Tired in private but fiesty onstage, ousted USDA official Shirley Sherrod vows to educate President Obama and sue Andrew Breitbart

SAN DIEGO -- Five minutes before stepping onto a national stage, yet again, to defend her honor and remind us all that the civil rights struggle continues into the 21st Century, Shirley Sherrod let out a small sigh and reminded no one in particular of an important point:

She didn’t ask for this.

But now that she’s survived a conservative blogger’s use of edited video to try turning her words of racial conciliation into a racist screed, the ousted Agriculture Department official was ready to bring a strong message to the National Association of Black Journalists convention Thursday.

Know your history. Or you’ll be doomed to repeat it.

"We have to do a better job of helping those individuals who get those jobs in the media, education and the presidency…understand their history," said Sherrod, who left little doubt she was talking about President Barack Obama, criticizing America's first black president for being too quick to try appeasing opponents of civil rights groups.

"Those of us who were in the civil rights struggle for 50 years or so, we tried too much to shield that burden and pain from younger people," she said. "That’s why I invited (President Obama) to Georgia…He needs a little lesson."

She also brought a serious message to Andrew Breitbart, who posted selectively edited video July 19 showing Sherrod admitting in a speech she initially hesitated to help a white farmer save his home in a previous job -- sparking a deluge of condemnation before the full video surfaced, showing her message was the opposite.

Sherrod now stands ready to sue Breibart over the impact of the clip, which led Agriculture Department officials to demand her resignation before she could present her side of the issue.

Despite occasionally seeming a bit overwhelmed by the attention, Sherrod was at turns fierce and conciliatory while speaking during a hastily convened public session, scheduled before the official start of the NABJ’s 35th annual conference.

As a longtime NABJ member – I served as president of the Tampa Bay area chapter for more than eight years – I was asked to deliver the first question among a panel of three journalists who questioned Sherrod, including CNN’s Don Lemon and MSNBC’s Maria Sciavocampo.

During the session, parts of which were scheduled to be broadcast on CNN and Fox News Channel, Sherrod said she hadn’t yet spent time reading over the new job offered to her by the Department of Agriculture. (one concern, she noted, was that the document is labeled "draft").

She does wonder, even now, if it would have made a difference for her if the Department of Agriculture had a more diverse staff who might have questioned the attempt to demonize her and the NAACP chapter which heard her speech.

Her voice steady and pointed, Sherrod described how a teacher was afraid to drive her to the hospital 45 years ago after a white man shot and killed her father, fearful of the repercussions. She saw that fear again, she said, when her supervisor demanded she resign last week out of concern that Fox News Channel pundit Glenn Beck was going to highlight Breitbart’s video.

"I don’t go looking for (fights over racism), but if it’s there, I need to recognize it," she said. "And I knew it was racism when it happened to me; nobody needed to tell me that."

In that spirit, the longtime civil rights activist and NAACP member firmly disagreed with President Obama, who said on ABC’s daytime talk show The View that the media’s speedy news cycle helped spark her problem. "It wasn’t all media, it was Fox," she said, brushing aside the news channel’s statements that it didn’t report substantially on the scandal until after she had resigned.

"I don’t know all that Fox was doing behind the scenes to get the effect they were looking for, which was to get me to resign," she said. "I started receiving hate mail right away…They had to know what they were doing."

And though she’s been gracious about accepting apologies delivered by everyone from Vilsack to Fox News Channel pundit Bill O’Reilly, there’s one person whose apology she’s decided she doesn’t need.

Breitbart, who NABJ officials said originally agreed to appear at the event then declined when it was obvious Sherrod would be there in person, need not bother with a mea culpa to her.

"Whatever he says now, he had to know he was targeting me, whether or not he was targeting the NAACP," she said. "He hasn’t apologized…(and) I don’t want it at this point."

Citing viewer confusion, local CBS affiliate changes name from 10 Connects to 10 News

Just about two years ago, WTSP-Ch. 10's new 10 Connects rebranding was a bold effort to link old school TV newscasts with all the new social media stuff percolating in the culture.

Anchors traded instant messages with viewers during broadcasts. A crowd of citizen journalists were handed cameras and asked to shoot video which could land in a newscast. And the station developed a range of online efforts to signal an attempt to reach viewers in new ways.

But on Monday, WTSP called an official halt to that initiative, changing its on-air brand name from 10 Connects to the simpler 10 news.

The reason? Viewer confusion.

"At the end of the day, we found it really wasn't resonating with people," said WTSP general manager Ken Tonning, who noted the station conducted focus group testing of 30 different slogans. "They didn't understand it. there wasn't a broad acceptance of what the 'connection' was."

As I noted back in 2008, the big question about online based initiatives for local TV stations is whether the effort winds up developing too few fans or fans who live so far away they can't help ratings. The 10 Connects effort was championed by former news director Darren Richards, who left the station late last year, so such a change isn't necessarily a surprise for those who know how the TV biz works.

Since Richards' departure, WTSP has slowly become a more traditional news station, re-establishing its 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. newscast block. The resurrection of 10 News, a slogan the station used in 2002, seems to complete that move back to the future.

Tonning couldn't give an exact figure on how much it will cost to make the change, but it's likely to be significant, since everything from stationary to the graphics on the news vans will have to be updated.

H/T to FLNewsCenter.com for the YouTube video below of the new graphics:

Sara Gilbert's new View; a mom-centered CBS daytime show, The Talk

LOS ANGELES -- She's something of a pioneer already; a gay woman who assembled a daytime talk show featuring six famous moms which will slide into a timeslot once held by the oldest soap opera on television.

But Roseanne alum Sara Gilbert downplayed any such notions while speaking with TV critics here about The Talk, her new show which drew a pointed question from one critic because early press materials for the program discussed all the heterosexual panelists' husbands but omitted her partner, TV producer/writer Allison Adler.

"The first place I wanted to (talk about my partner) was not a CBS press release," said Gilbert, who later shrugged off questions about whether Ellen DeGeneres' experience proved it was easier to be open about being gay in daytime TV.

"I really don't feel like I'm a poster child for anything," she said, after the show's press session concluded. "We'll be inclusive and it's not going to be an issue. I think when something's not an issue that does more for our cause than making it an issue, sometimes."

Gilbert assembled Leah Remini (King of Queens), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray), Julie Chen (The Early Show), Sharon Osbourne (America's Got Talent) and Holly Robinson Peete (Celebrity Apprentice) for her cast, focusing the show on moms discussing issues -- like a maternal-centered version of ABC's The View.

She raved about the group's "electric chemistry," but it wasn't obvious during the press session, where the hosts seemed a bit tentative, with Remini admitting "sometimes I'm very unlikeable as a person," and insisting her views as a member of the Church of Scientology won't surface in all the personal talk on the program. "That other thing (Scientology), is not even part of my discussion."

Osbourne cracked up the room by saying her husband, legendarily addled rock star Ozzy Osbourne "doesn't even know I'm doing the show. He thinks I've gone to America's Got Talent." After the press conference, Osbourne would admit "I get bored by the baby stuff," saying current events and political topics excite her more.

The show itself seems a tribute to Hollywood networking; Gilbert, who was managed by CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler about 25 years ago, got the idea for her show during classes for new moms (she and Adler have two kids).

Gilbert, who now serves as an executive producer on the show,  took the idea to Tassler a year ago and the first co-host she suggested was Chen -- wife of CBS CEO Les Moonves. Still Chen and Tassler resisted suggestions that the marital status of one host might have helped the show get picked up.

"I made the decision (to air the show)," Tassler said during an earlier session with the press. "I don't think Leslie's unhappy with the decision, but we're thrilled to have her."

As more well-known names agreed to participate, CBS cancelled As the World Turns and they had a shot at airing in the network's daytime lineup.

Now they just have to get past all the critics' sniping about who's married to who and how it surfaces on the show. 

CBS faces easy session with TV critics, helped by ABC's instability

LOS ANGELES -- One great thing about having a competitor implode just before you take the stage at the TV Critics' Tour -- it can take the pressure way off your own performance.

So CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler had a relatively easy time facing critics this morning, the day after ABC announced the resignation of its entertainment president Stephen McPherson.

"As far as (McPherson's resignation) goes, I said 'Damn, he got out of doing press tour," cracked Tassler, sidestepping any deeper speculation about what his lost might mean for CBS or the competition among all the networks. Later, she said she'd be happy to buy a show from McPherson if he ever turned to developing new shows, as TV executives often do after a big fall.

Instead, Tassler was free to tout the different ways they wound up with new shows -- Jim Belushi's The Defenders started as a reality show pitched to Fox and (Bleep) My Dad Says began as a Twitter tweet (love the critic who suggest the show might be called Feces My Dad Says). She also called their revival of classic cop Hawaii Five-0 a risk, despite the longstanding value of its name.

Other tidbits: after announcing the next four companies to participate in its Undercover Boss reality series, Tassler confirmed that participating companies do not pay to be featured on the show.

The don't expect to have problems with the production of Two and Half Men from Charlie Sheen's legal troubles.

And in the wake of getting a failing grade from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, at least two CBS series will be getting gay characters; The Good Wife's Alicia Florio will have a gay brother, while the couple at the center of Rules of Engagement will use a lesbian friend as a surrogate.

And the new View-style daytime show featuring five mothers will be called The Talk. When I asked about the propriety of including Julie Chen, who is the wife of CBS CEO Les Moonves and now will appear in three different shows on the network, Tassler said executive producer Sara Gilbert asked for her.

Of course, I noted, if I was an executive producer who wanted to get my show on the network, including the CEO'sa wife in the cast might something I'd suggest.

"It really did test the best of all the pilots we had," Tassler said later. "Besides (Chen) has her own career, why should she be penalized for being the CEO's wife?"

Much as I respect Tassler, that seems Hollywood logic at its finest.

Bay News 9 announces debates for GOP attorney general and Democratic U.S. Senate races next week

St. Petersburg-based cable newschannel Bay News 9 has announced two debates in August featuring Democratic U.S. Senate candidates and GOP attorney general hopefuls.

The debates will be organized with corporate sister channel Central Florida News 13 in Orlando, featuring Bay News 9 anchor Al Ruechel and News 13 anchor Scott Harris as hosts. Both newschannels are owned by Bright House Networks.

This first falls on Sunday, Aug. 1, featuring Republican candidates for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jeff Kottkamp and Holly Benson. The second airs Monday, Aug. 2 with Democratic candidates for Senate, Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene. Both air at 8 p.m.

The St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9 share news and features under a partnership agreement.

Click below to see Bay News 9's press release:

Stephen McPherson out as entertainment president of ABC after six years

LOS ANGELES -- When Stephen McPherson took over as president of entertainment at ABC in 2004, he had the good fortune to come on board just as the network was about to air a few promising shows called Desperate Housewives and Lost, and later, Grey's Anatomy.

Six years later, he's finding out how that feels on the other side, announcing his resignation from the company just after leading the network to develop its successful Wednesday night comedy block and one of this year's most Emmy-nominated shows, Modern Family.

"I want to thank the wonderful team of individuals who have worked with me throughout my time here and wish them nothing but the best,”  said McPherson's quote in a terse statement on the resignation released by ABC last night.

The network says a replacement for Mr. McPherson will be announced shortly. Presumably, that announcement might come Sunday, when ABC faces reporters gathered here for TV Critics Association's summer press tour.

McPherson was always a blunt presence at the tour, willing to say what was on his mind with a directness rarely seen in top network executives. But that style also led to rumors his abrasive style was alienating fellows executives and the town.

ABC has seen its ratings fortunes dim this year, thanks to sagging performances from established shows such as Housewives and floundering attempts to develop new dramas such as the confusing and ultimately cancelled Flash Forward.

But ABC has some of the most promising fall pilots on board. Will be interesting to see how the network's suits try to spin this transition in a few days. Stay tuned.

Deggans to appear Thursday with Shirley Sherrod at NABJ convention in San Diego

Now that the National Association of Black Journalists has released its own announcement, I can reveal the news: I have been asked to appear with Shirley Sherrod Thursday, joining a panel of journalists at the group's national convention in San Diego to talk about race, misinformation and the media.

Sherrod, who lost her job at the USDA just last week after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted misleading video clips from a speech she gave at an NAACP dinner, has become a symbol for some of the dangers inherent in our sped-up, 24/7 media culture.

Initially made to look as if she was condoning helping white people less than black people in her job, Sherrod was initially criticized by the NAACP and said the White House pressured her to resign within hours of the clips' appearance. After the NAACP discovered and released a full version of the video, even Fox News Channel pundit Bill O'Reilly apologized for his mistake in calling for her resignation (just before insisting that she still sees life through the prism of race).

The NABJ also invited Breitbart to join in the discussion, and he accepted before later declining. Still, the group will present one of the biggest newsmakers of the past week in a special 8 a.m. session which will precede its national convention opening ceremonies.

I will join a panel of journalists to talk over the issues with Mrs. Sherrod, exploring the problems and pitfalls at the nexus of race and media that NABJ was established, in part, to help correct.

If you have any questions you'd like to see me ask Mrs. Sherrod -- pointless Obama-blamers and hysterical critics of any talk about racial issues need not bother to respond -- feel free to place them in the comments section, and I'll see if I can work one or two of them into the discussion.

And, as always, I hope to blog about the whole experience sometime in the middle of the day. So keep an eye out here Thursday for the full scoop.

Click below to read NABJ's press release

New Dexter trailer for season five asks: How does a serial killer survive the murder of a close relative?

Fans of Showtime's serial killer drama Dexter at the ginormous Comic Con gathering already got a peek at the trailer for the show's fifth season, which suggests the series picks up right after last season's shocking final scene.

Now I'm posting the trailer here, which contains a huge spoiler for anyone watching the shows on DVD.

In that brutal moment, Michael C. Hall's Dexter Morgan discovered that the serial killer he had just dispatched, John Lithgow's twisted and manipulative Trinity Killer, had made it his home and killed his wife before Morgan caught up with him.

(Fear not, the actress who plays Morgan's wife, Julie Benz, now plays Michael Chiklis' wife in ABC's series about a middle class family which suddenly discovers they have super powers, No Ordinary Family. See the trailer here )

Showtime has finally released the trailer, in time for me to quiz the cast on Thursday when they show up for the TV Critics Press Tour.

Until then, check out this crackling preview and let me know if you've got any questions for this sterling cast. Below the new season trailer, check out the trailer for the animated series Showtime has also built around Dexter.

ABC Action News anchor John Thomas working off air after Friday arrest for driving under the influence

John Thomas, weekend morning anchor for Tampa ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28, was arrested Friday at about 9:30 p.m. and charged with driving under the influence, according to a police report.

WFTS general manager Rich Pegram said Thomas would not appear on air as an anchor or reporter until the charge was resolved. Rival station WTSP-Ch. 10 reported on Thomas' arrest, quoting police reports saying the 44-year-old anchor was driving across both lanes of traffic and sidewalks before police stopped him.

WTSP also reported that Thomas handed officers his cellphone when asked for identification and had receipts for the Green Iguana and Alibi Strip Club in his pockets.

An employee at WFTS (also known as ABC Action News) since 1999, Thomas was released from Hillsborough County Jail on $500 bond.

Deggans heads to TV critics summer press tour; hijinks ensue

As you read this, I am probably winging my way to Los Angeles, preparing for the Tuesday start of the TV Critics Association's summer press tour.

For the next nine days, I'll be sitting in a huge room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel -- same spot where they stage the Golden Globe Awards -- listening to producers, stars and network TV executives trying to sell me and 250 other TV critics from across the nation on why their fall shows will be amazingly stupendously successful.

The tour always sparks a bit of controversy, usually voiced by Los Angeles-based critics who resent seeing the folks from out of town step on their turf or from writers who don't come out and object to the blur of cocktail parties and special events arranged to dazzle the TCA.

I long ago made my peace with all of that. This is the best way a critic in Florida can get up close to all the folks who make the TV I critique all year. I've hoping to pull away from the planned stuff to visit some shows on my own, and I'm also going to stop by the National Association of Black Journalists convention in San Diego on Thursday.

For once, TV types have a good argument against those who insist they are becoming more irrelevant; the success of new shows such as Glee, Modern Family, the Good Wife and Showtime’s Nurse Jackie highlight how television is still finding new ways to engage and entertain us.

But each network also has challenges ahead. For Fox, it’s replacing the biggest star on their biggest show, American Idol judge Simon Cowell; for NBC, it’s rebuilding a schedule so tattered they’re debuting seven new shows this fall and 13 over the season.

ABC needs strong drama hits to back up aging fare such as Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy and CBS must revitalize a stable of aging, cop-focused crime shows that feel awfully formulaic.

So expect lots of interesting blog posts, Twitter tweets and Facebook updates for the next 10 days or so.

Fell free to let me know here what you'd like to see my try an cover. Check out the video below to get you in the mood.