http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summaryFri, 23 Jun 2006 00:31:18 +0000http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/index.htmlTimes editorhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115139480152423376Tue, 27 Jun 2006 04:57:00 +00002006-06-27T04:33:30.354-04:00It was an incendiary news report about a top-secret government eavesdropping program that sparked punitive legislation from Congress and calls for treason prosecution from admintration officials. But, as University of Minnesota law professor Jane Kirtley noted a month ago in a letter to U.S. House members, government officials in 1986 eventually got over an NBC report that an accused spy may http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/can-reporters-committ-treason-by-doing.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115125973705536327Sun, 25 Jun 2006 17:13:00 +00002006-06-25T14:25:26.776-04:00Like a lot of media reporters, I got to know Leroy Sievers when he took over as executive producer of ABC's Nightline. Unusually forthright about issues involving the show, he was a creative storyteller, great interview subject and even presaged all the behind-the-scenes blogs now deployed by network TV news departments with a widely-read email update that truly pulled back the curtain on http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/can-cancer-struggle-make-good-radio.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115096144045772935Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:03:00 +00002006-06-24T01:42:00.810-04:00The same day Mother Times published a piece by me about a new morning show coming to WTSP-Ch. 10 in which advertisers will pay to be featured, Advertising Age published the results of a poll conducted by PR Week indicating "that nearly half -- 48.9% -- of senior marketing executives admit they have paid to have commercial messages integrated into print and broadcast editorial content." Certainlyhttp://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/pay-to-play-content-becomes-sop-in.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115094550837077283Thu, 22 Jun 2006 03:05:00 +00002006-06-22T02:02:47.740-04:00Could This Be the Key to Katherine Harris' Campaign? I saw this on YouTube and couldn't resist linking it. As a big fan of The Waitresses and finely-honed political satire, it was irresistible...http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/could-this-be-key-to-katherine-harris.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115082076910824561Tue, 20 Jun 2006 15:02:00 +00002006-06-20T13:49:46.666-04:00 Thanks to a quirk in the various systems here at Mother Times, my short piece detailing the one-month suspension of local TV reporter Don Germaise did not make it online -- prompting at least one web outlet to proclaim his discipline a quiet one. I'm told the memo issued by management at WFTS-Ch. 28 regarding the whole thing was plastered all over the newsroom. Don basically agreed to submit http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/rather-gone-germaise-disciplined-tough.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115072176347277740Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:56:03 +00002006-06-19T08:56:10.616-04:00Connie Chung Leaves Awful Memories Hard to believe this woman -- who single-handedly proves here why MSNBC never should have given her and hubby Maury Povich a show to begin with -- once co-anchored a major network newscast...http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/connie-chung-leaves-awful-memories.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115064044905456499Sun, 18 Jun 2006 14:05:00 +00002006-06-19T06:54:01.463-04:00 It wasn’t like a visit to Lourdes. Or even a visit to Graceland. But I still feel a little differently about life, after meeting Dave Chappelle. I had the pleasure in Atlanta last night. Mother Times was cool enough to jump at my idea of advancing his sold-out Tampa-area shows this week by reporting on one of his first performances in a brief bust of Southern stand-up dates -- jetting me to http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/dave-chappelle-and-me-two-brothers.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115048082209716794Fri, 16 Jun 2006 17:29:00 +00002006-06-16T14:07:05.863-04:00 When I heard Nielsen Media Research was announcing a new initiative which would revamp its TV ratings research system, I had a simple question: Has its ratings system even been totally believable? It's an open secret among many in the TV industry, epsecially at the local level, that a high degree of skepticism exists about Nielsen's head-counting procedures, for many reasons. The biggest http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/new-audience-measurement-for-tv-raises.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115035497383074631Thu, 15 Jun 2006 05:18:00 +00002006-06-16T11:59:29.570-04:00It's getting to the point where people can slap words like "blog," "interactive" and "on demand" on just about any media offering to get some attention. My case in point this time around: an operation called Tampa News Blog. A friend at Mother Times turned me onto a press release announcing the debut Wednesday of this new outlet, which promised to be "the first known news blog that provides http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/blogging-revolution-or-empty-gimmick.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114990734403016303Sat, 10 Jun 2006 01:53:00 +00002006-06-16T11:57:58.650-04:00 I've known Chicago Defender executive editor Roland Martin for years, and he's a talented, brash, in-your-face brother who knows sometimes the best way to make a point is to make a splash. Which is why I wasn't entirely surprised to hear Brother Roland had set tongues wagging yesterday with his cover for Chicago's venerated black newspaper, which included the word, "Nigger." The actual http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/if-black-newspaper-uses-n-word-is-it.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/115022546079390935Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:39:00 +00002006-06-13T17:22:00.556-04:00Is it me, or was Rob Marciano a little, well, disappointed? Watching CNN's coverage of Tropical Storm Alberto's approach Monday, I saw weather anchor Marciano stationed in Cedar Key, trying valiantly to make breezy, cloudy weather sound a bit more ominous than it turned out to be. Luckily, Alberto never strengthened into even a weak hurricane and the problems from the weather have been http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/alberto-just-test-run-for-hurricane.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114977109118714221Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:56:00 +00002006-06-08T08:51:34.476-04:00 One of the biggest recent regrets I have professionally was my failure to reach comic Harry Shearer when I was preparing a profile on Arianne Huffington and her Huffington Post blog. That's because Shearer's voice has become one of the most interesting things in that space, providing endlesly insightful commentary about media miscues in an area called Eat the Press. One of his most recent, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/harry-shearer-voice-of-simpsons.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114960197411168629Tue, 06 Jun 2006 12:18:00 +00002006-06-06T11:32:19.123-04:00It's the lazy days of summer and I've got the world's worst toothache (root canal scheduled for Thursday a.m.!), so forgive me for not having a good post up sooner this week. What I do have is a bunch of smaller observations that may or may not be worth noting, starting with.... Dateline Crosses a Thin Line, Again Anyone watching Dateline NBC Sunday saw a new investigation by "Catch a http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/dateline-sopranos-strippersmust-be.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114926181224580948Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:00:00 +00002006-06-02T11:46:42.923-04:00Feel like you know just about everything regarding CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier's recovery from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq? Perhaps that's because the network seems to have learned from the unfortunate precedent set by ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, whose injury from a bomb in Iraq sparked intense coverage focused on every detail of his treatment and recovery. CBS publicity types have http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/cbs-learns-from-unfortunate-precedent.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114917751501383726Thu, 01 Jun 2006 15:38:00 +00002006-06-01T12:06:26.963-04:00It was a great idea: come back from Katie Couric's widely-watched departure with a new set, a new attitude and new future. But the Today's show's decision to broadcast from an intricately-designed outdoor set over the summer while workers revamp their streetside Studio 1A, hit some serious potholes today, in the form of street noise and knuckleheaded fans. Bombshell newsreader Natalie Morales http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/06/new-today-set-needs-some-tweaking.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114897057917373825Tue, 30 May 2006 03:47:00 +00002006-05-31T14:07:11.410-04:00For months now, experts have been saying the conflict in Iraq is the most dangerous for journalists in recent memory. The media industry got another stark reminder Monday when news broke that two CBS journalists had been killed by a roadside bomb, while another was seriously injured. CBS photographer Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan were killed, along with a U.S. solider and an Iraqi http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/iraq-war-claims-more-journalists-lives.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114909291778334442Wed, 31 May 2006 15:37:00 +00002006-05-31T13:08:13.503-04:00I'm not sure if it was the 20 people wearing t-shirts thanking her for saving their lives. Or maybe the adoring shots of her parents watching as Martina McBride sang an ode to women everywhere. Or Ann Curry pretending she's not pissed off and passed over. Whatever it was, NBC's three-hour sendoff this morning for Today show co-host Katie Couric -- Did you hear she's going to anchor evenings at http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/katie-leaves-today-finally.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114901748138943779Tue, 30 May 2006 18:38:00 +00002006-05-30T15:53:14.880-04:00Since Chase Squires left the building a few weeks ago, I've been asking Mother Times for the opportunity to do a few TV critic-type stories. And nothing has given me more pleasure in recent weeks than pulling together today's story on the best show on television: FX's Rescue Me. After the messy death of Denis Leary and Peter Tolan's crack ABC comedy about a sleazy police detective, The Job, I http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/covering-rescue-me-fanboys-dream.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114874877852781286Sat, 27 May 2006 15:49:00 +00002006-05-30T09:41:32.853-04:00My friend Richard Prince has an interesting item on his Web site today about the Tallahassee Democrat's decision to apologize for coverage of the civil rights era which sided with segregationists. Fifty years ago this past week, two Florida A&M students were arested for refusing to get off the Whites only section of a bus. It was the beginning of a months-long bus boycott in Tally, months after http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/apologies-for-news-coverage-do-they.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114853243828867189Thu, 25 May 2006 03:50:00 +00002006-05-25T12:31:52.776-04:00It's a bit of an experiment here at Mother Times, involving a follow-up story on ABC Action News reporter Don Germaise, the TV journalist who allowed himself to be interviewed by a white separatist and saw the video released on the Internet. When I interviewed Don about what happened, he assured me there was no agreement to exchange an interview for an interview -- because, presumably, he knew http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/germaise-gets-stung-again.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114839875805428345Tue, 23 May 2006 14:36:00 +00002006-05-23T12:01:00.343-04:00In a move which has surprised few, ABC finally named Charlie Gibson sole anchor of World News Tonight -- kicking Elizabeth Vargas to the curb less than six months after she took the helm as network TV news' first Hispanic top anchor. "(ABC News President David Westin) and I have been talking for some time about what would happen as my maternity leave approaches," Vargas said, offering TV news' http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/abc-finally-pulls-trigger.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114834329735162211Mon, 22 May 2006 17:55:00 +00002006-05-23T08:25:48.870-04:00 A widely circulated story about non-Muslims forced to wear colored badges by the Iranian Parliament. A widely-circulated story about an airline developing stand-up seats to cram more people in flights. What do these stories have in common? Both were attention-getting pieces which got wide play on TV outlets such as NBC's today show and CNN's Situation Room. And they were dead wrong. Unlike http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/modern-media-as-gang-which-cant-shoot.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114838645798119244Tue, 23 May 2006 11:13:00 +00002006-05-23T08:23:11.343-04:00When it comes to America's favorite talent show, I could not be more cynical. And not just because it has become the embodiment of all that's wrong with modern-day pop music -- from the flood of inexperienced, barely talented, visually striking young performers who seem born in front of a camera, to the parade of bland, unchallenging material they are forced to sing. As America prepares tonighthttp://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/assessing-american-idol.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114811820830724952Sat, 20 May 2006 09:12:00 +00002006-05-20T06:26:17.713-04:00He says it was a simple mistake -- an earnest blunder made while trying to help a source. But an hourlong interview WFTS-Ch. 28 reporter Don Germaise gave last month to the webmaster of a white separatist Web site has now brought him loads of embarassment, as the group has posted a heavily edited excerpt which they say shows Germaise sympathizes with some of their views. I have a piece in http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/talk-with-white-separatist-brings.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17535055/posts/summary/114798490614984289Thu, 18 May 2006 17:00:00 +00002006-05-18T16:56:52.730-04:00 It was an email from my alma mater, so of course I dove right into it. As an alum and occasional guest lecturer at Indiana University, I've got nothing but love for the school of journalism and the home of the Hoosiers. But I gotta wonder what they're putting in the water these days at Big Red. Seems a group of researchers looked at a "composite" 16-hour day of reporting by CNN from March 22 http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/2006/05/embedded-war-coverage-found-objective.htmldigdog@aol.com (Eric Deggans)