Grumpy Editor

NBC frowns on Romney campaign using 1997 news clip

A tiff between NBC News and the Mitt Romney campaign focused on a Romney television commercial that used a clip from a 1997 NBC broadcast reporting on Newt Gingrich’s ethics charges reprimand from the House of Representatives, notes Grumpy Editor.

NBC has asked the GOP presidential candidate to yank the campaign spot that features Tom Brokaw footage. 

The clip was used without permission and the extensive use of the broadcast "inaccurately suggests that NBC News and Mr. Brokaw have consented to the use of this material and agree with the political position espoused by the videos," NBC wrote Matt Rhoades, Romney campaign manager.

"Aside from the obvious copyright issues, this use of the voice of Mr. Brokaw and the NBC News name exploits him and the journalistic credibility of NBC News," the letter said.

Brokaw, in a statement released by NBC, said:  "I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign."   

Associated Press reported the network asked for the campaign to stop running the ad immediately and revise any other videos or commercials to remove NBC material but a Romney adviser said the campaign isn't likely to stop running the spot, arguing the video falls under fair use.

Meanwhile, into the mix, Kyle Drennen, on the NewsBusters website, reminded:  "It has now been 4,742 days without an NBC story on Gingrich subsequently being cleared of those (ethics) charges."

Obama pushes ‘green’ UPS trucks, then relies on gasoline

While national print/broadcast media traveling with the president somehow fail to observe such things, alert Kyle Gillis, an investigative reporter for Nevada Policy Research Institute counted “22 fossil-fuel powered vehicles” --- with video to back him up --- in a presidential motorcade headed for McCarran International Airport following Barack Obama’s 20-minute speech in Las Vegas on Jan. 26, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Obama, standing in front of a United Parcel Service truck (not the usual brown, by the way) at the company’s Las Vegas hub, spoke on use of liquefied natural gas to power such vehicles. 

In his brief visit to Las Vegas, Obama praised UPS for "leading by example" in converting long-haul trucks to use liquefied natural gas rather than diesel fuel.

Obama said 14 U.S. companies have converted one million vehicles to alternative fuel during his administration, resulting in less U.S. dependency on foreign oil.

"Let's get more of these natural gas vehicles on the road," declared Obama, before heading for the presidential limousine (a gas guzzler at eight miles per gallon) to transport him to the waiting Boeing 747 Air Force One.

Think tank NPRI’s Gillis, who observed the “fossil-fuel powered” parade --- which included national media in vehicles --- earlier worked at the Media Research Center's Business & Media Institute in Washington, D.C., where he covered financial reform, auto bailouts, housing reform, taxes and the stimulus. 

See the parade of 22 fossil-fuel powered vehicles here.

 

Good Housekeeping needs some marketing housekeeping

With national magazines keenly eager to keep readers subscribing these days, confusion grows not only in prices, but in all sorts of wild “deals” and marketing tactics, finds Grumpy Editor. 

A good example this week is with Good Housekeeping. 

The Hearst magazine (a unit of Hearst Corp.) sends two subscription pitches, with variations, arriving at the same household on the same day. 

Pitch No. 1, labeled “rate adjustment” and “this is a non-transferable discount offer,” indicates the magazine with an annual cover price of $41.88 can be had for $7.97 --- and a Good Housekeeping tote bag will be tossed in with the offer that expires Feb. 15. 

Pitch No. 2, labeled “preferred subscriber claim form” for Good Housekeeping, also includes a one-year subscription to Redbook, another Hearst publication, at a combined price of $8. 

That form notes “combined annual cover price” of $77.76.  The $8 comes after a “credit adjustment” of $69.76.  The offer, good until Feb. 13, also cautions, “This credit is not transferable.” 

But wait. 

While the two-magazines-for-one-small-price in pitch No. 2 shows the other magazine as Redbook on the mail-in slip, the bottom part indicates the other Hearst publication in the deal is Woman’s Day, complete with reproduction of a cover photo and one paragraph description of that magazine’s highlights. 

A plus, however:  Unlike some other publishers’ pitches these days, a prepaid envelope accompanies each. 

Among Hearst’s other magazines are Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Popular Mechanics and Harper’s Bazaar.

 

Obama visits Vegas, still reeling from his 2009 comment

Most curious stop on President Barack Obama’s two days of speeches in five cities is today’s stop in Las Vegas, the place where three years ago he scolded companies that planned to hold meetings or events in the gambling mecca, which now ranks as the foreclosure capital of the U.S. as thousands of casino and allied workers were laid off, notes Grumpy Editor.

Unemployment in Las Vegas last year:  13.3 percent, among the highest in the nation.

In reporting from Sin City today, it will be interesting to observe if  national print/broadcast correspondents, some with fuzzy memories, work in the president’s February, 2009 line aimed at business gatherings, “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.”

Soon after that statement, Wells Fargo Bank and Goldman Sachs, among others, shifted major meetings from Las Vegas to other cities.  Tourists also shunned the famous Las Vegas Strip. 

Prior to that, Obama made 20 visits to Las Vegas during his first campaign, grabbing attention by saying he wanted to help “not just the folks who own casinos but the folks who are serving in casinos.” 

So today’s nationally-televised speech in Las Vegas will not be from the casino-lined Strip but rather at a United Parcel Service hub near McCarran International Airport. 

Soon after the mid-morning delivery, mainly to UPS workers, the president heads for Denver, then Detroit.

 

NBC seeks to stifle applause in GOP presidential debates

The day after Newt Gingrich’s Monday night participation in a Republican presidential debate on NBC, the former House speaker said he disagrees with moderator Brian Williams’ asking the Tampa audience to withhold applause until the commercial breaks, observes Grumpy Editor. 

NBC’s rules, Gingrich said in a Fox News interview, amount to stifling free speech. 

“I think (Williams) took them out of it because the media are terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they’ve done in every debate,” Gingrich said. 

“The media don’t control free speech,” Gingrich added.  “People ought to be allowed to applaud if they want to.” 

Grumpy Editor agrees, citing ratings-conscious NBC (and its advertisers) wouldn’t like it if Burbank audiences were told to hold up on applause for Jay Leno’s banter on “The Tonight Show” until commercial breaks. 

It’s noteworthy that when NBC, along with other networks, cover --- live in most cases --- President Barack Obama making speeches today and tomorrow, facing workers and constituents in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chandler, Ariz.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Denver and Detroit, those attending will not be asked to hold applause until the next break.

Meanwhile, Gingrich is rolling up his sleeves for another Republican presidential debate in Florida tomorrow night on CNN --- which said it will allow applause.

 

 

Geraldo Rivera, new to N.Y. radio, adds L.A. next Monday

Geraldo Rivera, who helms “Geraldo at Large” Sundays on the Fox News Channel, next Monday will expand his daily activities to include a two-hour live radio talk show beamed out of Los Angeles, added to a similar but separate program that recently debuted in New York, notes Grumpy Editor.

That means four hours of live programming daily. 

That’s a lot of chatter behind the microphone.  But Rivera is up to it. 

He started Monday-to-Friday radio on Jan. 3, 10 a.m. to noon on WABC, New York.  Next Monday he goes airborne over KABC in Los Angeles, also 10 a.m. to noon.  (Both are local times.) 

But the programs are not syndicated and Geraldo originates both from New York. 

NASDAQ-listed Cumulus Media, Inc., in broadcasting partnership with Rivera, says Rivera’s shows, simply called "Geraldo" and welcoming listener calls, “focus on the day's biggest and most talked-about topics, ranging from national politics to shocking crimes to social issues.” 

Rivera adds, "I've said it before and I'll say it again: my slogan is, 'I’m Geraldo and I’m not always right.'" 

With his WABC debut, New York-born Rivera beams, “This is a lifetime dream come true, hosting a talk radio show in (New York) where everyone has an opinion on everything.” 

On the other coast on KABC, Rivera is familiar with the City of Angels (and the thinking of its sun-drenched inhabitants) where he maintained a residence for 25 years.

 

Ladies' Home Journal cuts pro writers, greets amateurs

What could be the start of something --- frowned on by veteran professional writers --- is a major content change among women’s magazines when readers start writing most of the material, debuting with the March issue of the 129-year-old Ladies’ Home Journal, notes Grumpy Editor.

LHJ will be the first major mass-market magazine to utilize reader-generated content.

Seasoned past contributors to LHJ are wondering if the trend toward using amateur writers will spread to other Meredith Corp. magazines.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company also produces Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Family Circle, Fitness, More, American Baby, Every Day with Rachael Ray and FamilyFun.

Veteran writers compare summoning amateurs to fill editorial pages of a well-known magazine with switching a backyard barbecuer to chef at a swank New York restaurant (with entree cost unchanged on the menu) or calling on a junior high school nurse to perform a tricky gall bladder operation.

Seasoned LHJ contributors, who have provided quality articles over the years, see editors straining to obtain publishable material.

Editors’ eyes may be strained, too, in editing copy.

Readers also may notice the difference.

Eyes also will be on LHJ’s future circulation figures --- and advertising revenue.

 

Campaign grabs more media coverage than economy

In the battle for print space/broadcast time in coverage of the economy vs. the presidential campaign, the campaign overtook the economy in November and so far this year, reports the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, notes Grumpy Editor. 

From last July to this month, “the level of attention paid to the state of the economy has dropped by 80 percent,” finds PEJ.  “And that drop mirrors the increase in political coverage.” 

Indeed, print and broadcast outlets again were top heavy with coverage this week leading up to last night’s Republican presidential debate in South Carolina on CNN --- with one less contender, as Texas Gov. Rick Perry bowed out of the running earlier in the day. 

Had enough verbal sparring? 

      MORE GOP DEBATES SPROUT BEFORE SPRING 

Two more engagements are schedule next week, both from Florida:  Monday via NBC and Thursday on CNN. 

And before spring arrives, there are four more. 

CNN tackles one from Arizona on Feb. 22, another from Georgia on March 1. 

Remaining candidates are spotlighted at the Reagan Library, Simi Valley, Calif. on March 5. 

PBS gets into the act on March 19 from Oregon. 

Stay tuned.

 

Costa Concordia disaster sparks editorial cartoonists

The captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia that tumbled against rocks near the port of Giglio, an island off the Italian coast, is getting it from all sides --- and inspiring editorial cartoonists overseas and in the U.S., observes Grumpy Editor. 

In Europe, the Brussels newspaper, La Libre Belgique, in an editorial cartoon this week, links the maritime disaster with the euro. 

Belgian cartoonist Christian Louis (who signs his work simply “Clou”) sketches a large cruise ship, named Euro, on its side against rocks near a beach where two men stand.  One asks, “Is the captain on board?”  The other responds, “What captain?” 

While that might not bring a Jay Leno-type laugh, the cartoon illustrates two mighty events that happened on Friday the 13^th: 

Standard & Poor's downgraded the debt rating of several eurozone countries in the euro area and the Costa Concordia keeled over at Giglio. 

Among editorial cartoonists in the U.S., Mike Luckovich, of the Atlanta-Constitution, wasted no time in drawing a sinking ship, identified as Titanic 2012, with a message, “Attention passengers, the icebergs melted and we hit a drowning polar bear…” 

 

NOW ABOUT THE CAPTAIN IN THE LIFEBOAT

Meanwhile, much is being made of cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino’s remarks while chaos spread on the stricken vessel. 

Quotes from La Repubblica, one of Italy's two national daily newspapers, makes worldwide rounds in describing how the ship’s captain explained how he wound up in a lifeboat while passengers were struggling on decks. 

“I was trying to get people into the boats in an orderly fashion,” the newspaper quotes Schettino explaining to a judge during a hearing Tuesday. “Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60-70-degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat.”

As for crashing the 114,500-ton, 952-foot-long ship --- in service for five and a half years --- with 4,234 people on board, the captain says:

"I made a mistake on the approach.” 

 

AP opens full-service news bureau in North Korea

Look for more direct news reports out of North Korea now that Associated Press opened a news bureau this week in Pyongyang, becoming the first international news organization with a full-time presence in the communist nation, notes Grumpy Editor.

AP says the action capped nearly a year of discussions.

The move comes less than a month after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. 

The opening of AP offices in the capital mark an “important gesture, particularly because North Korea and the United States have never had formal diplomatic relations,” points out AP.

Now, AP writers and photojournalists will also be allowed to work in North Korea on a regular basis, says the news agency.  For decades, it adds, North Korea has remained largely off-limits to international journalists.

Offices are located at state-run Korean Central News Agency’s headquarters in downtown Pyongyang.

The full-service AP bureau --- with words, pictures and video output --- builds on AP video’s six-year-old office in the city.

The independent 165-year-old news cooperative maintains operations in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 2,500 journalists across the world in 300 locations.