Highlights State of the Union for May 17, 2009

John King's first guest this week on State of the Union with John King was the White House Budget Director, Peter Orszag, to discuss the economy. King used the magic wall to examine the latest economic indicators. They also discussed how the administration expects to be able to pay for their health care reform plan, when the administration plans to address the inevitable budget deficit resulting from Social Security, where the stimulus money going to, and address concerns that the administration's stimulus packages are not working. King also questioned Orszag about a conclusion he made in his senior thesis at Princeton regarding the Federal Reserve and Congress. Ryan Lizza brought this to light in a recent article, Money Talks, in The New Yorker.

Rep. John Boehner (R) responded to Orszag's claim that the administration's health care reform plan is "deficit neutral". King also questioned him about the Republican's response to the administration's policies on the war, the CIA photos, Speaker Pelosi's comments regarding torture, where the Republican party goes from here, and his response to the comments the President made about him at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last week: "I'd rather be heckled than ignored."

Hilary Rosen and Alex Castellanos were next in the Washington studio to talk about Speaker Pelosi and the President's policies regarding detainees.

John King visited Selma, Alabama this week and spoke with Mayor George Evans about the jobless rate. He also talked with Beatrice Jackson, who has been unemployed for six months, and Jimmie Coleman, III, the manager of the Calhoun Food Store.

Howard Kurtz was in Los Angeles this morning for Reliable Sources. Stephanie Miller (in LA), Michael Medved, and Roger Simon discussed Cheney's media tour as the Republican's unofficial spokesperson, the coverage on Obama's decision to not release detainee photos, and more coverage of Miss California.

Next was a discussion about the mix of DC, politics, politicians, Hollywood celebrities, and the media. Kurtz spoke with Barry Levinson:

KURTZ: Are Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Wolf Blitzer, are they celebrities?

LEVINSON: At the same time they're news people.

KURTZ: Are they entertainers?

LEVINSON: We blur them together. Well, they are entertainers as well because they are on the television.

They have to entertain at the same time they have to inform. That's the -- once you step over from it being a public service, which is the way it all began, to now, news has to get ratings. So having a very good news show isn't enough in itself. It has to attract the ratings, that's the obligation of it all.

KURTZ: Didn't news always have to get ratings? The sainted Edward R. Murrow, he interviewed Marilyn Monroe on a program called "Person to Person."

LEVINSON: Yes, but that wasn't a news show.

KURTZ: Right.

LEVINSON: Right? I mean, that was his other kind of show that he did.

But in the very beginning we would just provide information, going way back. Once you go down that road -- and I'm not saying it is -- there is the upside, downside to all of it. You can't just paint it as a negative brush, but the ratings become just as important to a news show as it does to any variety show, or a sitcom or a drama.

KURTZ: You've got to get people inside the tent.

LEVINSON: Yes, get them in.

KURTZ: Once they're there, you might be able to give them a nutritious meal, you might give them empty calories.

What do you think of the political news show on cable -- O'Reilly, Olbermann, Lou Dobbs, Anderson Cooper?

LEVINSON: Well, look, some are better than others. And some of them are very good. Others of them become frivolous. There is a mixed bag out there.

KURTZ: Do you worry at all, that this news business, at least the electronic version, is becoming more of a circus, more of a -- there is more pressure to serve up the cotton candy?

LEVINSON: Yes, that I do believe is a problem. And some of the really big issues that we have, because there isn't a visual component to it, go unnoticed.

Source: CNN Transcript, Reliable Sources, May 17, 2009.

Kurtz talked with Mariel Hemingway about her twitter fame and her new book.

Next, Kurtz interviewed Variety's Peter Bart in the LA studio about the changes occurring in Hollywood and the media.

If you missed Reliable Sources, CNN has posted the podcast on their website:

John King was back at 11AM with James Carville and Bill Bennett in the studio with a heated discussion about Speaker Pelosi's comments, President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame, rebuilding the Republican party, the President's appointment of Utah's Governor Huntsman to Ambassador to China, RNC Chairman Steele's comments about party unity, and the administration's new drug czar (Carville & Bennett came really close to agreeing on this issue).

The diner segment this week came from Selma, Alabama where King spoke with residents about unemployment and race relations.

The reporter panel included Dana Bash, Ed Henry, and Joe Johns. The topics included Speaker Pelosi, the Supreme Court vacancy, and health care policy.

King interviewed another resident of Selma, Alabama, Zannie Murphy, who has preserved a piece of history through the headlines of a local paper; they discussed Bloody Sunday.

The Last Word went to Emily Toates who is graduating from Notre Dame and is boycotting President Obama's speech.

A few additional notes about this morning's program... during both interviews with those currently holding office (Orszag & Boehner), King reached into the CNN archives to pull clips from their previous appearances (Orszag on State of the Union and Boehner on Late Edition) to question them about previous comments and how their views may or may not differ today. And John King was doing his part to help save the newspaper industry, he asked viewers to go to the CNN State of the Union Facebook page and post the headline from the local newspaper. King read some of those headlines on air later on in the program.

Also, King's weekly staff briefing has been posted to CNN.com:

An added bonus this week, King recaps the program (in under two minutes) in this Sounds of Sunday video clip:

When CNN arrives in the area for some of these "outside the beltway" interviews, it causes a bit of a stir in the community. Here's an excerpt from one article that appeared in the Selma Times-Journal on May 13th:

CNN comes to Selma

The sound of an elevator and clanking metal caused some heads to turn during Tuesday night’s city meeting at Selma City Hall. A cameraman walked through the back door. Mayor George Evans paused in his report, nodded and grinned.

“That’s just CNN,” he said. “They’re here to interview me.”

More heads turned.

John King, anchor of State of the Union for CNN, strode into the room.

“There’s John King,” the mayor said. “He’s going to interview me.”

King grinned, ducked his head and waved off the attention.

Several minutes later, Evans left the room, following King. They interviewed as the two men walked down Broad Street.

Later, most city council members and others joined King and his crew at Grumbles for a late dinner.

... click here to read the rest of the article...

A follow up article appeared on May 15th: Moving in a positive direction

Here are your links to this week's podcasts:

• State of the Union with John King (video)
• State of the Union with John King (audio)
• Reliable Sources (video)

A few quick non-State of the Union items for you:

This press release caught my eye earlier today: Twitter Boosts CNN Reporter's Fight to Save Her Brother's Life

Thanks in large part to Twitter, a one-woman fight to get her severely ill brother a much-needed heart transplant has turned into a major grassroots campaign throughout the social media community, applying pressure on government authorities to prevent a tragedy resulting from a flawed domestic healthcare system.

Veronica De La Cruz, a former CNN anchor and reporter based in New York City, has experienced first-hand the influence and freedom of speech which such a position offers. Yet, she found herself to be as exposed to the flaws of the healthcare system as anyone else when her brother's condition became life-threatening.

Her brother, Eric De La Cruz, 27, is dying in Nevada. He is suffering from severe dilated cardiomyopathy and needs a heart transplant immediately. His heart, weakened and enlarged, is now incapable of pumping blood efficiently. The decreased organ function also severely limits his kidney function and his creatinine levels are high, all which result in fluid retention. The diuretic-type medications which he is currently taking are no longer working. Making matters worse, he cannot get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

You can read the rest of the press release at PRWeb.

I discovered that Tom Foreman is back to writing articles for the Philadelphia Metro... here is the latest article:

“Vice presidents ... are paid to be cheerful, Dick Cheney not withstanding.”

You don’t jump on the scales an hour after you push aside the doughnuts, and the Obama White House might be better off if it were not already trying to roll out reports on how well the stimulus plan is working.

That is the consensus among some political and economic analysts, who suggest the vice president’s progress report on the program, while laudable, is a tad premature.

The full article can be found on the Philadelphia Metro's website.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Getting to Know.....Veronica De La Cruz

1. What was your big break?
De La Cruz: For me, it was landing at CNN.com from a TV station in Yuma, Arizona. I have had so many amazing opportunities since I first walked through the doors of CNN Center in Atlanta -- and now the TimeWarner building in New York -- my entire life has changed.
Who was your mentor or role model?
I’ve had a few – more than my fair share. I think it would be quite unfair to single anyone out. Let's just say if you've made a difference in my life, have sat with me through hours of tape, corrected my scripts with your red pen, graciously reached into the back of your closet to make sure I had at least one good suit, and listened to me talk about work endlessly over brunch -- you definitely know who you are.

2. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
De La Cruz: One of my best friends in Los Angeles recently got into roller derby. I used to think she was crazy until I saw it for myself. Given my background as a figure skater, I secretly think I could be very good at it. Plus, I never got to have a skater name like "Mila Minute". How cool would that be?

3. What’s on your iPod?
De La Cruz: My favorite song this past summer was “American Boy” by Estelle. I put it on when I’m feeling nostalgic for the season, especially since it's been raining a lot here in NYC. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Sia. I’m a big lover of all types of music. World music really feeds my longing for travel and other cultures. I’m also a big fan of Cesaria Evora and Bebel Gilberto.
What are you reading?
Besides dozens of blogs and my Twitter feed, I’ve been making my way through Barbara Walters’ memoir – “Audition” and Fareed Zakaria's “The Post American World.” I normally send everything and anything to my BlackBerry and read it that way.

4. Last movie you saw?
De La Cruz: Oliver Stone's “W.” I found the film’s final scene -- a dream sequence where President Bush ends up in a stadium losing sight of the ball – to be particularly symbolic and disturbing.
Off-camera Veronica: family, hobbies, favorite authors, episodic TV?
My father is a French-German Jew whose family escaped Nazi Germany and changed their last name from Schertz to De La Cruz. My mother is a Filipina-Chinese immigrant who was the 4th of 18 kids. I have a little brother who lives in Las Vegas and I grew up in California, spending more than a decade of my life as a competitive figure skater. My skating career ended after I was injured. I don't get to read enough for pleasure; instead I consume massive amounts of information through newspapers, magazines and the Internet. I’m addicted to Twitter and am always reading my Twitter feed. I grew up reading Thomas Friedman every Sunday in The New York Times. I was constantly entertained by post-modern authors such as Brett Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney. I don't have time to watch episodic TV, though I used to Tivo “24.” Now the only thing I Tivo is Zakaria's CNN program “GPS,” though I try to catch it when it airs on Sundays. I must admit “Family Guy” is a guilty pleasure.

5. When did you decide that you wanted to be a journalist? What attracted you to this profession? If journalism wasn't your initial career goal, what was?
De La Cruz: When I was in college, writing and music were my passions. So I figured I’d become a music journalist. While I was in school, I came across the opportunity to work for a new company called DEN.net that was launching Web-based alternative programming for Gen XY. Instead of writing for a music publication, I ended up on camera, hosting and producing a music show. It was an amazing experience that allowed me to travel around the world. It ended up launching my broadcasting career. Shortly after, I took my first news job in Yuma, Arizona.
What's your favorite must have gadget?
I would say my BlackBerry and my Flip video camera. I never leave home without them.

6. You’ve come a long way from Yuma, Arizona. Is there anything you miss about living in the Southwest?
De La Cruz: The big open skies. When I lived there I used to get away from all of life’s stresses by going to the park and lying in the grass. I loved staring up at the big open sky and the clouds. It was also a bonus that I could go swimming in December when my friends were living in places where snow was falling. I would always call them to say it was 84 and sunny.

7. What about you would surprise viewers most?
De La Cruz: Probably my ethnic background. I think it’s confusing for many people. Some think I am Asian. Some think I am Hispanic. I think people would be very surprised to find out that -- much like Barack Obama describes himself – I’m a mutt. I’m a Filipino-Chinese French-German-Jewish-American. I am curious to see how the Obama White House might change people’s perspectives on race.

8.Live television can be unpredictable- can you tell us about an on air moment that didn't go quite as planned or went awry?
De La Cruz: There was a funny moment on “CNN Saturday/Sunday Morning” with T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen when my chair got stuck and we couldn’t get it to go down. We wrestled with it all during the break and realized we were coming back in 10 seconds, there was no way we were going to be able to lower it so we were all about the same height. We did my segment with me towering over the two of them, at least six inches taller. It was totally and completely awkward, but we had a good laugh about it.

9. If you could pick one story from history to cover, what would your dream story be?
De La Cruz: I’d pick an entire decade: the 60’s, including the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, MLK Jr., Cesar Chavez, Neil Armstrong, JFK’s assassination, and especially Woodstock. There were so many important events that took place during that short decade, it would be difficult to choose just one.

10. What is your guilty pleasure?
De La Cruz: I’m embarrassed to say that I love romantic comedies and I don’t discriminate. I like them all, even the really bad ones. It probably has something to do with the fact that I’m a self-described hopeless romantic and an eternal optimist. I think I also mentioned that I watch “Family Guy.” I was Asian Reporter Tricia Takanawa for Halloween.

ATC would like to say thank you to Veronica for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions. Veronica is a CNN correspondent for Newsroom which airs weekdays from 9 AM until 3 PM (Eastern).

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

CNN Exclusives and Clips

If you receive Robin Meade's daily newsletter, you will have heard that Robin has been away for a few days on a special assignment. Well it was revealed today on most CNN programming that Robin got the first one-on-one interview with the three American former hostages who had been in held in captivity in Colombia for the last five years.

To see more of the interview, you can check out Morning Express with Robin Meade on Friday morning at 6AM and you can also check out a couple of blog posts that Robin wrote about on her blog.

This Saturday and Sunday night at 8PM EST Don Lemon hosts a special called "Daughters of Legacy".

"To the world, they are activists, leaders, icons. But these women know them as "Dad." The daughters of MLK, Ali, Malcolm X, Johnnie Cochran and Sidney Poitier... in their first conversation, together."

Tonight I leave you with a few clips from the past week on CNN programming.

During Saturday morning's News Room the love and hugs were spread all around in the newsroom. It is to nice to see how much Veronica, TJ, Josh and Reynolds enjoy working with each other.

During Sunday night's special "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time". A few celebrities made an appearance. I clipped the segment with Clay Aiken, Nicole Ritchie, Al Roker and others.

On Monday afternoon's News Room during an interview with Ringo Starr and Kyra Phillips, Larry King joined in on the phone and sang Happy Birthday to Ringo.

Have a terrific week everyone ~ Sapphire

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Comedy Relief

After a very long and intense week with the tragedy in Myanmar (Burma) and the intense elections in North Carolina and Indiana. I thought I would lighten things up a bit.

On Thursday May 1st. Veronica De La Cruz filed a report on slang and at the end Veronica quizzed John Roberts and Kyra Phillips on some computer/text slang. One of the two anchors certainly knows their slang.

Laughs all around on this Wednesday afternoon's News Room. Who doesn't love naked stupidity. Don Lemon, Brianna Keilar and Stephanie Elam sure seemed to get a kick out of the story.

Tonight I leave you with news for all the fans of Larry King. Set your VCR/PVR's. Larry King will be guest appearing on the ABC sitcom "Ugly Betty" next Thursday May 15th. Below is a picture of Larry with Eric Mabius who plays "Daniel Meade". I am super excited to watch this episode.




All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

How Big Is Ali’s Barrel?

I have a collection of CNN videos for you tonight. It’s been a week of ups and downs so I’m going to start off with the serious videos first. Beverly Broadman passed away this week- she was one of the original staff members at CNN.

Source: CNN.com

On Issue #1, they discussed the impact of the falling US dollar on tourism abroad. Alessio Vinci talked with a few Americas who were vacationing in Rome and looked at the economic impact this could have on Italy’s tourism industry.

A “staycation” sounds pretty good to me. There are plenty of local places that I could play tourist and not really go very far away from home.

Now for a few lighter moments … and all of these come from American Morning. Have you noticed that American Morning has a new opening logo/ banner? John Roberts has referred to it as “nuclear.”

Old AM Opening	New AM Opening

Although the color of the logo has been getting all of the attention, I found that I like the new music that they are using.

Ali Velshi had a run in with the new logo when it was used as a background while he was giving a report…

Kiran Chetry found a creative way to wrap up a series of stories that Veronica De La Cruz reported on…

Ever wonder how big Ali Velshi’s barrel of oil is? That questioned was answered this week and John Roberts found a smooth way of segueing into Ali’s segment.

And my last video tonight is of Delta-lina, from the Delta Airline’s safety video, wagging her finger at John Roberts.

Source: CNN.com
All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

First Class Seating?

CNN has really stepped up their blogs over the last few weeks. There have been a variety of contributors and hardly a day goes by that there isn't something interesting that pops up.

Yesterday, one of the posts that caught my eye was on the CNN Political Ticker. Photojournalists Derek Davis and Jung Park described their adventures traveling with Governor Huckabee on the campaign trail:

(CNN) – Amid reports that GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's campaign is running low on cash and making cutbacks, embedded CNN photojournalists Derek Davis and Jung Park filed this diary entry just days before the campaign announced it would no longer give journalists an opportunity to buy a ticket and travel with the candidate. This week, the campaign grounded its chartered press airplanes entirely.

A ton of gear, a non-stop schedule, and constant airplane travel. If you’re a CNN photojournalist like me who’s embedded with a presidential campaign, those things are part of a typical day.

Not so typical: an afternoon riding a toilet seat in a propeller plane over South Carolina.

Late last week, we were with the former Arkansas governor as he campaigned in South Carolina in his final push before the GOP primary.

As photographers for CNN, we have the opportunity to witness politics up close, literally to have a front row seat to history in the making. But, politics also means something else to people like us in the trenches: It’s physical. It’s exciting. It’s tough.

Our recent travel with Huckabee took the toughness to new heights. After covering an event where the GOP presidential candidate discussed the economy with South Carolina steel workers, we made our way to the airport and discovered that we’d be flying the rest of the day on a double-propeller, 8-seat airplane. There were a total of three of these planes – one for Huckabee and his staff, and two more for the press traveling with the campaign.

We shared our plane with a crew from CBS News. Once we’d loaded our gear (two cameras, tripods, audio equipment, tapes, boom poles, etc.) and the other crew had loaded its equipment, there wasn’t much room left for us.

I am now much closer to a CBS sound technician than I ever wanted to be – we shared a seat on the flight. But at least I had one.

My colleague Jung wasn’t so lucky. It may have been covered and padded but make no mistake about it, Jung flew all around South Carolina on a toilet. (They did a good job on camouflage: He didn’t know it was a toilet and nobody thought to tell him.) Isn’t cable news glamorous?

On Thursday's American Morning, Veronica De La Cruz did a follow up report about the student that called a school administrator complaining about not getting a snow day. And John Roberts had a thing or two to say about the student's reaction to the attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mystery Journalist

Ready for a little game of name that ear?
Can you name this CNN journalist?

Let us know who you think it is and we'll reveal this journalist's identity in Sunday's post.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Gaze Into The Crystal Ball For 2008

Are there big changes in store for Christine Romans? Is there an engagement in Ali Velshi's future? On this week's Your $$$$$, they spoke with an expert on what we'll see in 2008.

We won't know how accurate those prediction were until the end of next year, but Ali did present someone with a ring earlier this year on Your $$$$$.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CNN has me quite curious about their plans for New Year's Day. Have you heard about the Ballot Bowl?

Sounds like the Best Political Team on TV is going to be busy. I'm not sure that we're going to have a declared winner by the end of the day, but there's hope for a winner on January 3rd. We've finally reached the point in the Presidential elections where the voters will actually get to do something - at least in Iowa. Thursday night CNN will start their coverage on the Iowa Caucuses at 8pm ET from the CNN Election Center. No details have been released, but these are the folks that are showing up in the commercials that have been running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mystery Journalist

This week's Mystery Journalist was Veronica De La Cruz.

Sanjay Gupta: Patient

Tonight, I have a few items from Tuesday’s American Morning.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, broken his hand while covering the fires in California. Today, John Roberts talked to him about the injury. Dr. Gupta broke his hand in two places. The x-ray shows a spiral fracture of his finger.

Doctors placed two pins in his hand to help the fracture heal properly. Dr. Gupta is currently receiving physical therapy and expects to be back in the operating room in about 4 – 6 weeks.

While in New York, Dr. Gupta will host the network’s “Fit Nation Solution Summit” on Wednesday, November 14, at the Time Warner Center in New York City. Together with special guest former President Bill Clinton, wellness experts, watchdog groups and community activists, the panel will discuss strategic ideas and initiatives to address the nation’s obesity health crisis. More information about the event is available from the CNN Press Release.

Veronica De La Cruz reported on CNN’s new Second Life (SL) news hub that recently opened. Ali Velshi and she were at the SL CNN hub this morning. Below is a clip from the report:

I’m not exactly sure how Ali Velshi ended up with no clothes in SL.

I ventured into SL earlier today and attended the 5 PM ET tutorial at the CNN SL hub. Below I’ve included a few screen caps of the event and a few excerpts from the press release.

CNN Worldwide today announced it has opened a hub within Second Life, a three-dimensional virtual world entirely created by its residents. The network will look to those most familiar with the virtual world – the Second Life residents themselves – to determine what constitutes news “in-world.”

Just as CNN asks its real-life audience to submit iReports – user-generated content submitted from cell phones, computers, cameras and other equipment for broadcast and online reports – the network invites the residents of Second Life to share their own “SL iReports” about events occurring within the virtual world.

“The thing we most hope to gain by having a CNN presence in Second Life is to learn about virtual worlds and understand what news is most interesting and valuable to their residents,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “Our iReport initiative has generated a great response from CNN viewers and users who contribute a wide variety of news, events and perspectives every day; and we are genuinely excited about the opportunity to forge a similar relationship with Second Life residents, albeit recognizing the need to customize the process for the virtual world.”

When Second Life residents observe an in-world event, they can take snapshots, shoot video, or write a report about the event and submit to CNN with a click. Submissions selected by CNN iReport producers will go back into Second Life as SL iReports for residents to view throughout the virtual world. SL iReports may also be viewed and discussed in the real world at CNN.com’s SL iReport Blog at www.CNN.com/secondlife, where users are invited to share comments and subscribe to daily e-mail updates sent via Real Simple Syndication (RSS).

CNN’s in-world hub includes a news desk where weekly editorial discussions will be held and an amphitheater for in-world events, such as training sessions and appearances by CNN anchors and correspondents. During the weekly editorial discussions, held each Tuesday at 5 p.m. (ET), one of CNN’s SL iReport ambassadors, CNN producers and editors with experience in virtual worlds, will moderate a conversation with residents about the prior week’s SL iReports and upcoming in-world events that might be interesting to cover.

At the network’s hub, residents also can meet SL iReport ambassadors and other resident reporters, as well as access iReport kiosks, free-standing terminals where residents can pick up free gear and tools for gathering and viewing in-world user-generated content.

Kiosks offer a variety of free gear and tools including:

• A “HUD” or “heads-up display,” a small, collapsible window that resides on the user’s computer screen enabling them to view the latest photo and text SL iReports while they are in Second Life;
• A continuous stream of the latest video SL iReports;
• An instructional video on what an SL iReport is and how to submit one;
• Avatar-ready apparel, including hats, T -shirts and press badges; and
• A duplicate copy of the kiosk itself, which residents can place wherever they choose across Second Life.

Night of the Living Democrats

Sometime earlier today, CNN went green! No, I'm not referring to their carbon footprint. The CNN logo commonly seen at the bottom of the screen turned green, evidently as part of the Planet in Peril promotion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that CNN Headline News anchor Robin Meade is a former Miss Ohio? Below are excerpts from an article from a March 2007 issue of Atlanta Life Magazine about Robin Meade:

Robin’s Nest: At home with CNN’s Robin Meade

By Allison Weiss Entrekin

It’s that laugh.

It’s a passionate, heartfelt belly laugh. That incredibly genuine laugh goes perfectly with Robin Meade, 37, a drop-dead-gorgeous former Miss Ohio and one of television’s most popular morning news anchors.

Meade and her husband of 13 years, Tim, just moved into her Dunwoody home and several rooms still have unopened boxes. But as she walks from one place to another describing her plans for window treatments and furniture, you start to realize she actually enjoys being in transition. “I feel like this is a new phase for us,” Meade says of her move from their Brookhaven mansion to a smaller, ranch-style home outside the perimeter. “This house is going to be decidedly more casual, because I’m past the stage of being showy and having fancy things.”

“It’s so much fun,” Meade says of the job that has made her a household name. “Obviously, first and foremost, people tune into our show for information. But I feel like we have a little license to laugh out loud if we want to, without being frivolous or off-topic. It’s a nice liberty that I don’t think every news program has.”

Perhaps the one thing Meade doesn’t do is cook, and she admits as much when she walks through her kitchen and announces, “This is where the pizza is delivered!” With opposite schedules–she’s in bed by 6 p.m. and up at 2 a.m., while Tim doesn’t get home from work until 8 at night–it’s easy to understand why she hasn’t been motivated to learn. “We really don’t see each other until the weekends, so it would be silly for either of us to cook, because there’s no one to eat it,” she says.

Instead, Meade spends her afternoons walking her dog, Rocco (named by her viewers, who consider it an abbreviated version of Robin & Company), decorating and “trying to stay awake.” It’s an upside-down routine, but one Meade swears she doesn’t mind. “It was hard to get used to my schedule earlier in my career, but somehow along the way I’ve gotten used to it, and now I can’t imagine doing anything but morning news,” Meade says. “I don’t think my personality would work in any other time slot.”

To view the entire article visit: http://atlantalifemag.com/0703/robin.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mystery Journalist

Can you name this CNN journalist?

Let us know who you think it is and we'll reveal this journalist's identity in Sunday's post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica De La Cruz, CNN's American Morning Internet reporter, mentioned during Thursday morning's program that CNN has partnered with JibJab to bring us a create your own political movie/ cartoon. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a little bit fun with some pictures of my favorite CNN anchors. Presenting....Night of the Living Democrats...

If prefer your nightmares to have Republicans in them, I've posted a version of Night of the Living Republicans over on All Things Anderson.

Want to create your own? Visit http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/ and follow the link to JibJab.

Veronica De La Cruz and the Ratings Guru

Veronica De La Cruz, most recently a news anchor for CNN.com, has joined CNN’s flagship morning news program, American Morning, as an Internet correspondent, beginning Thursday, Oct. 18. Based in New York, De La Cruz will report on the hottest news from online sources and blogs and guide viewers through the most popular and essential stories from CNN.com and i-Reports, the network’s user-generated content initiative.

“Veronica has demonstrated an enviable ability to connect with audiences on television as well as on the Internet,” said Ed Litvak, executive producer of American Morning. “Her enthusiasm and connections to CNN’s online audience make her a welcome addition to American Morning.”

For CNN.com, De La Cruz anchored CNN.com Live, CNN Pipeline and “Now in the News,” a fast-paced hourly Web- and wireless-exclusive news update. In that time, she anchored live coverage of major breaking stories including the death of former President Ronald Reagan, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict and Hurricane Katrina. She also provided briefings on CNN/U.S. and Headline News about the most popular stories on CNN.com and served as a substitute anchor for both networks.

De La Cruz joined CNN in 2003 after working as an anchor, reporter and producer at KYMA-TV in Yuma, Ariz. There, she anchored and produced a one-hour morning newscast as well as anchored a half-hour show at noon. She produced reports and did live shots for the evening newscasts. During her tenure at KYMA-TV, De La Cruz covered numerous stories on U.S.- Mexico border issues, the nation’s nursing shortage and the plight of the migrant farm worker. She also produced a series on the homeless, with whom she continues to do extensive volunteer work. She also serves as a spokeswoman for Lions Health First Foundation, which provides preventive health screenings for senior citizens and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Before KYMA-TV, De La Cruz worked as a music journalist for SonicNet/Digital Planet and Eruptor Entertainment’s “Living Giant.” She began her broadcasting career hosting “Direct Drive,” a show she created for the Digital Entertainment Network.

Before beginning her career in journalism, De La Cruz spent a decade of her life as a competitive figure skater. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and mentors aspiring broadcast-journalists at the Associated Press Television-Radio Association’s Academy.



THE ‘BOYS OF SUMMER’ INTO FALL
AND THE ‘BOYS OF FALL’ INTO WINTER…
BIG COMPETITION FOR THE CABLE NEWS CHANNELS

RATINGS WEEK OF OCT. 8-12, 2007:

Baseball Playoffs and ESPN’s Monday Night Football are both having major impact on news viewership for the week Oct. 8-12, 2007. “The Boys of Summer” – baseball - have given TBS on average a 3 million boost in viewership against its typical drama average in primetime – a big ouch for the cable news channels…And ESPN Football, well Oct 8, with “America’s Team” (hey, I didn’t name them that, stop with the tomatoes) the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Buffalo Bills posted the highest viewership to date for the Monday primetime football airing – around 13 million viewers – a big double ouch! All programs were also affected on Friday with the start of baseball on the broadcast network FOX with a big match-up of the Red Sox and Indians. All audience comparisons are based on the demographic of Adults 25-54, the key demo the industry considers the most sought after target audience.

8PM:
OUT IN THE OPEN was off in audience on Monday, as were most cable news/information programming due to the baseball/football impact. However, the 8PM block for CNN for the week is up 5% over last week’s performance. Any improvement in that very tough, competitive time period is something to say. Both Monday and Friday experienced very low audience, as did MSNBC without Keith Olbermann on the air on Monday; and Friday being Keith’s lowest performance. However, for the week, COUNTDOWN was up 12% over last week’s performance. BILL O’REILLY experienced the pain of Monday but came back Tuesday, Wednesday. O’REILLY does particularly poor on Fridays, losing 30% of his audience off of his weekly average for Adults 25-54 and -16% for his 2+ Audience.

Many of you might have noted with Billo’s appearance on Jay Leno that he touted his audience is over 4 million a night. Well, if one takes the audience delivery for 8PM, 11PM the overnight 4AM broadcasts, they do total around 4 million. Is it fair (after all, Fox News says they are ‘fair and balanced’)? Technically yes, but advertising would never value his audience that way, so for advertising purposes, it is a meaningless number. Ratings are established to sell advertising, not to be used as a PR ploy. And Mr. O’Reilly would never admit that only 23% of his audience is in the key advertising demographic of Adults 25-54 – now that is a triple ouch!

9PM:
LKL surprising does the best audience performance on Fridays, when most news and information cable programming loses substantial audience. He had a very rocky week experiencing the baseball and football effect with a poor performance on Monday. The interview program was also affected by Tuesday’s Republican debate on MSNBC because the debate increased audience the time period for MSNBC by 63% at 9PM. MSNBC's normal programming - Dan Abrams is just not competitive in the time period against LKL. Wednesday was particularly strong for HANNITY and COMBS on FOX News. Broadcast affected everyone on Thursday night as it is the strongest night for broadcast television with Grey’s Anatomy and CSI airing at 9PM doing what we call “tent-polling” the night – meaning the programs attract viewers in anticipation of 9PM and hold viewers at the end, going into the 10PM show.


10PM:
Does it hurt when an anchor isn’t on? Unless we can see the 15 minute breakouts of the program segments (and we don’t get those) it is impossible to tell. But Monday, Oct 8 was a low point for AC360 – up against baseball (bye-bye Yankees), football (close match for the Cowboys – a 1 point win) and a substitute anchor. To give you an example of the sports impact, AC360 bounced back the next night (Tuesday) with a gain of 89,000 viewers. Wednesday and Friday were its strongest nights, but the program was off an overall -7% from its last week’s performance for Adults 25-54. However, since MSNBC’s “doc block” can be a pesky problem for 360, this week AC and his crew gave them a real bruising on Friday – it was 360’s strongest night for the key demographic. Interestingly with baseball on Friday, AC360 had a good night for Adults 25-54, but not in 2+. Sports didn’t affect his core audience, but did appear to impact older and young viewers. Yes, baseball can skew to an older audience. GRETA, with the building up of the “Blonde Ambition” Rita Cosby tapes (and an extremely weak 360 on Monday) performed well against 360 this week. What was 360’s strongest night – Wednesday.

See you next week and let me know if you have any questions.
RATINGS GURU

Adults 25-54 Audience Average, Week of Oct 8, 2007*^

8PM:

Fox News: 503,000
CNN: 197,000
MSNBC: 300,000

9PM:

Fox News: 344,000
CNN: 260,000
MSNBC: 136,000*

10PM:

Fox News: 350,000
CNN: 237,000
MSNBC: 149,000

*No Abrams Tuesday – GOP debate and does not air Friday; 3 day average applied to five days for a five day Abrams average.
^Source: Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Adults 25-54 LIVE+Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.

CNN Takes A Little Time to Enjoy The View

Over the last few weeks, Larry King has had Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar of The View as guest on Larry King Live. Not to be outdone by the ladies of The View, a few CNN personalities have returned the favor so to speak and have made guest appearances on The View.

Jack Cafferty recently appeared on The View to promote his book, “It’s Getting Ugly Out There”



Anderson Cooper also made an appearance on The View to promote Planet in Peril.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations to Drew Griffin who was named 2007 Journalist of the Year by the Atlanta Press Club and the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica De La Cruz has moved from the Atlanta Bureau to the New York Bureau to be the .com correspondent on American Morning Monday to Friday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Birthday to Carol Costello who is celebrating her 46th Birthday (Carol, you look fabulous!)

Mystery Journalist & A Birthday

Did you see Carol Costello guest anchoring CNN's The Situation Room last week? She's been with CNN since October, 2001 and has previously anchored CNN Daybreak. Most recently, she's been a regular contributor to The Situation Room providing News Updates and reports on a variety of topics. Not everyone is cut out to step in to fill Wolf Blitzer's shoes, but she did a great job.

The Akron Beacon Journal published an interview with Costello in February, 2006. I particularly found the CNN anchor word association at the end of the interview interesting. Below are a few excerpts from the article:

She was born in Canton, grew up in Minerva, graduated from Kent State University and now is a familiar face on CNN.

Q: Was being on television something you wanted to do since you were a little kid?

A: In my diary, a 12-year-old Carol Costello wrote: "I want to be a news reporter when I grow up."

Q: Were you involved in journalism in school?

A: I was the anchor of TV2 at Kent State University. I was also the news director.

Q: What has been the most difficult assignment you've had in journalism?

A: Anchoring our CNN coverage of the Iraq war.

Q: How did you land at CNN?

A: I am good at covering breaking news. So I sent a tape. Two weeks later, I had a job.

Q: Here are some CNN names. Can you give us a word to describe each of them? Larry King?

A: Legendary.

Q: Soledad O'Brien?

A: Savvy.

Q: Anderson Cooper?

A: Unique.

Q: Wolf Blitzer

A: Kind.

Q: Ted Turner?

A: Fascinating.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

A: I am training for a marathon. I mentor six college kids. And I try to be there for my husband.

Also from 2006, the Collaborative Online Producing Class at Kent State completed a project where they talked to alumni members in the media. They asked the alumni to share their experiences covering tragedies. Below is an excerpt from the published article:

Carol Costello, Kent State alum and anchor and reporter for CNN, spent ten years as a street reporter.

The stresses of constant deadlines and covering traumatic events caused her to take a break from journalism. She even developed an ulcer.

Costello returned to reporting after realizing that although her job is stressful, it is also very rewarding.

She said the hardest thing she has had to cover was the war in Iraq.

"You had to remove yourself and become dispassionate, and be very accurate," she said.

Costello said working in the journalism field has made her rather cynical.

"Nothing is simple to contemplate any longer. I also have this need to know more."

Costello said she has learned to deal with the stresses of the job. She said she is usually prepared for what she is covering and she rarely gets nervous.

Costello said she thinks a class that would teach students about the stresses of the job would be a good idea.

"It's not a glamorous field, in the end, you are on your own in a breaking news situation. Things happen too fast for a producer to hold your hand."

Costello worked as an anchor and news director at TV2 while at Kent State. She also worked for campus radio. She said working for student media helped her prepare for the real world.

In 2003, Costello spoke at the Thiel College commencement ceremony. Below is an excerpt from the release published by the college:

GREENVILLE, PA - CNN anchor Carol Costello urged Thiel College graduates to "look out the window" during the college's 129th spring commencement Saturday at the William A. Passavant Memorial Center.

"Taken at face value the phrase 'Look out the Window' means you're missing the obvious. But, make the window wider, more inclusive, then you've discovered the secret," Costello told the 140 graduating seniors.

The anchor for CNN's morning news program CNN Daybreak also reminded the graduates to "not accept things at face value."

"A true view is almost never clear - because each of us sees the world in different ways. If we do not attempt and succeed at envisioning the world as others do, we lose," Costello said.

Thanks to Blade for suggesting that we do a post on Carol Costello!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mystery Journalist

This week's Mystery Journalist was Carol Costello

I'll post another Mystery Journalist clue in Friday's post.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

And finally tonight, we wanted to wish Veronica De La Cruz a Happy Birthday.

Below is a clip of a report she recently filed on the websites that people visit.

Behind the Scenes with Gary Tuchman

In today's post:

• Behind the Scenes with Gary Tuchman
• Battlefield Breakdown
• Mystery Journalist
• Casual Friday

Behind the Scenes with Gary Tuchman

Gary Tuchman has always impressed me with the way that he handles interviewing people who really don't want to talk to him. He's always professional, respectful and polite- no matter what. Several years ago, he talked with students from Kline High School in Houston, Texas. Sam Houston University’s website features an article written by Jennifer Gauntt about the visit. Below are a few excerpts:

"There's always something different to learn about," he said. "People go into journalism because it's something they're interested in. Twenty-one years after I've gotten out of college, I still find this as fun as when I first started.

"It's a great way to make a living because you always have people paying attention to what you do, whether you're a writer or working on the radio or are on TV," he continued. "People learn something from you, and you're always learning about different topics. You always have a sense of fulfillment and you may not realize it now, but as you get older, you need that sense of fulfillment."

Tuchman advised the students to major in something they are interested in while in college, not just something that is 'practical' or something their parents want them to do.

"That's how you do well in school, when you study what you're interested in, and that's how you do well in your post-school life, by working in what you're interested in," he said. "Don't do what's practical. Do what's in your heart. Follow your dreams. It may sound clichÈ, but I know too many people who I went to college with who kind of did what their parents wanted them to do and weren't happy doing it."

And to the future journalism majors in the group, Tuchman stressed the importance of always being polite.

"I think a lot of people stereotype journalists as being rude and being aggressive. And, yes, when you have to get a story, sometimes you have to be aggressive, but there's no reason ever to be rude," he said. "Even when I have to deal with the most unscrupulous, loathsome characters, I'm still polite because you don't get what you want when you're being rude. That's a really important thing to keep in mind."

He also told the students that just because you are covering a story doesn't mean you can't be compassionate.

"You are a journalist second and a human being first," he said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Battlefield Breakdown

One programming note: CNN will be rebroadcasting Special Investigations Unit: Battlefield Breakdown this weekend: Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. & Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 2 a.m., 8 p.m., 11 p.m. & Monday, July 9, 2007 at 2 a.m. (all times Eastern).

This is an excellent hour of programming if you get the opportunity to catch it. John King presents facts and soliders stories that you won't soon forget.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mystery Journalist

Can you name this CNN journalist?

Please feel free to let us know who you think this journalist is in the comments. The identity of the Mystery Journalist will be revealed in Sunday night's post.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Casual Friday

TGIF! And in celebration of it being Friday, I'll leave you tonight with our Casual Friday video clip. With 24 hours of news, CNN is certain to have a few lighter moments on air from time to time. This is where I plan on spot lighting some of those moments. I expect that some of the clips will be funny or amusing exchanges between anchors. Others will be of an off beat or quirky story.

Tonight's video is from June 20, 2007's American Morning & it features... well.. men in silver spandex.