Big changes at GMA

Read about it in this Washington Post report.

Afghanistan? You mean there's a war there, too?

Indeed there is. And according to a report in the American Journalism Review, most news organizations are ignoring it.

An analysis of coverage of the latest Middle East crisis

Needless to say, according to one critic, the coverage has plenty of holes. Read more here.

More women on the anchor desk

Read the report from the Washington Post here.

Changing of the...name

Which also signifies the changing of the times. Read more here.

Brian Williams and video blogging

Another good use of so-called new technologies by the anchor of the NBC Nightly News program. Read more here.

Should Bush's "s-word" have aired?

According to Reuters, network television executives' fear of the FCC ensured the "bleep" was used.

Additional details about how other news agencies handled the question is addressed in this article from USA Today.

The latest "war" in the Middle East

A few general opinions I have formed about the media coverage of the latest Middle East violence. In no particular order...

1. The initial absence of reporting FROM the Middle East. The number of correspondents/anchors who have made it to that part of the world has increased in recent days, but the closure of international news operations was once again evident on Wednesday and Thursday when coverage was almost exclusively from the United States.

2. There remains a heavy reliance upon "official" sources. This means that the public relations battle is in high gear. I was particularly struck by one interview that involved an ambassador from one Middle East country. He (and I'm choosing not to name him) almost willfully chose to ignore the questions that were asked of him and instead focused his responses on what Israel (where he was not from) was either doing wrong or not doing at all.

3. Fires, bombs, air raids and destruction are telling too much of the story. The pictures are certainly what television executives and news managers like to see, but are those pictures doing a credible job of explaining what is happening on either side of the Israeli-Lebanese border?

4. The value of perspective. I miss Peter Jennings at times such as these. In my opinion, he was the best at sorting out who was who and what was what.

World Cup soccer ratings are a real kick...

...perhaps ABC and ESPN ought to ask French superstar Zidane to head butt all those who criticize soccer and the so-called feeble audience sizes? The ratings story can be accessed here.

All-female anchor team in Cincy and the late night ratings challenge

The report from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

What did Katie Couric learn while on the road?

USA Today has some answers, as it reports on the new CBS Evening News anchor's attempt to hear from Americans about the issues that matter to them.

Breaking news!!!

Or is it? The Cincinnati Enquirer asks broadcast journalists and the public to consider when the "breaking news" label ought to be applied.

The New York Times...

...gets ripped when it does its job, and ripped when it doesn't. This time, a competitor and selected journalism deans say the paper (and its editor) did the right thing when it reported about the government's monitoring of financial transactions.

Tribune Company shutters foreign news desks

The explanation, through Poynter.org, can be accessed here.

Which is more credible -- the Bush administration or the New York Times?

No matter your answer, read a thought-provoking commentary from Jack Shafer at Slate.com

The FCC and Indecency

The FCC says it wants to take another look at indecency. Details here.

"Go" Does Not Pass

PBS pulls the plug on a channel geared to kids. Read details here.