CNN Alum Miles O'Brien's 'Flesh Wound'

Former CNN space and science reporter, and ATC favorite, Miles O'Brien had a very shocking injury recently.  Here's what he wrote:

I wish I had a better story to tell you about why I am typing this with one hand (and some help from Dragon Dictate). A shark attack would be interesting. An assassination attempt would be intriguing. Skydiving mishaps always make for good copy. An out-of-control quad copter that turns on its master would be entertaining (and would come complete with a grim, potentially viral, video). No, the reason I am now one-handed is a little more prosaic than those scenarios. 

I had finished my last shoot after a long reporting trip to Japan and the Philippines and was stacking the Pelican cases brimming with TV gear onto my cart. As I tried to bungee cord them into some semblance of security for movement, one of the cases toppled onto my left forearm. Ouch! It hurt, but I wasn’t all “911” about it. It was painful and swollen but I figured it would be okay without any medical intervention. Maybe a little bit of denial? 

The next day, February 13, things seemed status quo. It was sore and swollen but seemingly no worse. Then, that night, things got worse. Both the pain and swelling increased. So on the morning of February 14, I asked the hotel for a referral to a doctor and went to see him right away. While my concern was already growing, the look on his face when he saw my forearm got me a little more nervous. The doctor told me he suspected that I might be having an Acute Compartment Syndrome. I had to Wiki it, but in essence it is an increase in pressure inside an enclosed space in the body. This can block blood flow causing a whole host of serious, life-threatening consequences. He had me admitted to the hospital. Over the next few hours, I endured probably the longest, most painful experience I could ever imagine. My forearm developed some dusky discoloration, but more alarming was the numbness. I could not feel my forearm! The doctor recommended an emergency fasciotomy to relieve the pressure. This is a gruesome enough procedure on its own, but the he was clear that the problem was progressing rapidly and there was a clear and present threat to my limb. It was getting real. Of course I wasn’t awake for the action but I was told later that things tanked even further once I was on the table. And when I lost blood pressure during the surgery due to the complications of compartment syndrome, the doctor made a real-time call and amputated my arm just above the elbow. He later told me it all boiled down to a choice…between a life and a limb. 

So I woke up to a new reality in the hospital. It’s been a challenging week dealing with the phantom pain, the vicissitudes of daily life with one hand and the worries about what lies ahead. But I am alive and I’m grateful for that. Please don’t worry about me. I’m sure I can cope just fine. If I need your help, I promise I will ask. Life is all about playing the hand that is dealt you. Actually, I would love somebody to deal me another hand right about now – in more ways than one.

If you'd like to send Miles your wishes for a speedy recovery here's a link to his blog, which has a comment option at the bottom of his post.  

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Bye Bye Piers!

Here's the headline may of you have been waiting for:

Piers Morgan and CNN Plan End to His Prime-Time Show

to read the details follow this link to today's media page of the New York Times.

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Sunday Morning Programs 2/23/14

SUNDAY, February 23, 2014

INSIDE POLITICS – Sunday 8:30AM – 9:00AM

Topic:   Obama Entitlements and Minimum Wage; Bailout Impact on 2014; Christie and Walker Under Investigation;  Rand Paul vs. Ted Nugent; Is Hillary Beatable?

Guest: David Maraniss, associate editor, The Washington Post

Guest: Amy Walter, national editor, The Cook Political Report

Guest: Julie Pace, White House correspondent, The Associated Press

Guest:  Jonathan Martin, senior political reporter, The New York Times

Anchor:  John King

STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY -  Airs LIVE Sunday 9:00AM – 10:00AM and NOON

Topic:   Race, Hollywood, What the President Has Done Right, What the President

Has Done Wrong

Guest:  Joe Morton, actor, “Scandal”

Topic:   Politics; Economy; Social Issues; Death Penalty

Guest:  Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

Guest:  Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN)

Guest:  Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-CT)

Guest:  Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO)

Topic:   Politics

Guest:  Penny Lee, former director, Democratic Governors Association

Guest:  Robert Costa, national political reporter, The Washington Post

Guest:  Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor, National Review

Anchor:   Candy Crowley

FAREED ZAKARIA GPS – Airs 10:00AM – 11:00AM and 1:00PM – 2:00PM     

Topics:    Ukraine & Venezuela

Guest:     Zbigniew Brzezinski, PhD, former National Security Advisor (Carter Administration); counselor and trustee, Center for Strategic & International Studies

Topics:    Trying to Influence Peace in Ukraine; Negotiating with Iran over Nukes

Guest:     Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, The New York Times

Guest:     David Remnick, editor, The New Yorker

Guest:     Robin Wright, foreign affairs journalist and analyst; author, The Iranian Primer (2010)

Topic:      The 1%

Guest:     N. Gregory Mankiw, PhD, chairman and professor of economics, Harvard University

Topic:      Art History Degrees Matter

Guest:     Adam Gopnik, staff writer, New Yorker magazine

Anchor:    Fareed Zakaria

RELIABLE SOURCES – Airs Sunday 11:00AM – NOON

Topic:      How Access to Social Media and Contact with the West is Skewing Coverage in Ukraine

Guest:     Max Fisher, former foreign affairs blogger, The Washington Post

Guest:     Nick Paton Walsh, senior international correspondent, CNN

Topic:      Donald Trump Exploded this Week when a BuzzFeed Story was not the Puff Profile Piece He Expected. Does Trump Deserve the Media Attention He Once Received?

Guest:     McKay Coppins, senior writer, BuzzFeed

Guest:     Maggie Haberman, senior political reporter, POLITICO

Topic:      In the Climate Change Debate, News Organizations Equate Skeptics with Scientists. What Makes this Story so Hard to Cover?

Guest:     Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics, City College of New York

Guest:     Jack Mirkinson, senior editor, The Huffington Post

Topic:      Our “Undercovered” Story of the Week: Why is the Story of Bowe Bergdahl, the Only U.S. Service Member Missing in Afghanistan, Underreported?

Guest:     Jake Tapper, Chief Washington correspondent, CNN; anchor, CNN’s “The Lead”

Topic:      Texas Gubernational Candidate Greg Abbott Campaigns with Ted Nugent and the Press Goes Wild. The Former Rock Star has Become Known for Inflammatory Statements about President Obama. Should the Media Call Out Hate Speech When They See It?

Guest:     Christy Hoppe, Austin bureau chief, Dallas Morning News

Anchor:    Brian Stelter

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Sunday Morning Programs 2/16/14

SUNDAY, February 16, 2014

INSIDE POLITICS – Sunday 8:30AM – 9:00AM

Topic:   GOP Debt Ceiling Battle; the Impact of the Economy; Obamacare in 2014 Elections; Whether Hillary Clinton’s Past Holds the Key to her 2016 Future

Guest: Robert Costa, national political reporter, The Washington Post

Guest: Annie Lowrey, economic policy reporter, The New York Times

Guest:  Maeve Reston, reporter, Los Angeles Times

Guest: Peter Hamby, political reporter, CNN

Anchor: John King

STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY -  Airs LIVE Sunday 9:00AM – 10:00AM and 12:00PM – 1:00PM

Topic:   Senate Agenda; Iran Talks; Syria

Guest: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Topic:   Economic Outlook

Guest: Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media

Guest: Austan Goolsbee, Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

Topic:   Politics

Guest: Kevin Madden, CNN political commentator; republican strategist

Guest: Corey Dade, contributing editor, The Root

Guest: Margie Omero, managing director, Purple Insights

Anchor:  Candy Crowley

FAREED ZAKARIA GPS – Airs 10:00AM – 11:00AM and 1:00PM – 2:00PM     

Topic:   Is China at War With the Rest of the World?

Guest: Elizabeth Economy, PhD, Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Guest: Evan Osnos, staff writer, New Yorker; author, Age of Ambition Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China (May 2014)

Topic:   The Economy; Janet Yellen; the Federal Reserve

Guest: Larry Summers, PhD, former U.S. Treasury Secretary (Clinton Administration); former Director of the Economic Council (Obama Administration)

Topic:   Cyber Threats: Real Dangers Coming Soon

Guest: Peter Singer, PhD, director, Center for 21 Century Security and Intelligence; senior foreign policy fellow, Brookings Institution

Topic:   How to be an Olympian

Guest: Charles Duhigg, investigative business reporter, The New York Times; author, The Power of Habit (2012)

Anchor:  Fareed Zakaria

RELIABLE SOURCES – Airs Sunday 11:00AM – NOON

Topic:   NFL prospect Michael Sam Announced that He’s Gay in a Well-Orchestrated Press Roll-Out. But In some of the Coverage Distorting the True Nature of the Football Culture into Which Sam is About to Enter?

Guest: Howard Bragman, founder, 15Minutes.com; representative, Michael Sam

Guest: Dan Flynn, editor, Breitbart Sports

Topic:   The Comcast Takeover of Time Warner Cable; Why it’s a Big Deal and Why Many are Looking at it With Great Caution

Guest: Craig Aaron, CEO, Free Press

Topic:   Newly Discovered Documents Provide Never before Seen Insight into Hillary Clinton and Her Views of the Press and Her Husband’s Relationship with Monica Lewinsky

Guest: Carl Bernstein, investigative journalist

Topic:   While Chris Christie Continues to be Dogged by the Lane Closure Scandal, Reporters Continue to Dig Up New Stories and to Reevaluate Old Ones for Signs of How the Governor Runs the State. Plus Does Christie‘s Fall Make New Room for a Rand Paul Candidacy?

Guest: Michael Smerconish, CNN commentator; radio host, “The Michael Smerconish Program” for SiriusXM radio

Topic:   West Virginia Continues to Suffer from the Aftermath of a Chemical Spill that Contaminated Drinking Water for Thousands, but You Might Not Know it from the Small Amount of News Coverage the Story has been Getting

Guest: Kallie Cart, anchor, WCHS-WVAH TV

Anchor: Brian Stelter

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More News 2/10/14

MICHAEL SMERCONISH JOINS CNN

Michael Smerconish will join CNN as host of a new weekly program that will air live on Saturday mornings from New York, it was announced today by CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker.  Smerconish will also provide analysis and opinion on CNN programming throughout the week.  He joins the network this month.

“We are thrilled to have Michael join CNN,” said Zucker.  “At a time when the cable news landscape has become increasingly polarized, his independence and passion for reasoned dialogue makes him the perfect fit for CNN.” 

Most recently, Smerconish was an MSNBC contributor and for the last four years served as guest-host for Hardball with Chris Matthews.  He will continue hosting his radio show The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM Radio and writing a weekly column for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Said Smerconish, “I’ve long wanted to host a program of my own and I’m appreciative of Jeff Zucker for making that dream a reality.  I think the type of content I seek to provide is perfectly suited for CNN’s non-ideological brand."

Over the years he has interviewed five U.S. presidents including Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Vice Presidents Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Joe Biden.

Smerconish is currently working on his sixth book TALK:  A Novel of Politics and the Media, which is due out in May.  He is also the author of five previous books, two of them New York Times’ best sellers. He donated all author proceeds from three of those manuscripts to charity. His published books are: Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11; Muzzled: From T-Ball to Terrorism, True Stories that Should Be Fiction; Murdered By Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain and Injustice; Morning Drive: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Talking; and Instinct: The Man Who Stopped the 20th Hijacker. 

Prior to turning to media and broadcasting full-time Smerconish practiced law for ten years with James E. Beasley, a legendary Philadelphia-based trial lawyer, who is the namesake of the Beasley School of Law at Temple University. He is currently of counsel to the Philadelphia law firm of Kline & Specter.  Smerconish graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Lehigh University.  He remains a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.

HLN REBRANDS TO BECOME THE FIRST TV HOME FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATION        

HLN To Redefine TV News & Information Driven by What’s Trending, Being Shared & Going Viral Across All Screens

HLN will reformat and rebrand in 2014 to become the first TV network for the social media generation (millennials and the millennial-minded), it was announced by Albie Hecht, executive vice president and general manager, HLN.  

Taking a cue from today's connected and wildly social generation, HLN will curate the news from across all platforms. Headlines will be ripped from the most “plugged-in” sites and blogs, and HLN will make it its mission to share the trending news, viral events and stories that have viewers most obsessed, plus discover emerging social stars.

“While others report on the conversation, HLN will be a part of it,” said @AlbieHechtHLN.  “Just as MTV was adopted by a disconnected target audience that was underserved by television, HLN will be the first TV home to embrace the social media generation and champion its interests.”

HLN will add the TV component and a sense of humor to what consumers are searching, playing, sharing, shopping, creating and watching all day long, non-stop and in real time.

The first acquisition in the newly reformatted HLN is a customized version of the hit syndicated television show, RightThisMinute premiering Monday, February 10, and airing weeknights 10-11 p.m. ET.  The program is the first daily broadcast series devoted to finding the most captivating web videos and the stories behind them as they break, often before going viral. RightThisMinute is produced by MagicDust Television and syndicated by MGM Domestic Television Distribution.

Additional programming genres fitting the social media filter, such as animation, reality, gaming and clip shows will continue to premiere throughout the year, as well as a fresh look and new hosts.     

HLN’s new social media format will also become part of the DNA of Morning Express with Robin Meade (6 a.m.-12 noon, ET), News Now (12 noon -5 p.m., ET); Jane Velez-Mitchell (7-8 p.m. ET); Nancy Grace (8-9 p.m., ET) and Dr. Drew On Call (9-10 p.m., ET). 

To read more about Albie Hecht's new direction for HLN check out this article on BuzzFeed Business.

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