lester.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<strong><u>Ted Koppel</u></strong>: As a well-respected and veteran news anchor, Koppel would instantly return prestige and credibility to the NBC Nightly News anchor chair (which I would argue has been missing for a lot longer than three days). Koppel has recently worked as a special correspondent for Nightly News and "Rock Center" (also known as "Brian's Folly"), so he has an association with NBC News. Despite some accusations that as Nightline anchor he was a mouthpiece for the U.S. government, there's no doubt that Koppel would bring some much-needed gravitas to Nightly News. However, even if Koppel was interested in the job, it seems unlikely that he could stomach the constant litany of idiotic stories that he would be required to read about dogs, celebrities, viral YouTube videos and Allison Williams' latest NBC role. The main drawback to hiring Koppel is that at age 74, he is less likely to attract and maintain the all-important 25-to-54-year-old ratings demo that is so important to news broadcasts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YypsPnWP2O5wy0GOdAGGwkkIjhtS23gqmRacirddxzDjUjH9OHHerE4647cT9W_ZdRn5Nh2zzCe0Rm0FHgKYiVr35QqgXr3ZWyt53TJaivBvHME9bENcEyHhhcJzmP9z8wHhp2nBmrg/s1600/ted-koppel%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YypsPnWP2O5wy0GOdAGGwkkIjhtS23gqmRacirddxzDjUjH9OHHerE4647cT9W_ZdRn5Nh2zzCe0Rm0FHgKYiVr35QqgXr3ZWyt53TJaivBvHME9bENcEyHhhcJzmP9z8wHhp2nBmrg/s1600/ted-koppel%5B1%5D.jpg" height="320" width="317" /></a></div>
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<br />
<strong><u>Charles Gibson</u></strong>: In my opinion, Gibson was the best network news anchor in the post-Rather/Jennings/Brokaw era. He was the last of the hardy journalist-anchors who once dominated evening newscasts. When Gibson signed off for the last time as ABC World News anchor in late 2009 after a 3½-year stint, it occurred to me that I knew nothing about him. I didn't know if he preferred dogs or cats or ferrets. I didn't know what his favorite football team was, or if he even liked football. I didn't know anything about his family. I didn't know if he drank beer, wine or scotch. I didn't know anything about his favorite charities. Because I shouldn't. There's no need for viewers to have that information. Of course, Brian Williams shares that information (and more) on a nightly basis. He constantly self-references in a desperate effort to make himself seem appealing to viewers by presenting a faux working-class, blue-collar, regular-guy image. A guy you'd love to have a (domestic) beer with. "If you're a Giants fan like me...," "For those of us who love dogs...," "As a hockey fan...," "For those of us who drive...," "The huge ATM fees banks get from all of us..." and "All of us who pay taxes..." are among the expressions Brian uses to insinuate himself into news stories and come off as an average Joe. You would never catch Charles Gibson using a cheap trick like that. But like Koppel, Gibson's age (71) would not make him a good draw for the coveted younger viewers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Wj_gNLwhpoamZRkkICFzgPGThhyphenhyphen7-n4nPaW5yZdOPhaSLAp2kGBoAwK4ymF9x92Tq42hF7DTfXzoI_1EZU0-GYXMiTYJENFzVCRK7zYpJnFxsk5gMyXuaj5oOeoRe3Ex2Lm0lu5pDcQ/s1600/charles-gibson%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Wj_gNLwhpoamZRkkICFzgPGThhyphenhyphen7-n4nPaW5yZdOPhaSLAp2kGBoAwK4ymF9x92Tq42hF7DTfXzoI_1EZU0-GYXMiTYJENFzVCRK7zYpJnFxsk5gMyXuaj5oOeoRe3Ex2Lm0lu5pDcQ/s1600/charles-gibson%5B1%5D.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<strong><u>Gwen Ifill</u></strong>: Ifill spent five years with NBC News in the 1990's, but she has been with PBS since 1999. As an African American woman, Ifill would certainly bring a much-needed perspective to the anchor chair, but a PBS anchor moving to a network presents problems for both parties. Network executives may conclude that a PBS anchor would be perceived as too elitist and liberal for their viewers, while a PBS anchor may not want to read the type of pointless drivel that passes for news on the networks.<br />
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<br />
Here are a few longshot candidates:<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Donald Trump</u></strong>: With no experience as a news anchor, Trump may seem like an unlikely choice. But what could be more natural than replacing the biggest ego at NBC with the second-biggest ego? It would be an easy transition for Nightly News viewers, who are already accustomed to having their news delivered by a self-promoting narcissist. It should also be noted that Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" regularly had better prime-time ratings than Brian's "Rock Center".<br />
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<br />
<strong><u>Ann Curry</u></strong>: Curry was unceremoniously dumped as a "Today Show" anchor in 2012 and recently left NBC to form her own production company. But America loves a comeback. Or at least, in this case, might be willing to tolerate one. Curry's main drawback is that she isn't a very good news anchor. She talks too fast, slurs her words, mispronounces names and combines words to form new words (she once transformed "Obama Administration" into "Obaministration"). But this may not be an insurmountable problem since network news anchors rarely say anything of importance, anyway. And Curry has perfected the look of fake concern that is so vitally important to news anchors who pretend to care about the people they exploit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWkogHpF8hyphenhyphenQNv17uIKZwkbUQ9MXacnih8VMr8F2Nza_FV8Gilb0zSMvrXRiwDGe2ZOsYRflreugALQ7sbU434LylWj1tsKk4uHKjOHRU3ok5hhfz2EYURtwk9oo6NoP3eJLY3d4sTZU/s1600/ann-curry-3%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWkogHpF8hyphenhyphenQNv17uIKZwkbUQ9MXacnih8VMr8F2Nza_FV8Gilb0zSMvrXRiwDGe2ZOsYRflreugALQ7sbU434LylWj1tsKk4uHKjOHRU3ok5hhfz2EYURtwk9oo6NoP3eJLY3d4sTZU/s1600/ann-curry-3%5B1%5D.jpg" height="264" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><u>Jon Stewart</u></strong>: Since Stewart was recently offered the moderator's job on "Meet the Press", it's no secret that NBC covets Stewart's talent. And Stewart (for the next two years, anyway) is actually part of the much-desired 25-to-54-year-old Nielsen demographic. A 2009 Time magazine poll listed Stewart as the nation's most trusted newsperson--ahead of even Brian Williams, who had not yet been widely exposed as a liar. Tapping Stewart to anchor Nightly News could create an interesting situation--Brian could then lobby for the open anchor spot at "The Daily Show" since he believes that he is the funniest person in America.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk05FCBQhUki8-1djKllHZcyzhgYI0pZ35Q_tIcdzTI_2S5qSXq6-_HBv7A6QUOkrcx9gCje0IHvNkuyGqtI2a6lvIonAisSzIIlcv3U8W2wxck2dyJsjslK90YdU_fDX4RJoLUqukB-I/s1600/jon_stewart32%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk05FCBQhUki8-1djKllHZcyzhgYI0pZ35Q_tIcdzTI_2S5qSXq6-_HBv7A6QUOkrcx9gCje0IHvNkuyGqtI2a6lvIonAisSzIIlcv3U8W2wxck2dyJsjslK90YdU_fDX4RJoLUqukB-I/s1600/jon_stewart32%5B1%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<strong><u>Michael Douglas</u></strong>: Douglas is already familiar to Nightly News viewers as the voice that introduces Brian most nights, so he would be a natural choice to replace Brian. As an added bonus, Douglas could report news stories in the voices of the characters he has played on television and in the movies. He could report financial news as Gordon Gekko, crime and law enforcement news as Inspector Steve Keller, adventure stories as Jack Colton, music news as Liberace and political news as President Andrew Shepherd. And if he's feeling ironic, he could hire Brian to introduce him each night.<br />
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<br />
The million-dollar question (Brian's monthly salary) is: Can Brian Williams hang on? At this point, no one can say. Brian's strategy in dealing with public relations problems (such as the self-enriching agendas of NBC News's military consultants or the doctoring of George Zimmerman's 911 tapes) has always been to ignore them and wait until they blow over. But that may not be possible as long as #BrianWilliamsMisremembers continues to trend on twitter.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-70951633168915679742014-12-02T00:03:00.003-08:002015-02-08T03:34:45.726-08:00Brian Williams Is A Serial Panderer On NBC Nightly NewsOn 12/1/14, Brian Williams ended NBC Nightly News with a very important news story. It was a story about Farmersonly.com--a dating site for farmers. Here's how Brian introduced the story:<br />
<br />
"Finally tonight--how many Americans this Thanksgiving paused right before digging into stuffing to think about where the wheat came from to make the bread to make the stuffing? Well, the answer is: A farm in America where someone cares about that crop. Someone turns in at night before dark and gets up the next morning before sunrise to care for that crop--and that's during a good year. Farming life isn't for everyone and cultivating a meaningful relationship can be tough. That is where a new website comes in as we hear tonight from bona fide Midwesterner Harry Smith."<br />
<br />
Anyone who's watched Nightly News more than a handful of times knows that Brian is a serial panderer. A fawning, obsequious toady who will ingratiate himself with any demographic that can boost his Nielsen ratings. On this night, farmers got the nod. Some of his other favorite targets for pandering include sports fans (especially fans of so-called blue-collar sports like football, hockey and NASCAR), car owners (most often American cars like Chevys, Chryslers and especially the Ford F-150 pickup) and Rust Belt or Midwestern cities (the "good people" or "hardy souls" of Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago and Minnesota are frequently singled out for praise). Brian loves to pander, but, of course, being Brian, he does so in a narcissistic, self-referential way. He'll extol your sports team, car or city while craftily painting himself as a clock-punchin', jeans-wearin', beer-drinkin' good ol' boy--albeit one whose annual salary has been estimated at $13 million per year. He loves to burnish his faux-working-class image by using phrases like, "For those of us who love football...," "For all of us who've ever loved a Mustang" and "Those of who enjoy riding up high [in a Chevy Suburban]." Yes, Brian is just like you--the middle-American, sports-loving, working-class viewer he's pandering to. In fact, you and Brian have something else in common--you both love watching Brian every night on the TV news.<br />
<br />
Here's what Brian said on the 7/9/13 Nightly News after a map on the previous day's broadcast omitted New Hampshire:<br />
<br />
"And this calls for a reminder of great things about New Hampshire: It's got the best motto--'Live Free Or Die'--and it is the home of the first-in-the-nation primary. Its entire elected delegation is women--Governor, two U.S. Senators and members of Congress. And while they are all serious people, New Hampshire has also given us Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman. And the inventor of Tupperware is from there and paper towels were invented in New Hampshire. So to the great people of the great state of New Hampshire--from the peaks of the White Mountains to the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee--please accept our apology." It should be noted that Brian pronounced "Lake Winnipesaukee" with a fake New England accent, because his superior ego just can't resist the urge to mock the people he's pandering to.<br />
<br />
Brian probably doesn't have many Canadian viewers, but that didn't prevent him from saying this on the 7/1/14 Nightly News:<br />
<br />
"If you've been unable to reach a Canadian friend today, that's because it's Canada Day, celebrated throughout the land by our neighbors to the north in a number of ways--including beverage consumption. In the hands down best video of the day, which we have put on our website tonight, two brothers from Canada--one of them a national hero--celebrate their nation in song. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and his brother Dave composed and recorded a song called 'In Canada'--as you might have gathered. And it will make you happy because it's as sweet as maple syrup and they embrace their own wholesomeness and corniness and their own unabashed love of country."<br />
<br />
And here's how Brian began Nightly News on 11/19/14:<br />
<br />
"Good evening. The people of Buffalo, New York don't scare easily. President McKinley was assassinated there in 1901 and they moved on. They have loved their Buffalo Bills from the good years through the bad years and now that they're good again. They have given the world not only Tim Russert, but also Wolf Blitzer. And while Buffalo is a tough town, they may have finally met their match. A relentless snow storm has dropped nearly six feet of snow coming right in off the lake with upwards of two more feet on the way. Daily life has simply come to a halt for many across a big area and the storm has already cost several lives. It is officially a state of emergency tonight across a whole region."<br />
<br />
Now, if Brian Williams hasn't heaped a proverbial ton of praise on the place where you live, don't feel bad. It doesn't mean that you're not hardy, tough or nice. It doesn't mean that you scare easily. It doesn't mean that you don't live in a great (or iconic) American city or that you and your neighbors aren't good people. It doesn't mean that you don't love football or Chevys. It just means that Brian hasn't yet gotten around to pandering to your particular town, city or state. But he will. Sooner or later. Remember Brian's motto: So many places to pander to, so little time.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-32800941382275521542014-11-05T23:55:00.002-08:002014-11-06T00:30:13.147-08:00Brian Williams Reports Breaking News on NBC Nightly NewsHere are two breaking news stories that Brian Williams reported on the Nov. 5, 2014 edition of NBC Nightly News:<br />
<br />
<u>Story #1</u>: "The first newly-restored victim of that awful sinkhole in the Corvette museum is all fixed up and now on public display. It's an '09 ZR1--a rocket ship they call the Blue Devil. It was the least damaged of all the cars and required six weeks of work to replace the damaged parts."<br />
<br />
(I should point out that it is insensitive and inappropriate, to say the least, for Brian Williams to refer to a Corvette as a "rocket ship" a mere five days after a Virgin Galactic test pilot died in the crash of an actual rocket ship.)<br />
<br />
<u>Story #2</u>: "A giant has been sacrificed in Pennsylvania so that it may entertain millions here in New York. A couple in Bloomsburg, PA [sic] donated the 85-foot Norway Spruce and after a three-hour drive, they'll set it up in our backyard here at 30 Rock and they will light it up on December 3."<br />
<br />
It should be noted that on this night, Brian Williams did not report any news from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Ukraine, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Guinea. In fact, he did not report any news at all from South America, Europe, Eastern (or Southeastern) Asia or Africa. He did, however, introduce a brief 84-second story about violent clashes in Israel. This is notable because it is the first foreign news story that had been reported on NBC Nightly News in eight days. Meanwhile, here are some of the other important news stories that Brian and Lester Holt reported in that time:<br />
<br />
➜Crash test dummies are being made larger to represent the increasing girth of the American public. (24 secs)<br />
➜LeBron James played his first game of the season in his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. (14 secs)<br />
➜A Washington University study revealed that scratching an itch can cause a person to want to scratch it even more. (18 secs)<br />
➜John Spinello, who created the board game "Operation", is himself in need of an operation. Some of his friends who are toy executives and inventors have contributed money to help him pay for the surgery. (2:16)<br />
➜As part of their annual Halloween show, the hosts of The Today Show dressed up as Saturday Night Live characters. (38 secs)<br />
➜Millions of Americans are buying Halloween costumes for their dogs, including correspondent Janet Shamlian, who dressed her yellow lab Bella as a bumblebee. (1:50)<br />
➜Babe Ruth's first Yankee contract is going up for auction. (27 secs)<br />
➜NBC sponsor Walmart is implementing major price rollbacks for the holiday season. (1:52)<br />
➜In Alexandria, VA, there is an exercise gym for dogs. (2:10)<br />
➜We saw a preview of Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk between two Chicago buildings. (NBC News's Peacock Productions is producing the Wallenda special for The Discovery Channel.) (3:10)<br />
➜This was followed, a day later, by a recap of Wallenda's tightrope walk. (16 secs)<br />
➜Tom Cruise did a daring stunt (clinging to the exterior of a flying plane) for "Mission Impossible 5". (24 secs)<br />
➜Two NASCAR drivers got into a brawl following a race at Texas Motor Speedway. (29 secs)<br />
➜A girl with terminal brain cancer played in a college basketball game and scored several baskets. (2:13)<br />
➜A baby hippo was born in the L.A. Zoo. (31 secs)<br />
➜A Minnesota car dealership gave a job to a 17-year-old mentally challenged young man who loves cars. (2:12)<br />
<br />
Altogether, these stories took up 19:24 of news time, which is the length of an entire NBC Nightly News broadcast (when commercials and promotional material are filtered out). So Nightly News may have gone eight days without reporting any foreign news stories, but at least we got to see dogs working out in a gym and Kathie Lee & Hoda dressed as Wayne & Garth.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-68297832132679890922014-08-02T02:29:00.000-07:002014-08-02T02:29:30.190-07:00What Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News Reported On In JulyWithout comment or editorial, I present this partial list of stories that Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News reported during July, 2014:<br />
<br />
<u>Miscellaneous:</u><br />
➣Lightning strikes--4 stories (in addition to being included in 4 other stories)<br />
➣Prince George--3 stories<br />
➣The Supermoon--3 stories<br />
➣Dust storms--2 stories<br />
➣Kansas City's Verrückt water slide--2 stories<br />
➣Manhattanhenge--1 story<br />
➣Swimming babies--1 story<br />
➣Scenic tour of Route 66--1 story<br />
➣Mayfly swarm in Wisconsin--1 story<br />
➣5-year-old girl crying because she doesn't want her baby brother to grow up--1 story<br />
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<u>Animals:</u><br />
➣Whales--2 stories<br />
➣Bear cub with its head stuck in a cookie jar--1 story<br />
➣Panda cub--1 story<br />
➣Wolf pups--1 story<br />
➣Surfing dog--1 story<br />
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<u>Movies and TV Shows:</u><br />
➣The Emmys (to air on NBC Aug. 25)--1 story<br />
➣"Jaws" (released by NBC/Universal in 1975)--1 story<br />
➣"50 Shades of Grey" (to be released next Feb. by NBC/Universal's Focus Features)--1 story<br />
➣"When Harry Met Sally"--1 story<br />
➣"Sharknado 2" (which aired on the NBC-owned SyFy Channel)--1 story<br />
➣"Peter Pan" (to air on NBC Dec. 4 and starring Brian Williams' daughter Allison)--1 story<br />
➣"A Hard Day's Night"--1 story<br />
➣"Seinfeld"--1 story<br />
➣"Boyhood"--1 story<br />
<br />
<u>Celebrities & Athletes:</u><br />
➣Tracy Morgan--2 stories<br />
➣George Clooney--1 story<br />
➣Robert Redford--1 story<br />
➣Adele--1 story<br />
➣Jimmy Fallon/Halle Berry--1 story<br />
➣LeBron James--2 stories<br />
➣Derek Jeter--2 stories<br />
➣George Harrison--1 story<br />
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The total time for all these stories combined was 47 minutes 38 seconds, which is the equivalent of more than two entire Nightly News broadcasts. However, in July, Nightly News did not report a single story on:<br />
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➢Syria<br />
➢Egypt<br />
➢Pakistan<br />
➢India<br />
➢China<br />
➢Taiwan<br />
➢Iran<br />
➢Thailand<br />
➢Sudan<br />
➢South Sudan<br />
➢Kenya<br />
➢South Africa<br />
➢Mali<br />
➢Somalia<br />
<br />
On the NBC News Twitter feed (@NBCNews), the moderators describe it as, "A leading source of global news and information for more than 75 years." The NBC Nightly News Twitter feed (@NBCNightlyNews) makes no such claim--the moderators simply refer to the broadcast as, "America's most-watched evening news broadcast."Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-24999984197235395192014-04-29T01:09:00.002-07:002015-02-09T17:44:32.239-08:00Brian Williams Insults Jews, African Americans And Latinos On NBC Nightly NewsOn NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams often reports stories about inappropriate action or speech directed at religious, ethnic and racial groups. He has already reported on Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling's racist comments, and we can expect Brian to continue reporting this story in the coming weeks. Not only will he report it, but he will do so with outrage and derision. Because Brian Williams is a fair and just man with no biases or prejudices against any group. Or so he would have us believe. As we watch Brian report on Donald Sterling's comments, we should take a moment to remember some of Brian's own inappropriate comments.<br />
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On January 26, 2009, Brian wrote one of his Daily Nightly blog posts titled "Old man river at Obama's inauguration". (<a href="http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2009/01/26/4373517-old-man-river-at-obamas-inauguration?lite">http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2009/01/26/4373517-old-man-river-at-obamas-inauguration?lite</a>.) (The blog's title referred to Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, who was a guest at President Obama's first inauguration.) A brief history lesson for Brian: The lyrics for the song "Old Man River" (also known as "Ol' Man River") were written by Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1927 play "Showboat". And although the song was later sanitized, the original lyrics were extremely racist and even included the vile "n" word to describe African Americans. It hardly seems appropriate for America's most trusted news anchor to reference a once-racist song title in a blog post about the inauguration of our nation's first African American president.<br />
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Later that year, speaking at the 2009 Nantucket Film Festival (as reported by the 6/22/09 bostonherald.com website [<a href="http://business.highbeam.com/3972/article-1G1-202214900/nbc-newsguy-steals-show-nantucket">http://business.highbeam.com/3972/article-1G1-202214900/nbc-newsguy-steals-show-nantucket</a>]), Brian told his audience, "Welcome to the Nantucket Film Festival--where Jews come to be honored. Nantucket is actually a Yiddish word meaning where the WASPS live." Isn't he hilarious? That Brian--such a badchen!<br />
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And on May 29, 2013, Brian reported an NBC Nightly News story about President Obama having lipstick on his collar during a public appearance. (Let's ignore the fact that this didn't remotely qualify as a news story and it didn't belong on a national newscast. Obviously, Brian Williams makes a living reporting frivolous stories with no news value.) During his introduction to the story, Brian said, "The President of the United States had a bit of splainin' to do last night...." The reference was familiar to "I Love Lucy" fans--Desi Arnaz's Ricky would often tell Lucille Ball's character that she had some "splainin'" to do. (Senator Tom Coburn had also used "splainin'" while questioning Sonia Sotomayor during Ms. Sotomayor's 2009 Senate confirmation hearing. Coburn's use of that word set off a firestorm of criticism that the word was insulting to Ms. Sotomayor's Latina heritage.) I don't think there's any question that this word is derogatory and insulting to Latinos and Latinas. It's no different than affecting an exaggerated Chinese or Italian accent to mock a person from China or Italy. It's surprising--not to mention disappointing--that Brian actually had the nerve to use this offensive word on a network newscast.<br />
<br />
So as we watch Brian Williams reporting on Donald Sterling's racist remarks this week, let us not forget some of Brian's own words. Of course, his comments raise a larger question: If these are the types of things Brian is saying in public, what exactly is he saying in private?Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-17372213509350776662014-04-18T00:53:00.000-07:002014-10-14T01:18:10.269-07:00NBC Nightly News's Dr. Nancy Snyderman Is A Shill For MerckOn Thursday, April 17, 2014, NBC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reported a story about allergies for NBC Nightly News. During this story, she informed us that allergy shots could alleviate allergy symptoms. Then she added this: "But now there are alternatives to injections. Two new prescription pills just approved by the FDA treat certain grass pollen allergies. Both melt under the tongue. Grastek is for ages 5 years to 65, Oralair for ages 10 to 65. Another, Ragwitek is approved for ragweed pollen." During Snyderman's narration, three animated prescription pads appeared on the screen, each prominently containing the name and logo of the drugs she had just described. Two of these drugs--Grastek and Ragwitek--are manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck (Oralair is manufactured by Stallergenes and distributed in the U.S. by Greer Laboratories).<br />
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Exactly one minute after Snyderman's story concluded, Nightly News aired a commercial for Shinglesinfo.com--a pseudo-informational website sponsored by Merck that contains a link to another site for the shingles vaccine drug Zostavax, which is (not surprisingly) manufactured by Merck. Five minutes after the shingles ad, Nightly News aired a commercial for Dr. Scholl's P.R.O. Pain Relief Orthotics--another Merck product. There was a precedent for Snyderman's dubious behavior: She had previously plugged Merck's Grastek in an allergy story that aired on the 12/11/13 Nightly News, a broadcast that also carried a commercial for Merck's Oxytrol.<br />
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It seems pretty obvious what's happening here. At the very least, Snyderman made a point of plugging one of NBC's big sponsors in her allergy stories. But I suspect a much less innocuous situation. I believe that both of these allergy stories were concocted by the NBC Advertising and Marketing Department for the sole purpose of plugging newly-approved Merck drugs. They may have even been part of a package deal. NBC could have offered Merck a certain number of weekly or monthly ads on Nightly News--plus one or more in-story promotional plugs--for a special rate. Certainly a plug from NBC News's Chief Medical Editor offers gravitas--a tremendous benefit for a pharmaceutical company whose products are fighting for attention alongside all the other products that are crammed into a 2½ minute commercial break. And many (if not most) viewers ignore or zip through commercials, so an in-story product placement virtually guarantees that people will be watching.<br />
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Even before these allergy stories, Snyderman had already shilled for Merck. On 6/4/13, she reported a Nightly News story about the benefits of sunscreen as a skin protector and anti-aging agent. That report began with a clip from a Bain de Soleil ad (including the familiar jingle "Bain de Soleil for that Saint-Tropez tan"). Later in the story, the camera panned across a well-placed studio array of seven bottles of sunscreen, including three bottles of Coppertone--which were prominently positioned in front of the other sunscreens. Both Bain de Soleil and Coppertone were, at the time, manufactured by Merck [Note: As of July, 2014, Coppertone was acquired by Bayer]. Eight minutes after Snyderman's story aired, Nightly News ran a commercial for the aforementioned Dr. Scholl's P.R.O. Pain Relief Orthotics--which are (as previously noted) also a Merck product. This is no coincidence. NBC Nightly News producers, anchors and correspondents have a history of using "news stories" to plug NBC sponsors' products. (For a detailed list of NBC Nightly News plugs and product placements, see this blog's 6/12/13 entry: "Brian Williams Uses Product Placements In NBC Nightly News Stories" or click on this link: <a href="http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2013/06/brian-williams-and-his-producers.html">http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2013/06/brian-williams-and-his-producers.html</a>.)<br />
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But please don't get the idea that Merck is the only company that Snyderman shills for. On 1/2/13, Nightly News aired Snyderman's story on fructose. It included ad clips for Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers and the weight-loss drug Alli--which is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline--a frequent NBC advertiser and Nightly News in-broadcast sponsor. A 7/15/13 Snyderman story on high blood pressure included a plug for Fritos (ironic, to say the least). Her 8/2/13 story on gluten-free food options prominently featured gluten-free products like Ian's, Amy's, Glutino, Tastykake and Mi-Del. On 8/10/13, Snyderman's story on new health insurance choices included 30 seconds of interior and exterior shots of a Starbucks. Her 9/3/13 story on Diana Nyad featured a Dairy Queen plug. On 1/15/14, Snyderman reported an alarmist story about how acetaminophen (most frequently sold in the U.S. as Tylenol) can damage the liver. This story was clearly meant to hurt Tylenol and help its competitor Aleve--a pain-relief product manufactured by regular Nightly News sponsor Bayer. On 2/27/14, she again railed about the dangers of acetaminophen.<br />
<br />
It's shameful that any NBC producer, anchor or correspondent would use a news broadcast to plug a network sponsor, but it's even more shameful when done by a medical correspondent--and a physician, no less. Of course, if NBC is, in fact, getting paid for these in-story product placements, that elevates the situation from shameful to unethical, and perhaps even to the point of illegality. I don't see how viewers can possibly trust Nancy Snyderman to report honestly and objectively when one of her primary goals seems to be promoting the products of NBC sponsors.<br />
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UPDATE 10/13/14: Since this post was originally published, Nancy Snyderman has continued to plug pharmaceutical companies and other NBC advertisers in her NBC Nightly News stories.<br />
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5/30/14: Snyderman reported a story that plugged the hormone therapy drug Zoladex. Zoladex is manufactured by AstraZeneca, maker of Crestor, Prilosec, Nexium and Symbicort--all of which currently advertise or did advertise on Nightly News and other NBC-owned networks.<br />
<br />
7/1/14: A Snyderman story on allergies included a plug for Xolair, made by Novartis/Genentech. Novartis also makes Theraflu, Excedrin, Benefiber and Prevacid--products that advertise on NBC.<br />
<br />
7/15/14: A Snyderman story about dosage mistakes included a 13-second product placement for Tamiflu--manufactured by Genentech/Roche.<br />
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7/29/14: Snyderman's story about skin cancer featured a product placement for Coppertone sunscreen, which Bayer had acquired from Merck earlier that month. Snyderman didn't waste any time shilling for Bayer--which is Nightly News's biggest sponsor.<br />
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8/29/14: During her report on walk-in medical clinics, Snyderman spent 40 seconds specifically plugging Walmart's walk-in medical clinics. Walmart is a big NBC advertiser.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-2461187179252738652014-02-26T01:56:00.001-08:002014-02-26T04:47:50.813-08:00Brian Williams & NBC Nightly News Plug, Plug, Plug The Sochi OlympicsAnyone who watches NBC Nightly News on a semi-regular basis knows that one of the main goals of Brian Williams and his producers is to use their broadcast to promote NBC sports, entertainment and news shows, as well as cable shows that appear on the many NBC/Universal networks such as USA, Bravo, SyFy, E! and The Weather Channel. For example, on Monday, Feb. 17, Nightly News featured Brian's four-minute short-form documentary about Jimmy Fallon's new gig as host of The Tonight Show. Obviously, this "news report" was meant to increase viewership for Fallon's premiere show later that night. While some Nightly News promotions are blatant, some are not so obvious. Last June 23 & 24, Lester Holt (Sunday) and Brian Williams (Monday) spent a combined 4:35 promoting Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk across the Little Colorado River Gorge (adjacent to the Grand Canyon) which was also being aired as a Discovery Channel special. Since Discovery Channel is not owned by NBC/Universal, these may have seemed like just another couple of stories that fell under the category of entertainment news. However, neither Lester nor Brian (nor reporters Ben Fogle or Anne Thompson) disclosed that the Discovery Skywalk special was produced by Peacock Productions--a company owned by NBC/Universal. So in actuality, this was a sleazy and deceptive way for Nightly News to drum up interest in a show that NBC would profit from--without any disclosure about the relationship between NBC and Discovery. This is business as usual for Brian Williams and his Nightly News producers. (Sidenote: In his June 23 story, Lester Holt announced that Wallenda would be walking across "the Grand Canyon". That was an intentional lie--the Little Colorado River Gorge is not part of the Grand Canyon. But Lester and his producers knew that invoking the Grand Canyon would be better for Discovery's Skywalk ratings.) Another example: Nightly News occasionally does stories about the popularity of PBS's "Downton Abbey", but Brian and his correspondents often "forget" to disclose that "Downton Abbey" is produced by Carnival Films--which is owned by NBC/Universal. These omissions are, of course, intentionally meant to fool viewers by promoting the show while masking the relationship between NBC and its subsidiary production companies.<br />
<br />
But the Olympics are an entirely different animal. No subterfuge is needed or even attempted in NBC's blatant and aggressive promotion of the Olympics every other year. Since NBC paid dearly for the privilege of carrying the Olympics (their most recent deal, which began with the 2014 Olympics and runs through the 2020 Olympics, cost NBC $4.38 billion), they make sure to promote the Games through all NBC/Universal platforms. And, of course, NBC Nightly News is a big part of that promotion. A promotional story about the Olympics that airs on a news broadcast carries a lot more gravitas with the viewers than a similar story shown on an entertainment show.<br />
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Nightly News began promoting the 2014 Sochi Olympics on Feb. 5, 2013--more than a year before the opening ceremony was scheduled to begin. That night's broadcast featured a 2:15 story on Lindsey Vonn's knee injury, and also included her then-rumored (and now public) romance with Tiger Woods. Over the next 11 months, Nightly News aired 8 more Vonn stories totaling more than 14 minutes. But those stories ended abruptly with a Jan. 7 story reporting that Vonn's knee injury had finally forced her to withdraw from the Olympics. While this injury was devastating to Vonn, I suspect that it was even more devastating to NBC. Up to that point, Vonn had been NBC's poster person for the Olympics. And Nightly News had reported on every aspect of Vonn's life from her skiing to her romance with Woods to her "pretty" looks and "blonde hair". After Vonn's knee injury, Nightly News's Vonn stories became a running will-she-or-won't-she soap opera about whether she would actually compete in Sochi. When she finally announced that she would not compete, Nightly News dropped Vonn like a not-so-hot potato and instead began focusing on other Olympic stars like Gracie Gold, Lolo Jones and the Jamaican Bobsled Team.<br />
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So how much time did NBC Nightly News actually spend promoting the 2014 Olympics? Beginning with that 2/5/13 Lindsey Vonn story, NBC Nightly News spent a total of 225 minutes--3 hours 45 minutes--promoting the Sochi Games. Before the Sochi Opening Ceremony took place on Feb. 7, Nightly News had already spent 101 minutes promoting the Olympics. And over the 17 days of competition, Nightly News spent another 124 minutes on stories meant to insure that viewers would tune in. Permit me to state the obvious: The more people that watch the Olympics, the higher NBC's ratings will be. And higher ratings translates to more ad revenue--either for these games or for subsequent Games. So--no surprise--Nightly News's extensive promotion of the Olympics was really just a way to generate revenue for NBC. Let's put this in perspective. Nightly News isn't a 30-minute broadcast. It isn't even a 24-minute broadcast. After filtering out the commercials, the opening tease, the incessant promotions (for The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Meet the Press, Dateline, etc.) and Brian Williams's overlong sign off, a Nightly News broadcast usually contains somewhere between 18½ and 19½ minutes of news (the word "news" is really a misnomer, since a Nightly News broadcast often includes many minutes of non-news stories. But for these purposes, we can generously consider all Nightly News stories to be actual news). Occasionally (though rarely), a broadcast will run a few seconds over 20 minutes. So even assuming a 20-minute run time for a broadcast, the 225 minutes that Nightly News spent promoting the Olympics is equivalent to more than 11 entire Nightly News broadcasts. That raises a disturbing question: What stories didn't Nightly News cover in order to spend 225 minutes promoting the Olympics over the course of an entire year? In 2013 and early 2014, there were elections in Kenya, Cambodia, Mali, Pakistan. Zimbabwe, Australia, Norway, Germany, Austria, Chile, Bangladesh and Thailand. Nightly News did not report a single story on any of these elections. But we sure learned an awful lot about Lindsey Vonn's knee.<br />
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So how did the 3 hours 45 minutes Nightly News devoted to promoting the 2014 Olympics stack up against past Olympics? Before and during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Nightly News spent a meager 2 hours 40 minutes on Olympic promotional stories. And Nightly News aired 3 hours 9 minutes of promotional stories for the 2012 Summer Games in London. But the 3 hours 45 minutes Nightly News spent promoting the Sochi Olympics represents a new Olympic record. Well done! Brian Williams, his producers and everyone at NBC Nightly News deserve a gold medal for their efforts. (Although sadly, despite the combined efforts of everyone at NBC, ratings for the Sochi Games were down an estimated 12% from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.) And I think it's a safe bet that for the 2016 Rio Games, Nightly News's promotional story total will easily eclipse the 4-hour mark. Now there's something to look forward to. Starting, no doubt, in the summer of 2015.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-24679565772095540152013-12-27T18:48:00.000-08:002013-12-27T18:48:09.808-08:00Brian Williams And The NBC Nightly News Producers Fudge The Numbers--AgainHere's something interesting for NBC Nightly News viewers: Brian Williams was off Friday, Dec. 20. He returned to anchor Nightly News on Monday, Dec. 23, and then took off Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That seems odd. Why would he take Friday off, return for just one day and then take the next four days off? If not for Monday, he could have had a vacation of ten consecutive days (or more, depending on his schedule for New Year's week). Well, remember that nothing at Nightly News happens randomly or by accident. There was a very specific reason why Brian anchored the broadcast for only one day this past week. And, not surprisingly, it has to do with ratings. On those weekdays when Brian is off and someone else anchors the broadcast, the ratings are always lower than on the days when Brian anchors. So on those days when Brian isn't anchoring (and he and his producers know the ratings will be lower), they submit Nightly News to the Nielsen ratings company intentionally misspelled as "Nitely News". When that happens, Nielsen counts the lower-rated "Nitely News" shows in a separate category from the correctly-spelled Nightly News broadcasts, and thus they don't detract from the higher Nightly News ratings. For example, let's say Monday's Nightly News broadcast anchored by Brian earned a 7.5 rating. And let's say the other four broadcasts (with a substitute anchor) averaged a 6 rating. The actual average Nightly News rating for the week would be a 6.3. But because Brian and his producers submitted the Tuesday through Friday broadcasts misspelled as "Nitely News", they are not counted in the same category as Nightly News. So Brian and his producers can claim that Nightly News actually had a 7.5 rating for the week--even though that number is deceptively based on just a single broadcast. That's why Brian made sure to anchor one broadcast this past week. Whatever rating Brian achieved on Monday will be considered the Nightly News rating for the entire Christmas week, since the other four (lower-rated) broadcasts were submitted to Nielsen with a different spelling. And with a higher weekly rating, NBC can charge higher ad rates. It's fudging the numbers and playing the system. Another way to describe it: Cheating. It's like giving a false name to the police so they won't know you have outstanding warrants under your real name. This sleazy practice of intentionally misspelling Nightly News as "Nitely News" has been going on for years with the full blessing of Brian and former NBC News President Steve Capus. And apparently, new NBC News president Deborah Turness has also signed off on this unethical practice. This is the type of organization the NBC executives preside over. Their main concern is high ratings--rather than delivering news--since that allows NBC to charge higher ad rates. And let's face it--earning higher ad rates is what matters most to the NBC executives. So Merry Christmas from all the highfalutin lowlifes at NBC News!Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-24919500035293221612013-07-03T22:26:00.001-07:002013-07-03T22:26:55.656-07:00Brian Williams Just Doesn't Care AnymoreOn Tuesday's NBC Nightly News (7/2/13), Brian Williams read a story about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Brian informed us that Snowden has made asylum requests to almost two dozen countries--including "nine countries in Europe". However, as Brian said this, the accompanying on-screen map of Snowden's potential destinations highlighted eleven European countries: Iceland, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria and Italy. Perhaps Brian doesn't realize that Scandinavia is part of Europe. But if you subtract the three Scandinavian countries, that would leave eight, not nine, European countries. It's more likely that Brian just doesn't give a shit anymore. Nine, eleven--whatever. His job is secure, so why should he care about accuracy.<br />
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Later in the broadcast, Brian introduced a story about the increasing number of women who die as a result of addiction to prescription painkillers. This was his intro: "Big news today about a spike in the number of middle-age women who are becoming addicted to prescription pain medicines and a warning from the CDC about the thousands who are dying from it--over 6,000 women <em>every year</em>. Our report tonight from NBC's Tom Costello." And here's how Costello's report began: "The statistics from the CDC are cause for real concern for doctors, pharmacists and hospitals. Between 1999 and 2010, nearly 48,000 women died of prescription painkiller overdoses." So if 48,000 women died over that 12-year period, that averages out to 4,000 a year--not the 6,000 Brian quoted us. (The CDC website confirms that in 2010, 6,600 women died from painkiller overdoses, but the 1999-2010 total clearly shows that that is not the case "every year", as Brian claimed.) But quoting the most recent year's number of "over 6,000" makes the story sound a lot more alarmist and sensationalistic than the smaller (but accurate) yearly average of 4,000 so Brian went with that. When it comes to selling a story, Brian doesn't care about accuracy.<br />
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But here's something Brian really, really <em>does</em> care about: Promoting fast-food chains on his broadcast. Brian began reading a story about the so-called worst meal in America, but it quickly turned into a commercial for the chain in question: "The folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest--sometimes affectionately known as the food police--have identified what they are calling 'The Worst Meal In America'--'The Big Catch' at Long John Silver's. It features fried fish, hush puppies and onion rings and comes in at 33 grams of trans-fat." But then Brian shifts gears: "The company today called the meal a tremendous value at $4.99 and said customers had the option of healthy side orders." The last 10 seconds of this story was comprised of clips from Long John Silver's TV ads. So clearly, what started out as a negative story became an excuse for Brian to help Long John Silver's advertise their products and battle any negative publicity associated with the Center's report. "A tremendous value at $4.99"! If Brian says it, it must be true. Because he's, you know, trustworthy. Of course, shilling for fast food companies is nothing new for Brian. Here's a "news story" he read on the 4/5/13 Nightly News: "There's marketing news--in what USA Today calls an astonishing brand reversal, KFC is about to go big on boneless chicken. If you like a bucket of chicken, you know you'd never think to say 'boneless' when ordering it but now they're betting on the new original recipe boneless in what brand experts say is the biggest new product introduction for KFC in modern times." I'd love to know how much KFC paid Brian to read that shameless ad. Of course, when it comes to getting on-air endorsements from Brian Williams, KFC can't hold a candle to McDonald's. Over the past four years, Brian Williams and his Nightly News correspondents have reported an astonishing 17 "news stories" on McDonald's (all positive, I might add). That's not surprising when you consider the staggering amount of money McDonald's spends on advertising and promotion on the many NBC/Universal/Comcast television networks. So I guess working McDonald's product placements into news stories is just a way for Brian and his NBC News cohorts to give a great big "thank you" to a regular advertiser.<br />
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Sometimes, though, the best strategy is to say nothing. A 7/1/13 New York Times article reported that the pharmaceutical mega-conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline was being investigated in China for "economic crimes" including bribery (read the full story at <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/global/glaxosmithkline-under-investigation-by-chinese-authorities.html?ref=global">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/global/glaxosmithkline-under-investigation-by-chinese-authorities.html?ref=global</a>). Glaxo is a frequent sponsor and advertiser on NBC Nightly News (and other NBC/Universal/Comcast shows), so Brian certainly wasn't going to report <em>this</em> story. He may like to shill for his sponsors, but he also knows when to keep his big mouth shut.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-9434288957014462392013-06-30T21:56:00.000-07:002013-06-30T21:56:04.220-07:00NBC News' Janet Shamlian Shills For The Pharmaceutical IndustryOn Sunday's NBC Nightly News (6/30/13), correspondent Janet Shamlian reported on a new drug called Brisdelle that, for some women, may reduce hot flashes associated with menopause. Of course this is Nightly News, so the story was just a 2:05 product placement for Brisdelle (and its manufacturer Noven). But really it was so much more.<br />
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Shamlian and Lester Holt (the anchor who introduced the story) told us that Brisdelle had been approved by the FDA. However, neither Holt nor Shamlian disclosed the following information: "In March, the FDA's Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs voted 10 to 4 against recommending approval of paroxetine mesylate [Brisdelle] as a treatment for hot flashes." (That information courtesy of Medscape News: <a href="http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/807082">http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/807082</a>.) It is highly unusual for the FDA to go against an advisory committee recommendation, and Nightly News viewers deserved to know this information. But that would require Shamlian to be fully truthful about Brisdelle, which she was not.<br />
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Shamlian also failed to disclose that Noven Pharmaceuticals has entered into a licensing agreement with Procter & Gamble whereby P & G will license Noven's as-yet-unnamed hormone skin patch which is designed to boost sex drive in women. P & G is the largest consumer products company in the world, and each year it spends millions and millions of dollars in advertising and sponsorship money with the many NBC/Universal/Comcast television networks.<br />
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Later in the story, Shamlian explained that Brisdelle contained a lower dose of paroxetine, the major ingredient found in the anti-depressant Paxil. We were then shown a full-screen photo of a clearly-labeled Paxil pill. Paxil is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical behemoth that advertises heavily on Nightly News and other NBC/Universal/Comcast programs.<br />
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Shamlian's report began with a silly clip from "Mrs. Doubtfire" that showed Robin Williams' character complaining that he'd only been impersonating a woman for one day and already he's getting hot flashes. Obviously, this did not help the viewers' understanding of menopausal hot flashes--it was just a gratuitous clip shoehorned into the story to make it more interesting to viewers. One of the core philosophies of the NBC Nightly News producers (and anchor Brian Williams) is to pack their broadcast with movie and TV clips because the NBC Research Department has found that that tactic is very effective in boosting Nightly News's Nielsen ratings.<br />
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So let's recap: Shamlian intentionally omitted important information about the FDA's approval process for Brisdelle. She neglected to mention Noven's licensing arrangement with NBC/Universal advertiser P & G. She plugged Glaxo's Paxil. And just for good measure, she threw in a clip from "Mrs. Doubtfire". This wasn't a news story--it was a sleazy, unethical piece of biased yellow journalism. It was a product placement (several of them, actually) masquerading as news. But for NBC Nightly News, that's just business as usual. Shame on Janet Shamlian and the Nightly News producers. Interesting tidbit: You can't spell "Janet Shamlian" without the words "sham", "shame" and "lie".Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-49433588924363844732013-06-25T02:41:00.000-07:002013-06-25T02:41:23.189-07:00Brian Williams And Lester Holt Are Sleazy Shills For NBC Shows<div style="text-align: left;">
Anyone who's watched NBC Nightly News more than a handful of times knows that one of its main goals is self-promotion. Brian Williams, Lester Holt and the Nightly News producers have made a conscious decision to use their broadcast as a promotional vehicle for NBC sports, entertainment and news programs. Some of these promotions are subtle--such as the repeated inclusion of clips from "Meet the Press", "Dateline", "Rock Center", MSNBC and CNBC shows--and some of these promotions are about as subtle as a brick to the head. During the 17 days of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Nightly News spent an astounding 130 minutes "reporting" on Olympic-related stories as a way to aggressively promote viewership of their prime-time Olympic coverage (they also spent an additional 30 minutes on Olympic stories that were reported before and after the Games). When you consider that a Nightly News broadcast contains less than 20 minutes of actual news, those 160 minutes represent the equivalent of 8 entire broadcasts. For the 2012 London Olympics, the totals were even more egregious: Nightly News spent 147 minutes rabidly promoting the Olympics during the 17 days of competition plus an additional 45 minutes of Olympic-related stories leading up to the Games. That works out to the equivalent of more than 9 entire Nightly News broadcasts. I think we can safely say that Brian Williams, Lester Holt and their producers do everything they possibly can to shamelessly promote the Olympics for NBC (I can only imagine how much time they will spend promoting the 2014 Sochi Games).</div>
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But it doesn't end with the Olympics. The highest-rated regular-season shows for NBC are the Sunday Night Football games they broadcast. In fact, Sunday Night Football is usually the highest-rated network broadcast of the week. So it would be an understatement to say that Nightly News (which precedes the game on Sunday nights) aggressively promotes NBC's Sunday Night Football. On Sundays during football season, the last "news story" of the night is often a football-related story. And more often than not, it's a story involving a player, players or teams scheduled to play later that night on NBC. 2010 was a standout year for Nightly News's promotion of Sunday Night Football. Here are a few examples: On Sept. 8, Nightly News ran a story about the Vikings' Madieu Williams. And the following night, Brian Williams actually anchored the broadcast from New Orleans just so he could promote that night's Saints-Vikings season opener on NBC. On Sept. 19, Nightly News did a story on Eli and Peyton Manning--right before NBC's Giants-Colts game. On Sept. 26, there was a story about how the NFL recruits young fans. On Oct. 17, we saw a Nightly News story about how members of the Washington Redskins were raising awareness about breast cancer--immediately followed by the Redskins-Colts game. On Oct. 24, the story was about a college football coach who was recalled to active duty in the navy reserve. And on Nov. 28, the final story of the night was about a charity run by the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers--right before the Chargers-Colts game. But my favorite Nightly News football promotion story was on a Tuesday (Dec. 28, 2010, to be exact). That week's Sunday night game in Philadelphia had been postponed due to a blizzard, and the game had been rescheduled for Tuesday. That night, beginning at minute nine (before the first commercial break, which is considered prime news space), Brian spent an incredible 5:45 talking about that night's Eagles-Vikings game--first with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (nattily attired in a Comcast jacket) and then with NBC Sports commentator Bob Costas. Obviously, the only reason for this segment was to make absolutely certain that viewers knew the game would be airing THAT NIGHT ON NBC. It's hard to imagine a sleazier, more unethical promotional segment than this one. (A similar Rendell interview had already aired on Monday in addition to Brian Williams' two-minute talk with Michelle Kosinski about the rescheduling of the game to Tuesday.) Clearly, none of these stories qualified as actual news--Nightly News ran them for one reason and one reason only--to promote NBC's Sunday Night Football.</div>
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And to this day, nothing has changed. Brian and his producers continue to use Nightly News as a promotional vehicle for other NBC sports, entertainment and news shows. Here are some examples from just this past week:</div>
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<strong>Monday 6/17/13</strong>--During a story about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Andrea Mitchell mentioned an interview that President Obama had given to Charlie Rose. Mitchell told us that the interview would be airing "tonight on PBS". That's true--but Mitchell intentionally omitted an important piece of information. The Obama interview was also scheduled to run on Rose's other gig--Tuesday's "CBS This Morning". Mitchell didn't mention that because "CBS This Morning" competes with NBC's "Today Show". And we all know about "Today's" recent anchor troubles and ratings slippage. So Mitchell intentionally refused to mention CBS in order to protect "Today". That's pretty unethical. And sleazy. I used to think that Mitchell was an honest, respectable reporter, but as it turns out, she's just another NBC shill. Also during her Snowden story, Mitchell showed some old Nightly News footage of herself from 1995 because if there's one thing Nightly News anchors and correspondents love reporting on, it's themselves.</div>
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The final story of the night was a frivolous, vapid piece about how Russian President Vladimir Putin supposedly stole a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft. This is hardly a legitimate news story, but football season is less than three months away and it's time to start promoting NBC's Sunday Night Football.</div>
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<strong>Tuesday 6/18/13</strong>--Again reporting on Snowden, Andrea Mitchell showed a clip of Rose's interview with Obama--from his PBS show. There was still no mention that the interview had also aired on "CBS This Morning". The overwhelming mandate ringing through the halls of NBC News's 30 Rock studios is to protect and promote "Today" at all costs. Even if it means a once-reputable NBC News correspondent like Mitchell has to lie.</div>
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Also on this broadcast, we saw a two-minute story about the protests in Brazil. This was somewhat curious, considering that Nightly News doesn't pay much attention to foreign news. But of course, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is the site of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games (which, of course, NBC is airing), so naturally the Brazil story got coverage. I can guarantee that if it weren't for the Rio Olympics, this would have been a 20-second story, if it even got any coverage at all.</div>
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<strong>Wednesday 6/19/13</strong>--An obituary for Slim Whitman included a clip of him on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson (Carson was featured in the clip, as well). "The Tonight Show" is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Brian's promotional largesse. He loves to constantly promote it under any circumstances, but with the impending changeover from Jay Leno to Jimmy Fallon, "Tonight" will no doubt be receiving plenty of extra promotion from Brian and the other Nightly News anchors. And if you think that showing an old clip of "Tonight" doesn't have any current promotional value, you should check with the NBC research department. They'll set you straight.</div>
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Earlier in the broadcast, while Brian was reporting on the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800, he showed an old clip of himself reporting the crash on MSNBC in 1996. I guess in the game of narcissistic one-upmanship, Brian refused to be outdone by Andrea Mitchell's 1995 clip of herself that she showed on Monday.</div>
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<strong>Thursday 6/20/13</strong>--Because promoting the 2016 Rio Olympics is so important to NBC, correspondent Miguel Almaguer was hastily dispatched to Brazil to cover the riots. Almaguer made a point of specifically mentioning the Olympics in his story.</div>
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During Brian's unbelievably long 4:40 obituary for James Gandolfini, he included some footage of himself interviewing Gandolfini. Because let's face it--the news is ALWAYS about Brian.</div>
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<strong>Friday 6/21/13</strong>--Again reporting from Brazil, Miguel Almaguer mentions the 2016 Olympics. Since Tuesday, Nightly News has spent 5:20 reporting on the Brazil riots. That's 5:20 of free promotion for the 2016 Olympics.</div>
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During a report about teaching math to Chicago grade-school students, correspondent Rehema Ellis asks a little girl what she likes so much about forensic science. The girl responds that it makes her feel like "the detectives on Law & Order". I wonder how many times Ellis had to shoot the scene before the girl said "Law & Order" instead of "CSI".</div>
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<strong>Saturday 6/22/13</strong>--The final story of the night was an idiotic 2:18 piece about the two men who sing the National Anthem for their respective hockey teams--the Bruins and the Blackhawks--at the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals would be airing later that night on NBC so this was just a sleazy way to promote the game. And just to make sure we didn't forget, Lester Holt ended the broadcast with another "reminder" for us to watch the game. On NBC. By the way--the story was titled "The Voice"--the name of an NBC entertainment show. So in a story that shamelessly plugged NBC's Stanley Cup Finals, they also managed to throw in a plug for their idiotic singing competition show. Nice job.</div>
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Maybe Lester should concentrate more on reading the news and less on plugging NBC sports and entertainment shows. Earlier in the broadcast, he referred to Edward Snowden as "Eric" Snowden.</div>
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<strong>Sunday 6/23/13</strong>--A story about "Extreme Weather" featured the Weather Channel's Julie Martin. Nightly News spends a lot of time promoting the Weather Channel. That makes sense, since NBC/Universal owns the Weather Channel. And spending 2 or 3 minutes a night reporting on the weather is a cheap way to use existing Weather Channel resources to fill news time. And keeping costs down increases profitability.</div>
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The final story of the night was a ridiculous 2:20 "news story" on Nik Wallenda, who was preparing to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope later that night. Both Lester Holt and correspondent Ben Fogle told us that Wallenda would be crossing the Grand Canyon. And both of them lied. Wallenda would actually be crossing the Little Colorado River Gorge, which is adjacent to, but not part of, the Grand Canyon. Calling it the Grand Canyon was just a way to further sensationalize the story. The story included lots of promotional footage from the Discovery Channel, which would be televising the walk live later that night. Fogle did everything he could to build anticipation, including telling us that Wallenda was "putting his life on the line". This was nothing more than a 2:20 commercial for the Discovery Channel special airing later that night. And like he did with the Stanley Cup Finals story in Saturday, Lester ended the broadcast with another plug for Discovery's "Skywire Live" (including a full-screen promo) and told us that it would be hosted by Natalie Morales and Willie Geist--two anchors from "The Today Show". That's a lot of promotion for a Discovery Channel special. But there's something Lester Holt and Ben Fogle didn't tell us: The Discovery Channel Special was being produced by Peacock Productions--a production company owned by NBC. So obviously NBC had a financial stake in the special and NBC had an interest in boosting viewership. So NBC used Nightly News to plug a Discovery Channel special that <em>they</em> were producing. And profiting from. That's not just sleazy, it's unethical. And Lester Holt and Ben Fogle are sleazy scumbags for refusing to disclose NBC's financial interest in Wallenda's walk.</div>
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And once again, maybe Lester should have concentrated more on reading the news than promoting NBC-produced shows. During a story about the Dayton Air Show crash, he described the wing-walker who was killed as Jane "Walker", rather than Jane Wicker, her actual name.</div>
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<strong>Monday 6/24/13</strong>--Before the second commercial break, Brian Williams said, "We're back in a moment with news of a big loss in the entertainment world." A big loss? Is it Barbra Streisand? Tony Bennett? No--it was Gary David Goldberg. Who? He was the creator of "Family Ties"--a show that ran on NBC in the 1980's. No disrespect to Goldberg's family, but he isn't a big loss. Hardly anyone knows who he is. The only reason Brian reported this story was to boost sales of "Family Ties" DVD's and other memorabilia at the NBC on-line store. And just to whet our appetites, this 45-second story included 25 seconds of "Family Ties" clips. We all love Michael J. Fox, right? Right.</div>
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Later, Brian reported that Paul Giamatti would be joining the cast of "Downton Abbey" next season. The story featured lots of "Downton Abbey" clips. But Brian neglected to mention one little fact: "Downton Abbey" is produced by Carnival Films--which is owned by NBC/Universal. So Brian used Nightly News to promote an NBC property without disclosing NBC's involvement. Sleazebag.</div>
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Brian also reported a 30-second story on Paula Deen's crumbling empire. He ended the story by telling us that Deen would be appearing on Wednesday's "Today Show". Brian had already spent 2:30 reporting on Deen's troubles on Friday's Nightly News, but this "news story" allowed him to promote "Today". Shameful.</div>
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Brian ended Monday's Nightly News with a 2:15 story--I should say another story--on Nik Wallenda's Sunday tightrope walk across the not-quite-Grand Canyon (at least Brian admitted it was "across a gorge NEAR the Grand Canyon"). As was the case with Lester Holt and Ben Fogle, Neither Brian nor correspondent/shill Anne Thompson (who reported the story) disclosed that NBC had produced Sunday's Discovery Channel Special, although Thompson made sure to tell us that 13 million people had watched and that it had been seen in 217 countries. So that's the second "news story" on Wallenda's walk in two days--4:35 of prime news time wasted on a story whose only purpose was to promote an NBC-produced show. But why would Brian and his producers bother promoting a show that had already aired? Because in this day and age, TV shows are never really over (except for "Rock Center", Brian's failed exercise in narcissism). Discovery's "Skywire Live" special continues to air on Discovery On Demand--along with lots of "extras" and behind-the-scenes clips. So any additional ad revenue that Discovery derives from the repeat airings, DVD's, etc., will certainly be shared by NBC.</div>
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So let's recap: Monday's Nightly News was an opportunity for Brian Williams to plug "Family Ties" DVD's, Downton Abbey and Discovery's "Skywire Live" special. That's a pretty good day for NBC.</div>
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Here's a little irony: On Sunday and Monday, Lester Holt and Brian Williams both reported on the start of the George Zimmerman trial. And after their stories, they each read this disclaimer: "We should note that George Zimmerman has sued NBC/Universal, the parent company of NBC News, for defamation. The company has strongly denied his allegations." What Brian and Lester are referring to is Zimmerman's lawsuit against NBC for intentionally altering his 911 tapes to make him appear racist. (Even after this became public, Brian and Lester never once acknowledged on the air that this misdeed had actually taken place.) So when it comes to offering a weaselly denial/disclosure that helps NBC, Brian and Lester are more than willing. But when it comes to disclosing that NBC is producing "Downton Abbey" and the Discovery "Skywire Live" special, they suddenly become tight-lipped. Brian Williams and Lester Holt are scumbags of the highest order.</div>
Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-25152876255398142182013-06-12T00:02:00.002-07:002013-06-16T02:55:16.427-07:00Brian Williams Uses Product Placements In NBC Nightly News StoriesUnfortunately, product placements have become an all-too-familiar part of the television landscape. When a particular food, beverage or consumer product suddenly gets a close-up in a comedy, drama, reality show or singing competition, it's a sure bet that some mega-corporation paid a hefty sum to have it placed there. We can roll our eyes (or avert them), hit the fast-forward button, change the channel or turn the TV off, but that's not going to change anything. Money talks and it talks loudly. It's a sad reality that most people have come to accept product placements as just another part of their regular TV viewing.<br />
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But what about product placements in news broadcasts? When we watch the news--unlike entertainment--there is certainly an expectation of ethics and integrity. News stories should be selected because of their importance and relevance, not because they can be used to promote a product or thank a sponsor. Unfortunately, that's not the case on NBC Nightly News. Brian Williams--as well as the producers, correspondents and other anchors on NBC's flagship newscast--regularly use their show as a way to promote their sponsors' products. To put it bluntly, this is sleazy and dishonest. Obviously, product placements on a newscast raise a number of important ethical questions. Are the placements a way for Brian and his producers to say "thank you" to a regular Nightly News or NBC sponsor? Are they a marketing tool to try to entice companies to advertise in the future? Or are they paid for as part of ad packages? Are companies allowed to "buy" a news story on Nightly News? (I'm not referring to paid sponsorships, which are introduced by an announcer and accompanied by a full-screen product logo. That's a whole separate category and only slightly less unethical than unannounced in-story sponsorships.) When Brian Williams takes 30 seconds to tell us that Frito-Lay products will now be "all-natural" (as he did on 12/28/10), or that Fig Newtons will now be known simply as Newtons (as he did on 5/1/12), are those legitimate news stories? I can't imagine how inane fluff like that could possibly qualify as news. It seems much more likely that they are sponsored product placements paid for by Frito-Lay and Nabisco. I believe that the brazen NBC News ad sales reps actually offer 30-second contrived news stories (or product placements within a longer news story) to companies that are willing to pay to have their products promoted by Brian Williams and other NBC News personalities. It's hard to doubt that with all these examples of product placements and mentions on NBC Nightly News dating back to 2007 (this list is updated from its last appearance on this blog which was in April, 2012):<br />
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* 7/18/07--Nightly News airs a story about Restless Leg Syndrome. The sole purpose of the story is to establish the legitimacy of RLS because many doctors do not acknowledge it as a legitimate medical condition. One of the main drugs used to treat RLS is Requip, a frequent Nightly News advertiser at the time (Requip was specifically mentioned in the story). And in addition to their regular advertisements, Requip (manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline) sponsored nine Nightly News "Making A Difference" segments from April 2007 to January 2008 (the dates were 4/20/07, 5/25/07, 6/22/07, 7/6/07, 7/27/07, 8/3/07, 9/14/07, 1/11/08 and 1/18/08). There is absolutely no doubt that the story on Restless Leg Syndrome was done as a special favor to Nightly News's pals at Glaxo as a way of saying thank you for all that Glaxo ad money.<br />
* 11/13/07--Brian Williams anchors Nightly News from a Chrysler plant in Detroit. This broadcast is a thinly-disguised 30-minute commercial for Chrysler, a frequent Nightly News and NBC advertiser. At the end of the broadcast, Brian interviewed Chrysler executive Jim Press. Brian's "interview" was made up of softball questions that allowed Press to talk about how great Chrysler's cars and trucks are (Brian even gets in on the act of praising Chrysler products: "This is going to make some buyer somewhere very happy."). Less than three months later (2/5/08), Chrysler sponsored the entire Nightly News broadcast. An obvious example of quid pro quo.<br />
* 1/31/09--A story about 3-D ads during the Super Bowl prominently features Lifewater beverages--a product that advertised on the following day's Super Bowl. On NBC.<br />
* 2/23/09--Nightly News features a report about how thoroughly United Airlines cleans its planes. United is a frequent Nightly News advertiser. This story is just a big thank-you from NBC to United.<br />
* 5/5/09--Nightly News airs a "news story" about McDonald's new gourmet coffees. McDonald's is a major advertiser on Nightly News and other NBC/Universal shows. Ann Curry introduced the story by calling McDonald's coffee a "delicious brew". More than a third of this story is comprised of excerpts from McDonald's commercials and interviews with McDonald's spokespersons. This story is simply a commercial for McDonald's new gourmet coffees. (So as not to offend another sponsor, Nightly News also gives Starbucks lots of good publicity in the story.)<br />
* 5/12/09--A story purportedly about FDA assertions regarding Cheerios' health claims ends up becoming a fawning two-minute promotional message for Cheerios. The report intentionally minimized the FDA aspect of the story and instead spent most of its time promoting the positive attributes of Cheerios. This was correspondent Robert Bazell's first line: "It is one of America's iconic products--Cheerios." Well, that certainly set the scene. We were then shown 20 seconds of Cheerios commercials while Bazell tells us that, "Soluble oat fiber--a key component--can help reduce cholesterol." In other words, Bazell just made the very claim that the FDA had expressly forbidden General Mills from making. He then briefly interrupts his Cheerios love-fest to mention the FDA reprimand: "A letter from the FDA to General Mills, the manufacturer, says that the health claims have gone too far. The big problem is those claims about how much cholesterol can be reduced in how many weeks. They are repeated on the box. The FDA says those are drug-like claims that can only be made after studies have been submitted to the agency and approved." So rather than acknowledging that General Mills made inappropriate claims, he chooses to defend the claims as if they were mere technicalities. As Bazell says this, he was sitting at a table with a bowl of Cheerios in front of him, and at least six boxes of Cheerios neatly stacked next to him. He looks like he is in a Cheerios commercial. Actually, he is. Bazell continues, "In a statement, General Mills said, 'The science is not in question and we look forward to discussing this with the FDA and reaching a resolution.'" The science is not in question! Bazell does not take issue with the General Mills statement--he simply accepts it as fact. The General Mills statement also appears on screen alongside a pleasing graphic of a breakfast table with a bowl of Cheerios, a box of Cheerios and a glass of orange juice. We then see a close-up of milk being poured into a bowl of Cheerios. There is a brief interview with a doctor who says that three grams of soluble fiber is not really going to help you, but that it's better than eating something that's high in fat. Bazell then twists this statement into, "Food industry experts say there is no question that Cheerios is a healthy product but the FDA seems to be paying more attention to the claims that companies make." No question! Bazell's commercial--I mean news story--ends with boxes of Cheerios going by on a conveyor belt, a slow pan down a box of Cheerios, and a mother pouring some Cheerios for her toddler. Can anyone dispute that this is a product placement?<br />
* 7/13/09--The entire Nightly News broadcast is sponsored by the University of Phoenix, an online university. Four days later, Nightly News airs a report about Western Governors University (also an online university). This story features a gratuitous plug for the University of Phoenix as well as a prominent graphic displaying their logo. It seems apparent that University of Phoenix's July 13 sponsorship also bought them a plug on the July 17 broadcast.<br />
* 9/6/09--A story about search engines becomes a story mainly about Bing. Bing is a Microsoft product, and Microsoft was a former partner of NBC in MSNBC and current partner in MSNBC.com. This story is just a plug for one of NBC's corporate partners.<br />
* 10/22/09--During a piece about women in the workplace, Nightly News spends 75 seconds profiling Jan Fields, the Chief Operating Officer of McDonald's USA. The story gives her ample time to talk about things like McDonald's "world famous fries". Ms. Fields is now the president of McDonald's USA--no doubt thanks in part to her ability to manipulate NBC News into allowing her to plug her greasy burgers and fries.<br />
* 2/4/10--Brian Williams reads a 30-second story about the great new Heinz ketchup packages (he also manages to mention McDonald's in the story). This is just a plug for Heinz.<br />
* 3/17/10--Brian Williams reads a 30-second story about how Kraft Foods will be reducing the sodium in their products. Another plug for a regular NBC advertiser.<br />
* 3/19/10--Ann Curry (filling in for Brian Williams) reads a story about how Wal-Mart will be slashing their grocery prices.<br />
* 5/14/10--In part one of a two-part interview with Sally Field, Brian Williams spends the entire 90 seconds talking with Field about her Boniva commercials (at the time, Boniva advertised on Nightly News every night). Three days later, in part two of the interview, Brian again mentions Boniva.<br />
* 6/8/10--Nightly News airs a report about an obscure Danish medical study that concluded that Aleve can reduce the risk of heart attacks. Aleve is made by Bayer--a company that runs several ads each night on Nightly News. Not to mention the advertising they do on other NBC shows and other NBC/Universal networks.<br />
* 6/10/10--Brian Williams introduces a ridiculous "news story" about whether or not Chevys should be referred to as Chevrolets. Clearly, this is a two-minute-and-ten-second thank-you to the Chevy people for all the advertising dollars they have given NBC over the years.<br />
* 6/14/10--Lester Holt reads a "news story" about how Starbucks and McDonald's are now providing free Wi-Fi in their stores. Interestingly, this is the second time Nightly News has paired these two companies in a fake news story whose sole purpose is to promote them as sponsors.<br />
* 6/22/10--Nightly News shows a 30-second clip of Jimmy Fallon playing Microsoft's new Kinnect video game. Again, since Microsoft is a partner of NBC, this is just another plug for one of NBC's corporate partners (and a plug for Fallon's show, as well).<br />
* 7/2/10--A Nightly News profile of LeBron James includes clips from his McDonald's commercials.<br />
* 7/21/10--Brian Williams contrives a "news story" about knee surgery in order to call attention to a new Nightly News advertiser--Smith & Nephew Replacement Knees.<br />
* 9/24/10--In one of the most egregious examples of product placement, a story on the diminishing use of credit and debit cards for food shopping begins with a couple in a Target store standing in front of a massive wall of Cheerios that was almost certainly assembled by the Nightly News producers just for this story. We also see the couple walking through the aisles with the Cheerios box and later the camera gets a clear shot as the box is scanned at the register. The first 45 seconds of this story is a non-stop product placement for Cheerios. (The last shot of the story is the mother feeding Cheerios to her infant.) At the time, Cheerios was a frequent Nightly News sponsor and advertiser. This story was a great big "thank you" to General Mills--unless, of course, General Mills paid NBC for the exposure.<br />
* 10/27/10--Brian Williams reports an important story about how the Scott Paper Company is manufacturing tubeless toilet paper. The story features plenty of ad clips from Scott products.<br />
* 10/31/10--A story on the end of the Pontiac brand is really just some free advertising for General Motors.<br />
* 11/4/10 and 11/5/10--Nightly News airs two virtually identical stories about a great new Spiral CT Scanner. It just happens to be made by GE, NBC's then-parent company.<br />
* 11/9/10--The broadcast airs stories about the end of General Motors' Mr. Goodwrench ad campaign and the new ad campaign beginning for Planter's Mr. Peanut brand. Both stories contain lots of ad clips.<br />
* 12/6/10--A story about the health benefits of aspirin is nothing more than a product placement for Bayer, a frequent Nightly News advertiser. This "news report" begins with a five second clip from a Bayer commercial. Then there are three close-ups of Bayer aspirin: A box on a shelf in a Walgreens, a pill in someone's palm and a bottle of Bayer. No other name-brand aspirin is shown in the story, just generic or store brands. Even an animated graphic of a bottle simply labeled "aspirin" is brown and yellow--easily recognizable as Bayer's traditional colors on their aspirin bottles and the main colors on their website. Not very subtle.<br />
* 12/7/10--A story about how San Francisco is banning toys that come with children's fast food meals begins with a cute segment about a woman who collects Happy Meal toys. The rest of this 2:30 "news story" (which was really just a commercial for McDonald's) contains clips of actual McDonald's commercials and non-stop footage of the McDonald's logo, restaurants and food.<br />
* 12/28/10--Brian Williams spends 30 seconds telling us the great news that Frito-Lay products will soon be "all-natural". With the Frito-Lay logo behind him, he specifically mentions Tostitos, Sun Chips, Lays and Rold Gold pretzels.<br />
* 1/5/11--Brian Williams spends 30 seconds telling us that Starbucks will be changing their logo.<br />
* 1/17/11--Brian Williams announces that Starbucks will be introducing a new drink size called Trenta. I guess Brian reports on Starbucks so often because doing so gets him free drinks.<br />
* 1/20/11--Brian Williams tells us that Wal-Mart will be cutting prices on fresh fruits and vegetables and reducing fats, sugar, salt and trans fats in its store brands over the next few years. This sounds like a press release written by the Wal-Mart marketing department. Maybe it was.<br />
* 2/7/11--Nightly News does a three-minute rah-rah story about Chrysler's "Imported From Detroit" Super Bowl commercial (featuring Eminem) that aired the previous day (the story features 80 seconds of clips from the ad). This was little more than a three-minute commercial for Chrysler.<br />
* 3/8/11--Brian Williams takes 30 seconds to tell us the important news that Subway now has more U.S. outlets than McDonald's. So as not to offend McDonald's, he quickly adds that McDonald's earns more money than Subway.<br />
* 4/5/11--Nightly News does a two-and-a-half minute "news story" about the Vermont Country Store. This is a promotional story for a company that--despite its name--does $100 million in annual business.<br />
* 4/6/11--Nightly News airs a 2:05 story about Pringles. This may be the most shameless product placement Nightly News has ever done. Then again--probably not. The story begins with Brian Williams plugging some Procter & Gamble brands--Tide, Crest and Pampers. We are then shown clips from Pringles commercials--including one that featured Brad Pitt. We get to see a Pringles-related clip from "Ally McBeal". But mostly, we get to see correspondent Kevin Tibbles having a great time with Pringles. Just like Brad Pitt! There's Tibbles sitting with two cans of Pringles. There's Tibbles with a math professor who explains that the exact shape of the chip is a hyperbolic paraboloid. There's Tibbles holding a Pringles chip up to the camera. Then we see some clips of other P & G products--Tide, Gillette, Oral B and Wella. The story ends with 15 seconds of various closeup shots of Pringles. And the very next night--surprise--a Pringles commercial airs on Nightly News. I guess the Pringles people bought a combo news-story-and-ad package.<br />
* 5/9/11--Brian reads a 30-second "news story" about McDonald's great new redesign plans for their restaurants: "Mickey D's is spending over $1 billion to make their restaurants more chill, more comfortable, more laid back--more Starbucks than Mayor McCheese. Look for wooden tables, muted colors and faux leather seats coming soon to a Mac's near you. And you can get fries with that." That's not a news story, it's a McDonald's press release. And it's shameless. Notice how Brian slipped in a Starbucks mention, as well. What is it with Nightly News anchors pairing McDonald's and Starbucks in product placement stories?<br />
* 5/18/11--Brian personally defends McDonald's against criticism from parenting organizations and nutritional advocacy groups that accused McDonald's of unfairly using Ronald McDonald to attract children to their high-sodium, high-cholesterol, high-fat food. In the story, Brian says that this criticism "seems a little harsh". So much for anchor neutrality.<br />
* 7/26/11--Brian read this 30-second press release from McDonald's: "McDonald's said today that it's taking steps to make Happy Meals healthier. The company is cutting the size of the french fry portion in half for starters and adding apple slices to every meal. The new meals will have about 20% fewer calories--coming in at under 600 calories total. First Lady Michelle Obama, who campaigns, of course, for better nutrition, put out a statement today calling this a good step." It was clear that Brian and his producers meant to imply that Mrs. Obama was endorsing McDonald's--which, of course, she was not. (As Brian read this, the McDonald's logo is onscreen for the entire thirty seconds, along with the words "Healthy Choices" and a picture of a Happy Meal.)<br />
* 9/20/11--Brian Williams takes 30 seconds to tell us all about Heinz's exciting new ketchup packages: "There's a new fast food staple coming our way after years of fighting with the old ones. Heinz is out with a new vessel for fast food ketchup. It's shaped differently, it opens differently, contains three times the amount of product in the old packets. They're already being used at some Dairy Queens, Wendy's gets them later in the year--no comment yet from the really big players--McDonald's and Burger King." The accompanying video shows plenty of promotional footage of people using the new Heinz packets. (I'm surprised that Brian didn't conduct a live in-studio demonstration.) Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah--it's because Brian already told us about the new Heinz packages on the 2/4/10 Nightly News. I guess Heinz must have paid NBC News for two product placements.<br />
* 10/27/11--The lead story is about the health benefits of aspirin as a cancer-fighting drug. This story is virtually identical to the 12/6/10 story on aspirin. In truth, this is just another 2:40 product placement for Bayer. Like the 12/6/10 story, this story features only one national brand of aspirin--Bayer. All the other aspirin brands are generic or store brands like CVS or Sunmark. The story also shows two vintage Bayer newspaper ads and just for good measure, it features an 8-second clip from a current Bayer TV commercial. This story is a joke. It is nothing more than a shameless way to plug Bayer aspirin. And the fact that they showed it as the lead story is even more shameless. The message is obvious--buy Bayer aspirin and you won't get cancer.<br />
* 11/17/11--Right in the middle of a story about Congress's decision to categorize pizza as a vegetable, correspondent Anne Thompson takes a ten-second break to read a McDonald's commercial. With a huge McDonald's logo next to her, Thompson tells us that, "McDonald's got the message--reducing french fries and adding fruit to its happy meals." This has absolutely nothing to do with the story about pizza being a vegetable--it is just another opportunity for a Nightly News correspondent to shill for the Golden Arches.<br />
* 1/29/12--A story about fast food restaurants that stay open late is really just another product placement for McDonald's. This story contains more than a minute's worth of gratuitous McDonald's footage--interiors, exteriors, franchise owners, customers, workers, food--and even includes an extended shot of correspondent Mike Taibbi standing in front of a McDonald's in a way that clearly displayed the McDonald's name and logo. And just to make sure we didn't miss the point, Taibbi then tells us that, "McDonald's now has 40% of its restaurants open 24 hours--up from 30% seven years ago." That statement--and the entire report--sounds suspiciously like a commercial. Obviously, the Nightly News producers' goal in running this story is to inform the viewers that McDonald's has new extended hours so we should rush out later and get some of those delicious Big Macs, Quarter Pounders and fries.<br />
* 2/6/12--Brian spends more than two minutes fawning over the Clint Eastwood "Halftime In America" Chrysler ad that aired during the Super Bowl. He calls it "a big, sweeping and impactful ad." He shows us 45 seconds of the ad, including a 30-second continuous clip. But don't let Clint Eastwood's appearance in the ad fool you. Brian Williams is Chrysler's chief spokesperson.<br />
* 3/4/12--Lester Holt took 30 seconds to tell us that Nabisco's Oreo cookies are celebrating their 100th birthday: "And this week a big birthday for a classic American snack. The Oreo--known as milk's favorite cookie--turns 100. The National Biscuit Company rolled out the first Oreo from a New York City bakery in 1912. Today, the crème-filled chocolate sandwiches are sold in 100 countries earning $1.5 billion a year. By the way, Kraft, which owns the brand, says half of Oreo lovers pull the cookies apart before eating them. So now you know." We certainly do know--that Lester Holt is a shill. (Obviously, as Lester was reading this, we were shown clips of Oreo commercials and multiple other shots of the cookies.)<br />
* 5/1/12--Brian tells us that Fig Newtons (another Nabisco product) will now simply be called Newtons. As Brian read this important story, the screen above his left shoulder displayed a package of the cookies.<br />
* 5/22/13--At the end of a story about an app that displays eating habits, Brian said, "Graphic evidence of your potato chips, your Mallomars, your Haagen-Dazs." Mallomars. A Nabisco product. So that's three stories/mentions of Nabisco cookies in less than three months. Nabisco must have bought the deluxe product placement package.<br />
* 6/11/12--During a story about thefts of household products (like detergent) from supermarkets, correspondent Miguel Almaguer holds up a bottle of Tide for a total of 16 seconds. Maybe he was auditioning to be a spokesmodel.<br />
* 6/23/12--A story about Detroit's recovery features extensive footage from inside the Quicken Loans headquarters, as well as interviews with employees and the company's CEO. Six days later (6/29/13), a Quicken Loans commercial popped up on Nightly News. Can you say "quid pro quo"?<br />
* 8/20/12--During a report about Rosie O'Donnell's heart attack, Brian volunteers the information that, "She finally took a Bayer aspirin--the way she learned in the TV commercial." Using Rosie O'Donnell's heart attack to promote Bayer is beyond unethical. But Brian Williams jumps at any chance to promote a good Nightly News sponsor (Bayer usually advertises three of four times a night on Nightly News).<br />
* 10/17/12--In a Nightly News story about vitamins, Brian Williams specifically mentioned Centrum Silver. Centrum is manufactured by Pfizer--a regular advertiser and sponsor on Nightly News.<br />
* 11/25/12--Nightly News spends 2:30 on a story titled "Inside Amazon". Obviously, this flattering story is nothing more than a long-form commercial for Amazon.<br />
* 11/26/12--A story about holiday sales includes a 45-second look inside the Amazon sales & distribution center in Phoenix. Two Amazon stories in two days.<br />
* 12/1/12--A story about hiring seasonal holiday help includes profiles of eBay, UPS and--no surprise--Amazon. Three Amazon plugs in a week. I hope Jeff Bezos got his money's worth from Brian Williams.<br />
* 12/4/12--After a story about the makeover of the iconic Hollywood sign, Brian Williams makes sure we know that it was "Thanks to a new coat of white pain--400 gallons worth--donated by Sherwin-Williams."<br />
* 12/6/12--Brian Williams spends 30 seconds shamelessly promoting Procter & Gamble's new Tide for Men: "Get ready for Tide for Men--it works the same as the regular Tide but it's being marketed towards male buyers. Here's how they do that--they put a football player on the label hoping men will but it. Even though a lot of us buy Tide on our own without assistance, they figure Saints quarterback Drew Brees will help sell the new Tide plus Febreze Sport with Victory-Fresh Scent. Even though the scent of a post-victory NFL jersey would knock a buzzard off a telephone pole at 500 yards." In case you're wondering--that wasn't a commercial, it was a news story. I especially like the part where Brian tells us that "a lot of us buy Tide on our own". That takes it from a regular endorsement into the realm of a personal endorsement. Well done, Brian. And saying the entire name--"new Tide plus Febreze Sport with Victory-fresh Scent" is the hallmark of a seasoned pitchman. Ed McMahon couldn't have done it any better. I'm surprised Brian didn't refer to Drew Brees as "Drew FeBrees".<br />
* 12/13/12--At the end of a story about the 12/12/12 concert for Hurricane Sandy relief, Brian plugs the Robin Hood Foundation--an organization on whose board <em>he</em> sits. A little self-promotion never hurt anyone.<br />
* 12/18/12--Again Brian plugs the Robin Hood Foundation because he sits on their board.<br />
* 12/19/12--Brian informs us that GM will open a new Camaro plant in Michigan. Brian always makes sure to plug American car makers. Because he's just a red-white-and-blue kinda guy.<br />
* 12/30/12--Nightly News ends with a 2:52 story on the new "Les Miserables" movie. The movie is produced by Universal--an NBC/Universal company. But of course neither the story's reporter nor anchor Kate Snow disclosed that little fact.<br />
* 1/2/13--Nancy Snyderman reports a story about fructose that includes ad clips from the weight-loss drug Alli (made by frequent Nightly News advertiser and sponsor GlaxoSmithKline). The story also includes clips from Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine ads.<br />
* 1/6/13--Nightly News reports a story about "Downton Abbey" entitled "Downton Fever" without ever disclosing that the show is produced by Carnival Films--which is owned by NBC/Universal.<br />
* 1/10/13--Brian tells us that in the UK, McDonald's Happy Meals will now come with a book. As he tells us this, images of McDonald's products appear on screen for 20 seconds.<br />
* 1/11/13--In a story about the naming rights for the former Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Brian slips in a gratuitous mention of Tostito's. Tostito's are made by Frito-Lay, a major advertiser and sponsor on NBC and NBC/Universal-owned networks.<br />
* 1/14/13--Nightly News runs a "news story" about how Coca-Cola is fighting the recent backlash over sugary drinks. More than half of this story (1:20 out of a total 2:15 run time) is comprised of Coke ad clips and product placements of Coke products. It should be noted that the story was "reported" by Chris Jansing whose main job at NBC News seems to be using sham news stories to promote NBC sponsors.<br />
* 1/17/13--Brian spends 30 seconds telling us all about American Airlines' new look and logo. If there's anything Brian likes plugging as much as the U.S. auto industry, it's the U.S. airline industry.<br />
* 1/17/13--Immediately after the American Airlines story, Brian spent another 30 seconds reporting the important news that the Subway foot-long sandwich was measured at only 11 inches. Of course, this was only an intro that allowed him to then tell us that "millions of people know that $5 jingle on the Subway commercials", that they have "38,000 locations", and that "It's their staple--they have offered a foot-long sub since the first Subway opened its doors back in 1965." I suspect that next time Brian goes on vacation, Nightly News will be anchored by Subway pitchman Jared Fogle.<br />
* 1/22/13--A story about milestones that happened 40 years ago that week included the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. The Nightly News producers somehow felt it was important to include an inappropriate comment that had been made a year earlier by Foster Friess, a supporter of presidential candidate Rick Santorum. On the subject of birth control, Friess said, "In my day they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives--the gals put it between their knees." It's laughable to think that Friess's comment had any relevance to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Clearly, this was just a cheap excuse to give Bayer another mention on Nightly News.<br />
* 1/31/13--During a story about the Justice Department's attempt to block a merger of AB InBev (owner of Budweiser) and Corona, we were shown 12 seconds of Budweiser ad clips. Considering all the advertising money Budweiser spends on NBC and NBC/Universal stations, I think the producers should have shown at least 25 seconds of Budweiser ad clips.<br />
* 2/1/13--In a fawning, pandering three-minute story about Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl (reported by Brian Williams himself), Brian positioned himself on the Puppy Bowl field in just the right way to allow maximum visibility of the Geico logo. Not an accident.<br />
* 2/4/13--In a story about the previous day's Super Bowl commercials, Brian showed ad clips from Dodge, Budweiser, Best Buy, VW, Coke, Taco Bell, GoDaddy and Hyundai. The 2:08 story featured 58 seconds of actual ad clips.<br />
* 2/17/13--A story about Michael Jordan turning fifty included 13 seconds of Nike ad clips.<br />
* 2/27/13--Brian reads a 25-second story about how Wonder Bread is "Making a Comeback". The story is accompanied by shots of Wonder Bread, Hostess Donettes and Twinkies.<br />
* 3/8/13--A story about mothers urging Kraft to remove orange dye from its Macaroni & Cheese got this intro from Brian: "They say Kraft Mac & Cheese is the cheesiest..." And here's how he ended the story: "Kraft says the product is safe and healthy and they offer a multitude of products without added colors." The Kraft Mac & Cheese logo and commercial clips were on-screen for 18 of this story's 29 seconds.<br />
* 3/15/13--Brian read a story about how the new Notre Dame basketball uniforms--made by Adidas--were among the ugliest in sports history. Not only was this a plug for Adidas, but also for Notre Dame, whose football games are carried on NBC.<br />
* 3/18/13--Brian eagerly informed us that Burger King would soon be offering turkey burgers and that McDonald's would be offering egg white McMuffins. He made sure to tell us that "fast food gets incrementally healthier". This is news? Brian never gets tired of shilling for fast-food companies.<br />
* 3/22/13--In a story about how some libraries are offering seeds, the logos of DuPont, Dow, Monsanto and Bayer (naturally) appear on-screen. By the way--the story was sponsored by Citi.<br />
* 3/27/13--Here's how Brian began a 40-second news story about a Honda minivan that comes equipped with a vacuum: "This is for all those who fed endless quarters into those car wash vacuums rooting out Cheerios under the car seats--hard as rocks the little guys. They then ricochet through the vacuum hose along with pennies, gravel and Skittles. Honda has figured out a way to make a minivan that comes with its own built-in vacuum cleaner..." Plugging Cheerios, Skittles AND Honda in the same story? That's like a triple play!<br />
* 3/30/13--Dimwitted correspondent Katy Tur did an entire 2:20 promotional news story about Peeps--the marshmallow Easter candy. Part of her instructions for eating them included, "Bite the head off first...", "Nibble all around the sides...", "Stick the whole thing in your mouth at once..." Kind of sickening, to say the least.<br />
* 4/1/13--A story about elderly people driving longer mentioned a study by Hartford Insurance--which was accompanied by the company's large on-screen logo. Later, in a report about April Fool's stories, we were shown logos or clips of Scope, Honda, Twitter, Google and Boden clothing.<br />
* 4/5/13--Continuing in his role as chief propaganda spokesman for the entire fast-food industry, Brian read this breaking news story: "There's marketing news in what USA Today calls an astonishing brand reversal--KFC is about to go big on boneless chicken. If you like a bucket of chicken, you know you'd never think to say 'boneless' when ordering it but now they're betting on the new Original Recipe Boneless in what brand experts say is the biggest new product introduction for KFC in modern times." The story was accompanied by many shots of KFC products and clips from KFC commercials. It's hard to imagine that KFC didn't pay NBC to have this "news story" read on-air. This certainly confirms Brian's status as the biggest pitchman (and scumbag) on television.<br />
* 4/8/13--During an obit for Annette Funicello, Anne Thompson (who is pretty weaselly in her own right) made sure to show a clip from Annette's old Skippy Peanut Butter ad.<br />
* 4/19/13--After an interview with several employees from a Boston restaurant located at the Marathon finish line (who were working when the Marathon bombing happened), Brian said, "Our thanks to the staff at Forum--a good place to stop on Boylston Street next time you're in town." As if he's ever been there.<br />
* 5/1/13--In a story about the increase in sales of American cars, Brian specifically plugs Dodge Ram, Chevy Silverado and Ford F Series pickups.<br />
* 5/6/13--This was quite a day for promotion (and self-promotion). First, Brian read a story about how the Medal of Honor Society awarded its Citizen Honor Medals to the families of the teachers who were killed at Newtown. Brian frequently reports on the Medal of Honor. In fact, every time a MOH winner dies, Brian reports it as if it were a real news story. Of course, one reason he does this is because he's a fawning, flattering, sycophantic military ass-kisser who fantasizes about being in the military. But what Brian never discloses is that he sits on the Board of Directors of the Medal of Honor Foundation. And the MOH Foundation relies heavily on donations from the public. So by reporting frequently on the Medal of Honor, Brian is actually focusing attention on the Foundation with the goal of increasing their donations. He's shamelessly using his broadcast to indirectly solicit funds for an organization on whose board he sits. That's a clear conflict of interest. And it's grossly unethical. But Brian doesn't care. He's Brian Freaking Williams and he gets to do whatever he wants. About 7 minutes later, Brian read a story about how Pfizer will begin offering Viagra for sale on the web as a way of combating all the bootleg Viagra already being sold. Of course, Pfizer is a huge Nightly News and NBC sponsor and advertiser, so by reading this story, Brian was really just giving some free publicity to one of his corporate pals (up to this point, Pfizer had sponsored nine different Nightly News "Making A Difference" segments in 2013, most recently on March 28). During the story, Brian made sure to slip in this nugget: "Pfizer--the folks who make the real stuff." Okay--I think we get it Mr. Pfizer Spokesperson. And later in the broadcast, Brian reported that Bill Clinton had tried (unsuccessfully) to get Led Zeppelin to reunite for the 12/12/12 concert. Obviously this isn't news, but it once again allowed Brian to plug the Robin Hood Foundation--another corporation on whose board he sits. So on one broadcast, Brian managed to plug Nightly News sponsor Pfizer as well as two organizations on whose board he sits--the Medal of Honor Foundation and the Robin Hood Foundation. That's a pretty successful day for Brian Williams.<br />
* 5/24/13--In a story about inappropriate comments made by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, Andrea Mitchell inserts a gratuitous plug for the Robin Hood Foundation. Clearly, the Nightly News correspondents like to keep Brian happy.<br />
* 6/1/13--Usually, Robert Bazell uses his stories to promote NBC advertisers like Cheerios or Bayer. But on this day, he took a slightly different tack. Bazell reported a story titled "Cancer Breakthrough" about the successful treatment of lung cancer and several other types of cancer through a procedure known as immune therapy, which causes white blood cells to attack and destroy cancer cells. The story focused on research and treatment being done at Yale Cancer Center and featured an interview with the Center's Dr. Roy Herbst. Anyone watching this story would certainly get the impression that Yale is at the forefront of cancer research, which it is. However, Bazell neglected to disclose one very important fact: Later this summer he will be leaving NBC News because he has accepted a position as an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. So by doing a Nightly News piece about Yale, Bazell used his current position as a news correspondent to promote his future employer. Sleazy.<br />
* 6/4/13--NBC Nightly News' chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reported a story about the benefits of sunscreen as a skin protector and anti-aging agent. The report began with a clip from a Bain de Soleil ad (including the familiar jingle "Bain de Soleil for that Saint-Tropez tan"). Later, the camera panned across a studio array of seven bottles of sunscreen, including three bottles of Coppertone--which were prominently placed in front of the others. Both Bain de Soleil and Coppertone are owned/manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Merck. Eight minutes after Snyderman's story aired, Nightly News ran a commercial for Dr. Scholl's P.R.O. arch support inserts. Dr. Scholl's is also owned by Merck. Hardly a coincidence. (Let's not forget that on 1/2/13, Snyderman plugged Glaxo.)<br />
* 6/4/13--Brian spends 24 seconds telling us that Amazon will begin selling fresh food and groceries. I don't think anyone can argue with the fact that Brian Williams has a personal mission to promote Amazon.<br />
* 6/7/13--A story about a recently-discovered 50-year-old bomb shelter showed close-ups of some well-preserved products still inside--Reynold's Wrap, Saran Wrap, Dixie Cups, Baggies and Kleenex.<br />
* 6/7/13--Nightly News ends with a 2:33 story on the Belmont Stakes--a race that would be carried on NBC the following day. What's the point of having a news broadcast if you can't use it to promote your network's sports and entertainment programming?<br />
* 6/9/13--In a story about gas prices, several of the price billboards shown included ads for McDonald's and Subway.<br />
* 6/14/13--Kevin Tibbles' report about low wages in the fast-food industry began with a 10-second clip from a McDonald's commercial. That's hardly surprising. Tibbles and his producers knew that the story was unflattering to the fast-food industry, which as a whole spends huge sums of money each year advertising on NBC and the NBC/Universal networks. So Tibbles and his producers went out of their way to throw a big bone--in the form of some free advertising--to the industry's largest player. Tibbles also spent 20 seconds acting as a mouthpiece for the National Restaurant Association--explaining their position that fast-food restaurants provide jobs in a difficult economic environment and that "the industry is one of the best paths to achieving the American Dream". During the story, Tibbles interviewed two fast-food workers who were unhappy with their low wages, but refused to specifically disclose where either person works. Rule #1 at Nightly News: Protect your sponsors at all costs. Nice job, Kevin.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-86420627827829024372013-06-04T23:21:00.001-07:002013-06-04T23:21:19.465-07:00NBC Nightly News' Nancy Snyderman And Robert Bazell Are ShillsOn Tuesday (6/4/13), NBC Nightly News' chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reported a story about the benefits of sunscreen as a skin protector and anti-aging agent. The report began with a clip from a Bain de Soleil ad (the familiar jingle "Bain de Soleil for that Saint-Tropez tan"). Later, the camera panned across a studio array of seven bottles of sunscreen, including three bottles of Coppertone--which were prominently placed in front of the others. Both Bain de Soleil and Coppertone are owned/manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Merck. Eight minutes after Snyderman's story aired, Nightly News ran a commercial for Dr. Scholl's P.R.O. arch support inserts. Dr. Scholl's is also owned by Merck. This is no coincidence. NBC Nightly News producers, anchors and correspondents have a history of using "news stories" to plug NBC sponsors' products. (For a detailed list of NBC Nightly News plugs and product placements, see this blog's 4/8/12 entry: <a href="http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html</span></strong></a>.) And this isn't the first time Nancy Snyderman has done a product placement. On the 1/2/13 Nightly News, Snyderman's story on fructose included ad clips from Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers and the weight-loss drug Alli--which is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline--a frequent NBC advertiser and Nightly News in-broadcast sponsor. It's shameful that any NBC producer, anchor or correspondent would use a news broadcast to plug their network's sponsors, but it's even more shameful when done by a medical correspondent--and a physician, no less. I don't see how viewers can trust Snyderman to report honestly and objectively when one of her primary goals seems to be promoting NBC sponsors.<br />
<br />
But when it comes to NBC News science/medical correspondents, Nancy Snyderman has nothing on Robert Bazell. For years, Bazell has been acting as a shill for NBC sponsors such as Bayer, General Mills, General Electric, Glaxo and Pfizer. (In 2011, this blog devoted an entire post to the inimitable Mr. Bazell: <a href="http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2011/10/robert-bazell-is-scumbag.html">http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2011/10/robert-bazell-is-scumbag.html</a>.) Well, Bazell is at it again. On Saturday's Nightly News (6/1/13), Bazell reported a story titled "Cancer Breakthrough" about the successful treatment of lung cancer and several other types of cancer through a procedure known as immune therapy, which causes white blood cells to attack and destroy cancer cells. The story focused on research and treatment being done at Yale Cancer Center and featured an interview with the Center's Dr. Roy Herbst. Anyone watching this story would come away with the impression that Yale is at the forefront of cancer research, which it is. However, Bazell neglected to disclose one very important fact: Later this summer he will be leaving NBC News because he has accepted a position as an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. So by doing a Nightly News piece about Yale, Bazell used his current position as a news correspondent to promote his future employer. That's pretty sleazy. But for the NBC News health/science/medical team, it's just (funny) business as usual.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-32457184939649788292013-05-30T21:01:00.000-07:002013-05-30T21:01:28.008-07:00Brian Williams Mocks Latinos On NBC Nightly NewsAt Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 15, 2009, an exchange between Justice Sotomayor and Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma prompted Sen. Coburn to tell Justice Sotomayor, "You'll have a lot of 'splainin' to do!" The reference was to a phrase Desi Arnaz often uttered to Lucille Ball on the 1950's sitcom "I Love Lucy". Many people felt that Sen. Coburn used the phrase to mock Justice Sotomayor's Latina heritage, and many considered it a blatant slur against all American Latinos and Latinas.<br />
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On May 29, 2013, Brian Williams read a story on NBC Nightly News about Pres. Obama having lipstick on his collar during a public appearance. (Let's overlook the fact that this doesn't remotely qualify as a news story and it didn't belong on a national newscast. Obviously, Brian Williams makes a living reporting garbage stories with no news value.) During his introduction to the story, Brian said, "The President of the United States had a bit of 'splainin' to do last night...." There it is again--'splainin' rears its ugly head on national television. I don't think there's any question that this word is derogatory and insulting to Latinos and Latinas. It's no different that affecting an exaggerated Chinese or German accent to mock a person from one of those countries. <br />
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News flash for Brian Williams: It's not the 1950's anymore. Making fun of someone's accent--and by extension their heritage--is insensitive at best and malicious at worst. It should not be tolerated on a sitcom, much less a news broadcast that is supposed to inform viewers. A network news anchor is supposed to report facts, not make fun of the way some Americans talk.<br />
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But I can guarantee that there will be no repercussions for Brian Williams. No one at NBC News will discipline him--he's their golden boy as long as Nightly News is the top-rated evening newscast (although the same cannot be said for his other vanity project, the already-cancelled Rock Center). And Brian's philosophy with regard to personal or professional impropriety is "never acknowledge, never apologize". He still hasn't apologized for the appalling way in which NBC News edited George Zimmerman's 911 tapes to make Zimmerman appear racist. So there's zero chance he'll apologize for his slur against Latinos and Latinas.<br />
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Brian Williams will just continue on as if nothing happened. There seems little doubt that at some point in the future he will again affect a condescending foreign accent to mock some immigrant group (domestic groups are not spared either--Brian often mocks New Englanders by saying things like "Fenway Pahk", "Red Sawx" and "pahtying wicked hahd".) Because Brian Williams' number one priority is to boost his ratings--and his ego--by saying things he believes are "funny" and "cool". And believe me--political correctness and propriety don't stand a chance when ratings and ego are at stake.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-39760766448607445002013-05-06T22:07:00.001-07:002013-05-06T22:21:52.799-07:00Brian Williams Uses NBC Nightly News To Promote Organizations On Whose Board He SitsWe all know that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is an egotistic, narcissistic, self-promoter. That's stating the obvious. But on Monday's Nightly News (5/6/13), he outdid even his own lofty narcissistic standards. On that broadcast, he reported that the Medal of Honor Society was posthumously awarding its Citizens Honors Medal to the six educators who were killed in the Newtown massacre. Good choice--I think we all agree that they deserve the award. But what Brian didn't disclose is that he himself sits on the board of directors of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. So in other words, he was using his own newscast to promote an organization on whose board he sits--<em>without disclosing his connection to the organization</em>. The MOH Foundation relies heavily on citizen donations, so by doing a story on the MOH Foundation, Brian was raising awareness for his organization with the specific goal of generating donations. That is deceptive, unethical and downright sleazy.<br />
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Later in the broadcast, Brian reported the breaking news story that Bill Clinton almost succeeded in brokering a Led Zeppelin reunion for the 12/12/12 Sandy Relief Concert. Now, first of all, this isn't news and it doesn't belong on a network newscast. It was just another excuse for Brian to show video of Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, two performers that he personally idolizes and who he frequently includes in Nightly News stories. Another expedition into narcissism for Brian Williams. But during this story, Brian also made a point of plugging the Robin Hood Foundation, the concert's organizer. And guess who sits on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation? You guessed it--Brian Williams. And of course the Robin Hood Foundation, like the Medal of Honor Foundation, relies heavily on donations. So he plugged two organizations on whose board he sits--with the specific goal of increasing awareness of those organizations as a way to prompt his viewers to donate. And he never disclosed his connection to either organization. Wow, this guy has some big balls.<br />
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Also during Monday's broadcast, Brian reported that Pfizer would begin offering Viagra for sale on the web as a way to offset internet sales of generic and knock-off Viagra drugs. In that story, Brian referred to Pfizer as, "The folks who make the real stuff." Do you know what else Pfizer does? They sponsor NBC Nightly News segments. Since Jan. 1, 2013, Pfizer has sponsored nine different Nightly News "Making A Difference" segments. Of course, that's in addition to the commercials they run for their various products on Nightly News, other NBC shows and the many NBC Universal/Comcast networks. So by promoting Pfizer (and reminding us that they make "the real stuff"), Brian was shamelessly promoting one of his biggest sponsors. Perhaps this was just an opportunity for Brian to say "Thank you" to his pals at Pfizer. But maybe it was something else. Maybe Pfizer actually paid NBC News to have Brian Williams read a faux "news report" about them. That's known as a product placement or branded content. And I certainly wouldn't be surprised to learn that NBC News accepts payment for product placements on Nightly News. After all, paying to have a news report appear on Nightly News would be a great way to let people know that Viagra will now be available on the web. And if Brian Williams himself is selling it, all the better. Because he has such integrity. Does anyone believe that the weasels at NBC News wouldn't do something like this?<br />
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So let's recap: On one Nightly News broadcast, Brian Williams promoted two organizations on whose board he sits (both of whom rely heavily on donations) and one mega-huge pharmaceutical conglomerate that sponsors Nightly News segments and advertises on NBC. Brian Williams is a self-promoting, narcissistic scumbag. There's no other way to describe him. A news anchor who uses his broadcast to promote his sponsors and help solicit donations for organizations on whose board he sits should not be allowed on the air. When is the FCC going to demand that NBC dump this guy?Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-9738023186961007772013-05-03T23:06:00.001-07:002013-05-03T23:14:17.221-07:00NBC Nightly News Weasels Begin Promoting Sunday Night Football--In May!This blog has been dormant for the past 8 months. The reason was pretty mundane: My computer was really old and it couldn't access the new, updated version of Blogspot.com. Basically I was locked out of my own blog. Now I have a different, slightly-less-old computer and I can access this site again. In lieu of this blog, I've been expressing my opinions through Twitter (@FakeBriWilliams) which has been working pretty well in terms of making my views known (although not quite so well in attracting followers). I'm not sure what role this blog will have in the future--perhaps it will act as an adjunct to my Twitter posts, since 140 characters can be quite limiting when trying to express the enormous asininity of Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News. We'll see.<br />
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Thought for the day: It's been three months since the Super Bowl, which means it's time for the weasels at Nightly News to start promoting NFL football again, even though the regular season doesn't begin for four months. The reason: Sunday Night Football is--by far--NBC's best-rated show and it brings the network a ton of ad revenue. On last Tuesday's (4/30/13) Nightly News, a story about a Boston bombing victim featured a photo of Patriots QB Tom Brady. The same broadcast also included a 2:15 story about how the new Atlanta Falcons stadium may displace some local churches. On Friday (5/3/13), Maria Bartiromo's Nightly News report on the economy included a segment about how the Miami Dolphins were now hiring support and service personnel. These football references were no accidents--they were intentionally inserted into their respective news stories as a way to shamelessly promote the NFL--and, by association, Sunday Night Football on NBC. This is the way the sleazy weasels at NBC operate. They (and "they" includes weasel-in-chief Brian Williams) use Nightly News as a promotional vehicle for NBC sports and entertainment shows. I guarantee that over the next four months, Nightly News will provide a steadily increasing stream of football-related stories leading up to the start of the NFL season. And once the season begins, we can expect the NBC weasels to shift into high gear and resume their regular practice of concluding Sunday Nightly News broadcasts with a football story--usually a story that relates directly to one or both of the teams playing later that night on NBC. NBC Nightly News is often little more than a commercial for Sunday Night Football and other NBC shows. Did you see the way Nightly News promoted the Olympics last summer? That's how they roll at NBC.<br />
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To quote George Costanza--"I'm back, baby!"Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-35706156846089278102012-09-12T00:30:00.000-07:002012-09-12T00:30:49.358-07:00Sleazy NBC Weasels Use Nightly News To Promote NBC's Fall ScheduleOn Monday (9/10/12), NBC Nightly News ran a "news story" about the debate between letting your baby cry all night or rushing to comfort it as soon as it begins crying. First of all, this idiotic story does not in any way qualify as news. With so many actual news events going on across the country and around the world, it's appalling that Brian Williams and his producers would allow this story to air on a news broadcast. But that's hardly the worst part of this horrible situation. The title of the story was "Up All Night"--the same title as the NBC sitcom starring Christina Applegate and Will Arnett that will have its season premiere on Sept. 20. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the story began with an 11-second clip from the NBC sitcom. So it's obvious what's going on here. The weaselly NBC executives think "Up All Night" could become a hit, so they collaborated with Brian and his producers to manufacture a sham "news story" for the sole purpose of promoting this show. It's hard to imagine that a so-called professional news organization could do something so sleazy and unethical. But then again, NBC News these days is rarely mistaken for a professional news organization. One of the main goals of Brian and his producers is to use Nightly News to promote NBC's sports and entertainment programs (and to promote their sponsors as well--but that's a whole different topic. For more on Nightly News's product placements, see the 4/8/12 edition of The Nightly Daily: <a href="http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html">http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html</a>). Here's another recent example of Brian using his broadcast to promote NBC's prime-time programming: During the 17 days of the London Olympics, Nightly News spent a total of two-hours-and-twenty-seven minutes airing Olympic-related stories as a way to entice viewers to watch NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage. That's almost nine minutes a night--roughly half of each broadcast when you factor out the commercials and other extraneous non-news material. Obviously, the more viewers that watch the Olympics, the more ad revenue NBC earns.<br />
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But perhaps the sleaziest promotion Nightly News ever did was last Feb. 13. Two days after Whitney Houston's death, a story about Houston was given the title "The Voice", which also happens to be the name of NBC's singing competition show. There is absolutely no doubt that the producers gave the story this title in order to promote the NBC show "The Voice", which would be airing <em>later that same night</em> (the words "the Voice" remained on the screen for more than fifteen seconds). Brian and his producers should be deeply ashamed of themselves for using Houston's death to promote an NBC entertainment show. But of course, they're not. That's what they do. In fact, they're probably proud of themselves for figuring out a nifty way to promote "The Voice". <br />
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It is a common practice for Brian to use Nightly News stories to promote the Olympics, Sunday Night Football, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and many of NBC's sports, entertainment and news shows--including, of course, his own Rock Center which is heavily promoted on Nightly News. This is not just sleazy and unethical--it falls under the category of journalistic malpractice. Viewers tune in expecting to see news, and instead they see fake news stories promoting NBC shows. So where's the outrage? Why isn't anyone doing anything about this? Why aren't angry viewers marching on 30 Rock with torches and pitchforks demanding the resignation of Brian Williams and NBC News President Steve Capus? When is the FCC going to shut down Nightly News once and for all?Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-90724837817223376552012-09-01T01:03:00.006-07:002012-09-06T01:40:36.637-07:00Brian Williams & NBC Nightly News Show Notes: 8/25/12 Through 8/30/12 (++)From watching NBC Nightly News this past week, you'd think there were only three stories: The death of Neil Armstrong, the Republican National Convention and Hurricane Isaac. Apparently, Brian Williams, Lester Holt and the Nightly News producers don't see their job as reporting all the week's news--they see their job as overreporting those few stories that are guaranteed to earn high ratings while ignoring the rest of the important news from across the country and around the world. Here's what happened this week--according to Brian, Lester et al.:<br />
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<strong>Sat. August 25</strong>--Nightly News spent 9:40 reporting on Hurricane Isaac and 5:40 reporting on the death of Neil Armstrong. Nearly two minutes of their Isaac coverage was devoted to how the storm is affecting Haiti, as if that somehow makes up for the way Nightly News abruptly discontinued their coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake in order to spend massive amounts of time promoting the Vancouver Olympics (which started one month after the Haiti earthquake).<br />
***At least 330 people were reportedly killed in a government-sponsored massacre in Syria. So how much time did Nightly News devote to this story? Two minutes? One minute? Nope. It was given all of twenty seconds. Obviously, the Nightly News producers do not care about foreign news (unless it's NBC's own Olympic coverage or stories about the British Royals) because foreign news brings much lower ratings than sensationalistic stories about hurricanes.<br />
***The final segment of the broadcast featured weatherclown Al Roker giving a rambling, repetitive litany of previously reported Isaac facts. He ended his "report" by telling us to stay tuned in to the Weather Channel (which is owned by NBC Universal) and "The Today Show". So this really wasn't about the hurricane, it was about promoting NBC properties. Great job, Al! Thanks! By the way, Roker's show on the Weather Channel is called "Wake Up With Al". That's really, really creepy. I think I need to take a shower now.<br />
<strong>Sun. August 26</strong>--Nightly News increased their Isaac coverage to more than 10 minutes. This included a pompous 90-second piece from Brian Williams--making a rare self-promotional weekend appearance--in which he again tries to desperately convince us how much he cares about New Orleans. Obviously, the NBC News research department continues to inform Brian that the more he pretends to love New Orleans, the more compassionate he seems, and the higher his ratings climb. So he never misses an opportunity to pander to the people of Louisiana, because pandering is what he does best. Wouldn't it be nice to have a news anchor who reports on stories based solely on their news value, and not based on how they can help his or her ratings? Oh yeah--now that I think of it, there was such an anchor--his name was Charles Gibson.<br />
***During one of the reports on Isaac, we were shown a clip of some comments from Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor. However, she was never identified. I guess the Nightly News producers just assume we all know who she is.<br />
***The broadcast also spent more than five minutes reporting on something just as important as Isaac--the upcoming Republican National Convention. By "reporting on the convention", what I really mean is "promoting the convention". In the following week, NBC will be devoting a large chunk of time to the convention, including programming on CNBC, MSNBC, "The Today Show", Nightly News and several hours of prime time coverage. So by promoting the convention, they are really promoting their own coverage of the convention. And let's face it--promoting NBC programming is one of the main responsibilities of the Nightly News anchors and producers. Remember the two-and-a-half hours Nightly News spent shamelessly plugging the Olympics over those 17 days? Of course you do--it was just a few weeks ago.<br />
***News flash! Ann Romney is the new Michelle Obama. The Nightly News producers have discovered that Ann Romney is very popular and brings huge ratings to their broadcast, so they now make a point of putting her on the air as often as possible. Look--there she is making pancakes! There she is going to church! Isn't she awesome? She's almost like Kate Middleton! First Ladies (and potential First Ladies) are always popular (and always bring high ratings to news broadcasts), so for the Nightly News producers, filling up newstime with Ann Romney is a no-brainer. And by giving her lots of TV exposure now, they're setting themselves up to be in her good favor should Mitt Romney win the election. Then we can look forward to seeing Ann with Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Carson Daly, Matt Lauer, Ellen, Steve Harvey and Jeff Probst. And of course, with Brian Williams.<br />
***Although the Nightly News producers spent more than fifteen minutes reporting on Isaac and the Republican Convention, they nevertheless thought it would be a good idea to waste 2:25 on a pointless story about the TSA and airport shoe removal. Apparently, air travelers will still be removing their shoes for years to come. This trite story could have been reported in fifteen seconds, but they dragged it out to ten times that length because this story was easier to present than real news. And also because Brian has a fetish for stories about air travel. And we all know that whatever Brian wants, Brian gets. Even on nights when he isn't anchoring.<br />
***Speaking of real news, the producers devoted 24 seconds to the Syrian massacre that killed 330 people. That's four seconds more than the previous night's broadcast. I guess you'd have to call that progress.<br />
***Lester Holt spent another 1:40 on a tribute to Neil Armstrong because the ratings go up every time a Nightly News anchor says the word "hero".<br />
***The broadcast ended with a final minute on Isaac because the more scared they can make us, the more likely we will be to watch tomorrow's broadcast. The producers are basically using a cliffhanger ending taken right from the soap operas. Will the levees hold? Will Darlene be able to save her dog Skippy? Can Lonnie rescue his bedridden wife? Will the police arrest Mr. Vandrusz for profiteering? Will gramps be saved by an army helicopter? Tune in tomorrow to see how many people lost their homes! Lots of people will cry! On "As The Hurricane Turns" (AKA NBC Nightly News).<br />
<strong>Mon. August 27</strong>--Brian and his producers pared their Isaac coverage down to a threadbare 7:20 so they could spend even more time (nearly six minutes) promoting NBC's Convention coverage. Real classy.<br />
***Brian then reported these stories: Two U.S. troops were killed by an Afghan soldier, a Taliban mob beheaded 17 people attending a dance where music was being played and Syrian rebels shot down an army helicopter that was firing on civilians. Brian devoted a total of 37 seconds to these stories. Brian doesn't give a shit about foreign news because it doesn't help his ratings.<br />
***Brian introduced a story about a possible link between a woman's weight and the recurrence of breast cancer. At the top of the broadcast, he previewed this story by calling it "an important story". Um...question for Brian: Aren't all the stories on a network newscast supposed to be important? Well, yes--they're <em>supposed</em> to be. But on Nightly News, that's rarely the case. I guess Brian made a point of calling this story important in order to distinguish it from all the trivial, pointless Nightly News stories about dogs, whales, space travel and planets, British Royals, taunted elderly bus monitors and the Olympics. So remember, Nightly News viewers, if Brian says a story is important, you'd better pay attention. Especially because important stories are so infrequent on Nightly News.<br />
***Brian spent 25 seconds telling us that the FAA plans to study whether air travelers really need to put away their electronic devices before takeoff. A story about a study that may not even change anything? This isn't even worth mentioning. But as I already said, Brian has a fetish for air travel stories and he gets to do whatever he wants.<br />
***Brian ended the broadcast with another tribute to Neil Armstrong. Even though Lester Holt spent more than seven minutes reporting this story over the past two nights, we all know that a story isn't really a story unless Brian himself reports it. Before the final commercial break, Brian promoted the story by calling Armstrong "The last modest hero we ever had." After the break, Brian called him "The last truly modest hero our nation ever produced." So I guess if you say the exact same thing twice, it must be true. Brian's fetish for air travel stories is only eclipsed by his fetish for space travel stories. When it comes to astronauts, Brian is a fawning, ass-kissing sycophant. And his 1:20 laudation for Armstrong was just about the most ass-kissing sycophantic testimonial you could ever imagine hearing. Brian is too wrapped up in his own personal ego trip to understand this, but if you heap praise on someone over and over and over again ad nauseam, it tends to lose meaning. Because of his personal fetish, Brian has zero credibility as an objective reporter about Neil Armstrong (or any other astronaut for that matter). Of course, Brian has zero credibility as an objective reporter about anything. How can he be objective when his main goals are promoting himself and his broadcast, promoting NBC's sports and entertainment programming, promoting his sponsors and pandering to the viewers with a litany of stories designed specifically to attract ratings rather than provide information? Brian isn't a reporter, he's a cheerleader and carnival barker for himself and NBC. Brian is the exact opposite of a "modest hero". He's self-promoting buffoon.<br />
***The self-promoting buffoon signed off for the evening by telling us to watch "an update on the storm on your late local news tonight and of course the Weather Channel all evening long." Even down to the last second, he's still shilling, shilling, shilling. And that's sad, sad, sad.<br />
<strong>Tues. August 28</strong>--Nightly News spent a combined 17:20 reporting on Hurricane Isaac and the Republican Convention. So you might think that leaves a lot of time to report on other news. Wrong. When you remove all the commercials, the promos and the self-promoting story introductions, Nightly News is essentially a twenty minute broadcast. So how much time did they spend reporting stories other than Isaac and the Republican convention? Less than two minutes. That's ridiculous. A newscast is supposed to report all the day's news, not just the stories that will bring in high ratings. It is absolutely irresponsible for a newscast to devote so little time to reporting the rest of the day's news. But then again, no one ever claimed that Nightly News was a responsible broadcast.<br />
***When Brian introduced John Yang's report from the convention floor, he made sure to tell us that Yang was with the delegates from "the great state of Maine." These major political conventions must pose a real logistical challenge to Brian. So many states to shamelessly pander to, so little time. <br />
***Right after that, Brian told us that Luke Russert "has made his way to the great state of West Virginia". Why doesn't Brian just take a few minutes at the beginning of the broadcast to call each individual state "the great state of..." Then he won't have to worry about doing it during the broadcast. Russert sounded like he was doing an ad for the West Virginia board of tourism. Of course, the larger issue is this: Why is Luke Russert even on the air at all? Before being hired, he had no experience whatsoever as a journalist. His only credential is that he's the son of Tim Russert. And since Brian liked Tim, he gave Luke a coveted on-air job. There are hundreds--maybe thousands--of experienced television correspondents looking for work, and Luke Russert gets handed a plum job. It's nice to see that nepotism is alive and well an NBC News. Obviously, Brian has taken Luke under his wing and is personally guiding his career as a favor to Tim's memory. It's the same way Tony Soprano took Christopher Moltisanti under <em>his</em> wing and guided <em>his</em> career.<br />
***Brian spent 40 seconds reporting the death of photojournalist Malcolm Browne. Brian likes to report the obits of real journalists because it allows him to pretend that he's in that club. He isn't.<br />
***The final story was about a man in New Orleans' lower ninth ward who is going door to door checking on his neighbors. That's a nice thing to do, but how is this news? It isn't. But sappy human interest stories like this get higher ratings than actual news, so every year, Brian packs his broadcast with hundreds of minutes of this drivel. On a night when Nightly News presented so little actual news, it's shameless that they would include this story. But shameless stories get good ratings, and that's all that matters to Brian and his producers. On this night, Nightly News did not even bother reporting on Syria. But at least we know all about the man who goes door to door checking on his neighbors.<br />
<strong>Wed. August 29</strong>--The lead story on the effects of Hurricane Isaac featured four different shots of dogs (with their owners) being rescued. This is not an accident. Nothing on Nightly News happens by accident. NBC News research shows that Nightly News viewers like dogs, so part of Brian's strategy for boosting his ratings is to include dogs as often as possible in news stories. If research showed that viewers liked armadillos, he would use armadillos in Nightly News stories.<br />
***Here's how Brian introduced a segment with the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore: "Jim, I'm watchin' the coverage--seeing a lot of streets and neighborhoods--even structures that I'm familiar with...." That HE's familiar with. Because the news is always about Brian. And notice how Brian dropped the "g" from watching (and pronounced it as "watchin'")? That's part of his strategy to appear less patrician and more like the "regular good old middle-American folks" whose ratings he so desperately craves. At the end of Cantore's report, Brian said, "Jim, I do remember seven years ago tonight the water approaching that very intersection where you're standing...." Again, the news is about Brian and what HE remembers.<br />
***Brian spent more than three minutes talking with Ann Romney. She's popular now and trending on many social media websites, so Brian makes a point of including her on Nightly News as often as possible (she was also featured prominently in the preceding story). Dogs, Ann Romney--anything that can be used to pander to viewers and grab ratings is fair game to be exploited by Brian and his producers.<br />
***Next, we saw a three-minute story about the new book by a former Navy SEAL detailing the killing of Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, over at CBS, Scott Pelley actually interviewed the book's author, who goes by the pseudonym Mark Owen. Brian spends a good chunk of time kissing ass to Navy SEALs (and every other member of the U.S. military) and Owen chose to ignore Brian and speak with Scott Pelley instead. It seems as if Navy SEALs don't really like Brian.<br />
***Later, Brian spent twenty seconds telling us about the opening ceremonies for the Paralympic Games. Brian doesn't really care about the Paralympics because they don't generate any money or ratings for NBC, like the London Olympics did. In fact, NBC is so uninterested in televising a ratings loser like the Paralympics that they've relegated those Games to their NBC Sports cable channel, where they will get a paltry few hours of midweek coverage--but nothing on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The only reason Brian aired this story was because it allowed him to show a clip of Will & Kate.<br />
***Once again, Nightly News did not report on the civil war in Syria. But at least we know all about dogs being rescued in Louisiana and Ann Romney.<br />
<strong>Thurs. August 30</strong>--The broadcast began with nine-and-a-half minutes worth of coverage on the Republican Convention. Part of this time was devoted to Brian's "interview" with Paul Ryan. During this interview, Brian incorrectly asserted that the Republican platform does not allow for abortion exception in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Ryan had to correct Brian--twice--by reminding him that the platform is silent on the issue and the President sets policy. It's obvious that Brian's main goal in this sham interview was to try to trip up Ryan and catch him in a contradiction, but Ryan ended up running circles around Brian. Score: Ryan 1; Brian 0.<br />
***Next, Brian brought in Tom Brokaw for some commentary. Big mistake. Whenever Tom appears with Brian, he reminds viewers what it was like to have an actual journalist as anchor of NBC Nightly News, instead of a talking head reading off a teleprompter. Tom's enormousness makes Brian seem feeble and slight by comparison. Note to Brian--it's not a good idea to have Tom Brokaw on your broadcast.<br />
***Pete Williams is still my hero. On this night--as he does on all nights--Brian introduced Pete with a treacly, "Good evening, Pete." And as usual, Pete refused to return Brian's greeting with an equally syrupy, "Good evening, Brian." Instead, Pete ignored Brian and launched right into his story on voter ID laws in Texas. Contrast Pete Williams with fawning Nightly News sycophants like Kristen Welker and Peter Alexander who always respond to Brian's greeting with a hearty, "Good evening TO YOU, Brian!" I applaud Pete for having the balls to stand up to Brian. It's just sad that Brian is so desperate to appear well-liked by the Nightly News correspondents. From what I understand, that's not the case at all.<br />
***A story on the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana featured multiple shots of dogs being rescued. Once again, this is just Brian's way of pandering to dog-loving viewers in the hope of getting a ratings boost. <br />
***Here's how Brian introduced Jim Cantore's segment on Isaac: "Jim, we're gonna come on up there and join you tomorrow to see for ourselves...." Of course Brian has to draw attention to himself and announce what HE will be doing, because that's much more important than what's actually going on in New Orleans.<br />
***Brian took 30 seconds to tell us that a 100-year-old man in L.A. accidentally drove his car into a group of school children. It's obvious that Brian has no clue about the difference between local and national news items. Or perhaps he does, but chooses to report on sensationalistic local stories because they bring in ratings.<br />
***Stop the presses! Breaking news! MTV is cancelling "Jersey Shore". This is what Brian has decided merits 30 seconds of newstime on Nightly News. Can you imagine Scott Pelley running this garbage as a news piece on CBS Evening News? That would never happen--even though CBS and MTV are both controlled by the same corporate entity! But I guess it's not fair to compare Brian Williams to Scott Pelley. Pelley is a news anchor whose responsibility is informing his viewers about important stories happening across the country and around the world, and Brian is a carnival barker whose main goal is to run stories that boost his ratings and promote his network and sponsors. Totally different job descriptions.<br />
***Here's how Brian introduced the final segment: "Thanks to the good people of the New Mexico delegation on the floor of this convention, Andrea Mitchell has set up shop there to offer us a few final thoughts" on the convention. Clearly, Brian's goal for covering the two political conventions is to refer to the people in each of the fifty states as "the good people of..." because shamelessly pandering for ratings is what he does best. I guess the nine minutes-plus that Nightly News devoted to the convention at the beginning of the broadcast just wasn't enough, so we needed another 1:10 to close the show.<br />
***The broadcast ended with 30 seconds of theme music, accompanied by shots of the Tampa skyline. So let me get this straight--Nightly News did not report a single story from outside the U.S.--no Europe, no Africa, no Asia, no Syria--but they wasted 30 seconds of dead air at the end of the broadcast. That's appalling. But at least we learned about some important stuff--like the 100-year-old man who ran over some kids and that "Jersey Shore" is being cancelled. Great job, Brian!Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-55325749332837781712012-08-31T22:49:00.001-07:002012-08-31T23:22:53.403-07:00Why Brian Williams Is The Biggest Hypocrite on TVOn the 6/3/11 NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams spoke derisively about Mitt Romney's new wardrobe and his new look of "studied casualness". Brian accused Romney of buying "new jeans and a fleet of I'm-just-a-regular-guy shirts...," as part of a new and intentional image makeover. Romney's goal was obviously to appeal to the middle-American heartland working-class, salt-of-the-earth people whose votes he so desperately needs. Wow--where does Brian get balls that big? On Friday's Nightly News (8/31/12), Brian reported from New Orleans wearing the <em>exact same type</em> of I'm-just-a-regular-guy shirt and pants that he criticized Romney for wearing! And Brian was wearing these clothes in order to appeal to the middle American heartland working-class, salt-of-the-earth people whose ratings he so desperately needs. What a hypocrite! (Brian is partial to blue shirts and beige khakis.) Talk about "studied casualness"! Where does Brian get the nerve to criticize Romney for image management? There is no one on the planet whose image is more studied, managed, controlled and manipulated than Brian Williams. Every aspect of his on-air persona is carefully honed and crafted to bring us the character of "Brian Williams" that we see every night on Nightly News. I'm certain that Brian has ten image managers for every one Romney has. Hair stylists. Makeup artists. Wardrobe consultants. Personal assistants. Skin consultants. Feng Shui advisors. Astrologists. I'll bet Brian employs a full-time person just to act as his tie wrangler. And then there is NBC's team of high-priced behavioral consultants and analysts. They pore over every microscopic detail of every Nightly News broadcast. What if Brian sat three inches to the right? What if he moved his left arm up a bit? What if he lifted his head up higher? What if he dropped his "g's" and pronounced words like "talking" as talkin' and "watching" as watchin'? What if he wore more blue? Should he wear his eyeglasses more often? Should he trim 1/4" off his hair? They search for any tiny change that can improve Brian's ratings. They constantly conduct focus groups to find out what viewers think of every aspect of Brian and his broadcast. Do you like his hair? Do you like his tie? Do you like his shirt? Do you like his tone and inflection? Brian wouldn't dare wear a stitch of clothing on the air unless it had first been approved by a focus group. If a panel of viewers indicated that they didn't like one of his ties, it would be taken out back and burned immediately. But the analysis doesn't stop there. There's also bio-analysis. Focus group participants are hooked up to medical monitors while watching NBC Nightly News. Their heart rates are monitored. Their breathing is monitored. Their pupil dilation is monitored. Their eye movements are monitored. All on a second-by-second basis. If viewers look away from Brian at a certain point, the analysts need to find out why. Was it his tone of voice? The particular news story he was reading? The camera angle? The people in the newsroom behind him? The on-screen graphics?<br />
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So with all this going on, Brian had the nerve to criticize Mitt Romney for buying a few new shirts--the exact same kind of shirts that Brian himself wears to improve his own image. Politics is largely about image. News broadcasting is ALL about image. Brian has taken one of his own most weaselly and disingenuous traits and used it to mock Mitt Romney. That is the ultimate in hypocrisy. And it's hilarious. It would be like Donald Trump making fun of someone else's hair.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806544672301104044.post-13225497272056769832012-08-25T00:19:00.007-07:002012-08-28T01:41:02.700-07:00Brian Williams & NBC Nightly News Show Notes: 8/18/12 Through 8/24/12 (Updated--Full Week)Here's what you may have missed on NBC Nightly News this past week:<br />
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<strong>Sat. August 18</strong>--As Lester Holt introduced the lead story about the Medicare debate, there was a giant animated flag waving behind his head. No surprise--there is often a giant animated flag waving behind Lester or Brian Williams. It's just another way for the producers to pander to the God-lovin', NASCAR-watchin', middle Americans whose viewership is so prized. Another ratings stunt from Nightly News.<br />
***After that, Lester (with the giant flag still waving behind him) brought in David Gregory for some expert analysis. By "for some expert analysis", I mean "to promote 'Meet the Press'".<br />
***Did you really think the Olympics are over? Well, they're not. Lester read a story about Michael Phelps posing for some provocative photos, followed by a story about Olympic Athletes being honored in Des Moines. This story included footage of Gabby Douglas and Lolo Jones. NBC is busy selling their Olympic DVDs, so the Nightly News producers are doing everything they can to help with promotion.<br />
***The next story was about an Indiana baseball team in the Little League World Series whose players are competing in the memory of their former coach who died of cancer. That's nice, but why is this on a newscast? It's not news. But that doesn't matter to the Nightly News producers. To them, news isn't nearly as important as ratings. And sappy, emotional stories like this one (usually involving cancer) are exactly the types of stories that keep viewers from changing the channel. If the producers can get viewers to bond with a story, then ratings go up. Nightly News leads all other newscasts in exploiting cancer as a way to get high ratings. Congratulations to the producers. They should be so proud of themselves. By the way, this story was titled "Field of Dreams". The producers love to give their stories the titles of movies, TV shows or popular songs because it gives the viewers something familiar to relate to. And if a viewer sees something familiar, he's more likely to keep watching. In the past four months, the producers have done this 25 times. Here are some of the titles they've used for stories: "The Rising", "Coming to America", "Moonstruck" (three times), "The Weather Channel", "Risky Business" (five times), "Modern Family", "A Star Is Born", "Ring of Fire", "The Natural", "Father Knows Best", "All in the Family", "Top Chef", "To Catch A Thief", "Back to the Future" (twice), "Deep Impact" and "Sudden Impact". Just another sleazy ratings ploy from your friends at Nightly News.<br />
***The final story was about a National Guard veteran who tracks down purple hearts in pawn shops, antique stores and other places and then returns them to the original owners (or the owner's family). This is another story without a shred of news value. Like the previous story, it was included only because it's a good way to keep viewers tuned in and boost ratings. So the final four minutes of the broadcast did not contain any actual news. What a surprise. Not really. Nightly News reports on garbage because garbage gets high ratings.<br />
<strong>Sun. August 19</strong>--No Nightly News on the east coast because golf ran late. Let's face it--golf gets higher ratings (and earns higher ad rates) than news, so pre-empting Nightly News wasn't exactly a tough decision for the NBC programming weasels. <br />
<strong>Mon. August 20</strong>--Brian spent 3:10 on a story about a woman with Parkinson's disease who underwent brain surgery to lessen her symptoms. We're glad it worked out for her, but this isn't news. It's just another opportunity for Brian and his producers to exploit someone's serious medical condition in order to help their ratings. Shameful.<br />
***Speaking of shameful, here's what Brian said about Rosie O'Donnell's heart attack: "She finally took a BAYER aspirin--the way she learned in the TV commercial." It's no coincidence that Brian mentioned Bayer by name. Bayer is by far the most frequent advertiser on Nightly News--they usually run two, three or even four commercials a night for their various products--Bayer aspirin, Aleve, One A Day vitamins, Alka-Seltzer products, Phillips Colon Health, Citracal, etc. Now I don't know what brand of aspirin Rosie actually took, but an anchor who blatantly promotes his largest sponsor on the air is the lowest form of journalistic life. Of course, plugging Bayer products on Nightly News is nothing new for Brian. On 12/6/10 and 10/27/11, Nightly News ran sham news stories about the health benefits of aspirin. In truth, these stories were created as product placement opportunities for Bayer. In both stories, Bayer was the only national brand of aspirin shown (multiple times, in fact) and both stories included clips from Bayer TV ads. Those aren't news stories, they're commercials. And on 6/8/10, Nightly News aired a story about an obscure Danish medical study which concluded that Naproxen (sold in the U.S. as Bayer's Aleve) can reduce the risk of heart attacks. Needless to say, this story featured many shots of Aleve. But I wouldn't want you to think that Brian only plugs Bayer products on the air. For a more complete list of Brian's on-air promotions and product placements, see the 4/8/12 Nightly Daily blog (<a href="http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html">http://nightly-daily.blogspot.com/2012/04/nbc-nightly-news-show-notes-4712.html</a>).<br />
***Brian then took 30 seconds to read the obituary for Scott McKenzie, who had a hit (his only hit, actually) 45 years ago with "(If You're Going To) San Francisco". Brian likes to read obits for musicians because it allows him to show us how hip and cool he thinks he is. Also, the NBC research department has informed him that playing clips from pop songs is a good way to boost the ratings. After all, viewers would much rather hear a clip from a classic rock song than hear about an economic summit or another massacre in Afghanistan. I'm surprised that as he read this, Brian didn't wear some flowers in his hair.<br />
***Brian followed this with obits for director Tony Scott and actor William Windom, during which he showed clips from "Top Gun", "Crimson Tide", "Murder, She Wrote", "Star Trek" and "To Kill a Mockingbird". Obviously, viewers like seeing movie and TV clips just as much as they like hearing classic rock songs. Altogether, these three stories lasted seventy seconds. So that's seventy seconds of pop songs, TV and movie clips. That's not a news broadcast, it's an episode of Extra or Access Hollywood.<br />
***Here's some important news--Michelle Obama hosted a state dinner for kids. Michelle Obama is one of the most popular people in America right now, so Brian makes a point of showing her on Nightly News as often as possible.<br />
***The broadcast ended with Brian's 2:10 tribute to Phyllis Diller. At first I couldn't figure out why Brian would devote so much time to Diller's obit (and why he would narrate the story himself). But the reason soon became clear--after Bob Hope died in 2003, Diller gave an interview to Brian on his CNBC newscast. So naturally, Brian used a clip of that interview. I actually believe that the only reason Brian spent so much time on this story was so he could include the clip of himself interviewing Diller. After all, there's nothing Brian likes reporting on more than himself. Because the news is always about Brian.<br />
***After Brian signed off for the night, the broadcast continued with 25 seconds of theme music accompanied by a panoramic shot of the New York City skyline. Now, Brian and his producers could have used this time to air an additional story--perhaps on Syria, Iran, Iraq or some other country that they didn't cover that night. But they didn't do that. As usual, Brian would prefer to waste time than to report news. Well done.<br />
<strong>Tues. August 21</strong>--In the broadcast intro, Brian told us about Diana Nyad's "incredible sea quest" to swim from Cuba to Florida. Later, he spent two minutes on this ridiculous non-story--which ended with a promo for Nyad's appearance on Wednesday's "Today Show". As always, Brian chooses to cover stories based not on their news value, but on how they can be used to promote other NBC shows like "Today", "Dateline" or "Rock Center". There's a phrase for what Brian does: Sleazy snale oil salesman.<br />
***Brian reported the breaking news story that starting in January, Jimmy Kimmel's late night show will begin at 11:35 instead of 12:05. Obviously, this is just a way for Brian to promote "The Tonight Show", which he did by showing clips of Jay Leno. Sleazy snake oil salesman.<br />
***In another piece of breaking news, Brian told us about this year's Beloit College Mindset List. For incoming freshmen, Brian said, "exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction." This is what a network news anchor chooses to report on his broadcast. How classy.<br />
***Wait--there's even more breaking news. Michelle Obama gave an interview in which she discussed having "the talk" with her daughters. Brian reported this as if it was actual news. Obviously, Michelle Obama is great for Brian's ratings so he reports on everything she does. But even more important, she gave the interview to ivillage.com--a NBC Universal website. So that's the third NBC media property Brian has plugged on this broadcast. Sleazy snake oil salesman.<br />
***The final story of the night was a "Making A Difference" piece about an organization that takes disabled children scuba diving. Kudos to them--that's a very noble thing to do. Unfortunately, in no way, shape or form does this qualify as news. In fact, of the hundred or so "Making A Difference" stories that Nightly News airs each year, not one of them has ever contained a single shred of actual news. This is just another opportunity for Brian and his producers to exploit disabled children in order to get a ratings boost. A story about disabled kids scuba diving is just a variation of the tried-and-true Nightly News "kids with cancer" theme. It's a story that appeals to viewers on an emotional level, and it obviously tested well with focus groups. And a positive focus group response translates to higher ratings. This is what's given 2:35 of valuable news time on Nightly News. By the way, this MAD segment was sponsored by Prevacid, so Brian and his producers actually got paid for exploiting disabled kids. Sleazy snake oil salesman. Now that I think about it--why does Prevacid on Nightly News sound familiar? Oh yeah--now I remember. Back on the 5/25/10 Nightly News, Nancy Snyderman reported on an FDA warning about the dangers of proton pump inhibitors--like Prevacid. Apparently, they can weaken bones and cause users to be at an increased risk for fractures and even osteoporosis. So in 2010, Nightly News reported that Prevacid can be dangerous to users. Now fast-forward a couple of years. Prevacid's manufacturer pays for a MAD sponsorship, so Brian and his producers don't care how dangerous it is. Sleazy snake oil salesman.<br />
<strong>Wed. August 22</strong>--Brian took a moment to talk about the New York Times photospread that published pictures of the second 1,000 U.S. military personnel to be killed in Afghanistan. "I just looked down and saw a kid from MY hometown in New Jersey." MY hometown. Because the news is always about Brian. By the way--does anyone really believe that he just happened to look down and see that? More likely, he assigned a couple of associate producers to scour the photos until they found someone from his hometown. And who even knows if Brian was telling the truth? He may have just claimed to see someone from his hometown. I wouldn't put it past Brian to lie about this since he lies about so many other things. <br />
***Brian spent 30 seconds showing photos from the Mars Rover. In the past six weeks, Brian has spent more than nine minutes reporting on the Mars Rover. That's far more news time than he has devoted to Africa in that time span. Here's a thought for Brian: Instead of covering an event 154 million miles away, how about reporting on stuff happening a mere 7,000 miles away in Africa? And it doesn't even have to be instead of Mars. There's time to report on both Mars <em>and</em> Africa if he would just eliminate all the idiotic non-news stories he reports on every night. But let's face it--Africa is a ratings loser for Brian and his producers. Africa is filled with mostly black people and Brian's mostly white viewers are not really interested in news about black people, especially if they're on another continent. So Brian continues to ignore Africa unless George Clooney goes there, in which case Ann Curry follows him around like a puppy.<br />
***Brian spent 1:20 reporting on a recently-discovered 1960 taped interview with Martin Luther King, Jr. Just to prove that he actually does report on black people occasionally.<br />
***The "Making A Difference" story this night was an "update". That's a code word meaning a previous MAD piece had really high ratings so the producers are going to keep milking it for all it's worth. This story was about Mini Tyrell, a seven-year-old kid who drives mini-cars to raise money for kids with cancer. Did I just say "kids with cancer"? You bet I did! The Nightly News producers LOVE to air stories about kids with cancer because the ratings for these stories are off the charts! The story featured lots of heartwrenching shots of kids with cancer because those are the money shots that make viewers so sad. And sad viewers equal high ratings. This is the third story Nightly News has done on Mini Tyrell in less than a year (the others were on 10/24/11 & 10/31/11). So that's seven-and-a-half minutes the producers have devoted to a story with absolutely no news value. Great job! By the way, this story spelled Mini's last name as "Tyrell", but when it was reported on some NBC websites, it was spelled as "Tyrrell". I guess we can pick whichever spelling we like best. Cool--no reason why reality should intrude on our spelling fun! This story was reported by newsmoron Anne Thompson because it didn't require any journalistic skills whatsoever. She just sat there with that idiotic grin on her face as if something was really, really funny. She was probably grinning because she earns a six-figure salary for reporting the same lame garbage over and over and over again. I'd grin too, if that was me.<br />
***Meanwhile, on this day nearly fifty people were killed in a dispute over cattle grazing rights in Kenya. You didn't seriously think that Brian Williams would report this story? Come on people--it's in AFRICA for Christ's sake!<br />
<strong>Thurs. August 23</strong>--At the beginning of the broadcast, a tease for the Hurricane Isaac story was given the title "High Anxiety", and a story about Prince Harry was given the title "Casino Royale". Yet again, the producers gave their stories the names of movies in order to keep viewers interested and boost ratings.<br />
***As part of the Hurricane Isaac coverage, Mark Potter reported on the possible damage the storm could do if it scored a direct hit to Haiti. Here's what Brian said at the end of the story: "Port-au-Prince, Haiti tonight where perhaps this will focus the world's attention on that nation again." Is that some sort of a sick fucking joke? On Feb. 12, 2010, Exactly one month after the Haiti earthquake hit, the Vancouver Olympics began. And from that point on, Nightly News barely reported on the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake because they were too busy promoting NBC's Olympic coverage in a desperate attempt to boost the network's ratings. And Brian has the nerve to talk about focusing the world's attention back on Haiti? He was one of the decision makers who chose to virtually ignore Haiti after the Olympics started! Brian's pathetic attempt to rewrite his network's own history makes him a hypocrite of the highest order.<br />
***A story about a book on the killing of Osama bin Laden written by a Navy Seal included a 30-second "Rock Center" clip of Brian interviewing Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen. Hardly surprising, since one of Brian's most important jobs as Nightly News anchor is to promote NBC's prime time shows, including, of course, his own "Rock Center".<br />
***Here's how Brian introduced the very next story: "Tonight on 'Rock Center', we are devoting the entire hour to one subject--the Mormon Church in America." Brian then spent the next 90 seconds promoting his "Rock Center" broadcast by inexplicably showing an excerpt from his interview with Abby Huntsman (daughter of former Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman) in which she talked about how she met her husband, how much she loves him and what a great guy he is. Huh? How is this news? This is the kind of garbage that Brian chooses to fill his broadcast with on a nightly basis.<br />
***Breaking News! The U.S. Post Office had to destroy $1.2 million worth of Simpsons stamps due to a lack of interest from the stamp-buying public. I'm really glad that Brian told me about this important piece of news.<br />
***For the final story of the night, Brian spent 2:45 telling us about Prince Harry's Las Vegas vacation, including the photos of Harry playing naked billiards. The story was titled "The Trouble With Harry" (as opposed to the "Casino Royale" title it was given at the top of the broadcast). An earlier promo for the story was accompanied by the song "Viva Las Vegas". Brian Williams is practicing the most idiotic and base type of sensationalistic yellow journalism. He airs stories solely because of their ratings value and doesn't give a damn about actual news. When is the FCC going to shut down Nightly News for being a sham newscast? When are they going to ban Brian from the airwaves for being a pandering sycophant? When are irate viewers going to march on 30 Rock with torches and pitchforks, demanding that Nightly News stop its horrible and unethical practice of showing crap instead of news? When is that going to happen? When?<br />
***On this night, Nightly News did not report any stories on Syria, but at least we know all about the Simpsons stamps, Abby Huntsman's awesome husband and Prince Harry's naked Vegas romp. Amazing.<br />
<strong>Fri. August 24</strong>--Brian was off this night and the broadcast was anchored by David Gregory. And I'm pretty sure I know why. Friday newscasts in August are traditionally among the lowest-rated newscasts of the year. So rather than see Nightly News suffer a ratings drop with his name on it, Brian took it on the lam and got out of town. Here's what I mean: When Brian is off and doesn't anchor a weeknight edition of Nightly News, his producers understand that the broadcast will have lower ratings than if Brian was anchoring. So when Brian is off, his producers submit those Nightly News broadcasts to the Nielsen ratings Service intentionally misspelled as "Nitely News". That way, the lower-rated "Nitely News" broadcasts are counted in a separate category from Nightly News, and they don't detract from Nightly News's higher ratings. So by taking Friday off (a day when the broadcast would have a low rating anyway), Brian insured that his producers would submit that broadcast to Nielsen as "Nitely News" and that it wouldn't bring down his weekly ratings. Another ratings manipulation trick from the sleazy weasels at Nightly News.<br />
***A story about Mitt Romney included twenty seconds worth of clips of Donald Trump. Obviously, the producers are promoting the new season of "Celebrity Apprentice".<br />
***A story about the USADA stripping Lance Armstrong of his Tour de France titles was narrated by the idiotic Anne Thompson. It's obvious that she knows nothing about Armstrong or cycling--she's just reading the script that was handed to her. Any time the producers have a story that doesn't require any knowledge on the part of the reporter, they give it to Thompson.<br />
***During a story about Hurricane Andrew twenty years later, we heard commentary from Erik Salna, of the Florida International University International Hurricane Research Center. Unfortunately, a Nightly News graphic identified him as being from the "FLU International Hurricane Center". Note to the producers: Florida International University is abbreviated as "FIU", not "FLU".<br />
***Gregory spent 40 seconds narrating the obituary for Jerry Nelson, who operated the Count von Count muppet on Sesame Street. Really? A Muppeteer? This belongs on a network news broadcast? <br />
***The broadcast ended with a story about how Drive-In movie theaters are making a comeback. It's hard to imagine a story more trivial and less important than this one. Which is exactly why the producers gave it 2:05 on Nightly News. Because Nightly News is a show about nothing. Absolutely nothing. As if to prove that point, this story included a clip from "Grease" because showing movie clips is a great way to boost the ratings without showing any actual news.Norman Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14816412043439634534noreply@blogger.com1