John Edwards Admits to Affair But Denies Fathering a “Lovechild”
August 8, 2008
The John Edwards extramarital affair story has blown up faster, and larger then any news story in recent memory – and rightfully so, this tragic narrative takes the all too familiar “politician cheats on wife” scandal to the next level of shock and awe. We have put together a collection that includes initial reports, statements from both John and Elizabeth Edwards as well as video of the highly anticipated ABC interview between John Edwards and Bob Woodruff. We also have put together some information dealing with the who, what, where and why of Edwards mystery lady, Miss Rielle Hunter.
Political Black Ops to the Extreme: “Lifelong” Gun-Control Advocate Outted as NRA Spy
August 5, 2008
The AP is reporting that a gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.
Come Again? What Did Jesse Jackson Say?
July 10, 2008
Yesterday we covered the poignant comments made by a certain Jesse Jackson in which he used some colorful language when discussing Barack Obama. All of this took place while he was mic’d up, however Jackson was under the impression they weren’t on TV or being recorded. SURPRISE!
However the fun really started when rival news stations began reporting the story, or attempted to report the story I should say. 236.com has captured the beautiful awkwardness of watching every cable news anchor struggle to explain the story without being able to say one specific word in a delightful little vignette which is attached below.
Which Network Won the “Creepiest Stock Video of Guns” Award?
June 27, 2008
Here is a pretty funny video from the guys over at 236.com, which has them comparing the differing network news channels, and trying to decide on which network ran “the scariest stock video” pertaining to firearms and the Supreme Courts ruling which came down yesterday.
In a piece titled, “News network stock footage archives are locked and loaded”, they describe what the video is all about:
“Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on gun rights, the cable news networks had one crucial task: rounding up the best gun-totin’, pistol-packin’, bullet-blastin’ stock footage they could find to spice up their otherwise boring legal voiceovers.
Did they succeed? Judge for yourself with our roundup of the best gun b-roll used by the networks during the last news cycle.”
And of course, here is the video itself:
Ben Affleck Now a NBC Affiliate Set to Report From the Congo
June 26, 2008
NEW YORK “Nightline” will focus on the humanitarian crisis in the Congo with the help of an unusual correspondent – Ben Affleck.
The 35-year-old actor took a “Nightline” crew on his recent fact-finding mission to Africa with the goal of spreading the word on a story that gets relatively little notice in the United States. His essay airs 11:35 p.m. Thursday on ABC.
He’s been to the Congo three times in the past year. He said his motive was to learn about the war and hunger that have killed thousands of people per month in the past decade in hopes that the outside world would be moved to help, and his celebrity opened some doors.
“It’s fairly clear that in the modern age that there is a currency to celebrity, or celebrity is a currency, really,” Affleck told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve discovered that you can spend it in a lot of ways, or you can squander it. You can be taxed, as well. I really started thinking long and hard about how to use that currency as long as I had it.”
His representatives approached “Nightline” with the idea of reporting on his journey. Affleck said he was impressed by “Nightline” stories in 2005 where “Hotel Rwanda” actor Don Cheadle visited that country.
“Nightline” executive producer James Goldston admitted to skepticism. ABC News took heat a decade ago for letting Leonardo DiCaprio interview President Clinton, and the idea of a concerned celebrity taking on a world problem has become a news staple.
“I was quite persuaded by how candid he was about the cliche of it, or the potential cliche,” Goldston said.
Affleck deals with that issue in the opening of his essay:
“I want to try to bring people along to learn and if they might not tune into this unless there was some celebrity involved in it, either because they’re interested in the celebrity or because they want to see the celebrity kind of make a fool of himself, then so be it,” he says.
He doesn’t act as a reporter, Goldston said. The idea was to present the story as a personal journey, following Affleck as he met with survivors of the conflict, relief officials and even some warlords.
“Nightline” hasn’t done its own story on the Congo since 2002, although Cynthia McFadden recently took a trip to Africa to report on several issues there.
Affleck said one “Nightline” piece isn’t likely to change much, but the goal is to spread the word and hope that people in the United States can identify with some people who are suffering.
Perhaps then they could be moved to help, he said. Affleck hasn’t identified himself with any particular relief organization that is helping the Congo.
He believes people will respond to this approach.
“I don’t think people respond particularly well to being hectored, or being made to feel guilty, or being made to feel as though they’re kind of callow or insensitive for the life they’ve been leading up until then,” he said.
“The First Time They Called me a Strategist, I Literally Laughed”: Just Another Day at FOX News
June 25, 2008
FOX News has for a long time now been known for their unwavering support for the GOP, as well as an equally opinionated take on anything “liberal”. It has become more or less the networks calling card – with right wing blow hards, O’Reilly and Hannity acting as head cheerleaders. While political “favoritism” has become common among the competing networks (ie: MSNBC slanting to the left) the practice of misrepresentation, and reporting under false pretenses remains a industry “no no” – however FOX apparently doesn’t feel obligated to abide by these standards either.
The Internet Is So ‘Elitist’: Tracking Political Websites & Their Party Affiliation
June 24, 2008
Earlier this morning I stumbled across a fascinating article that discussed the political “blog-o-sphere” (I hate that word, mainly b/c many of the sites aren’t even ‘blogs’) and where they fell in terms of the ideological scale ranging from “very liberal”, all the way to the far right, “very conservative.” The results were somewhat surprising, mainly because they manages to debunk an argument often heard from those on the right that claims; “internet politics is dominated by liberals“. That argument, is simply not true (surprise, surprise a conservative argument proven completely wrong), the result is a tight, “pretty” map that shows a decided red/blue (conservative/liberal) split in the US political blogosphere.
NBC Confirms Who Will be Taking Over Hosting Duties for “Meet the Press”
June 22, 2008
NEW YORK The Associated Press is reporting that veteran news anchor Tom Brokaw has agreed to moderate NBC’s “Meet the Press” through the November election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Tim Russert. Brokaw will start next week, the network announced Sunday. Anchor Brian Williams did the show this week and announced the decision at its end.
