Protecting the Wall Street Journal: It's All About the Brand, Stupid

  Now that Rupert Murdoch seems poised to take ownership of the company which controls the Wall Street Journal, there is just one thing that stands between the global media mogul's business interests and the Journal's reputation for editorial independence.

It's the brand, stupid.

That's because Murdoch's $5-billion offer for Dow Jones includes buying the heftiest name in financial journalism. And the wily mogul knows the world will be watching to see if he turns the Journal into a shill for his business interests.

I know some have predicted much worse for the Journal, and I don't blame them. Murdoch has a long history of manipulating the content of even his most prestigious outlets to serve his fiscal imperatives.

But despite some efforts made by the family which controls Dow Jones stock to preserve the journal's independence, the fact is, Murdoch's respect for the newspaper's brand is the only thing which may keep him from messing with the journalism too overtly. I wouldn't place bets on seeing any more aggressive Journal reporting from China, but that may the smallest price to pay for a deal with a media devil necessitated because the newspaper never lived up to its potential.

Here's some other reaction:

The Most Painful TV News Interview You Will Ever See

I've never been particularly sympathetic to folks who get TV interview gigs because of their looks, but this stilted Holly Hunter interview by greenhorn Merry Miller for ABC News Now is so painful, you can't help sparing a bit of pity for the girl.

It's already getting lots of play on YouTube and media sites; makes you wonder if she's ever even seen a Tv interview before. Watch and wince... 

Hillary Clinton's Cleavage and What I Don't Get About CNN's Zahn/Brown Trade

I'm an experienced media critic who has been around the turn a time or two. Still, I remain amazed that MSNBC and CNN -- I didn't get an extended look at Fox News today -- have spent many segments today talking about an 800-or-so-word column by Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan written 10 days ago about Hillary Clinton's cleavage.

Yes. You read right; the ex-First Lady's rack.

Here's a sample: "The cleavage, however, is an exceptional kind of flourish. After all, it's not a matter of what she's wearing but rather what's being revealed. It's tempting to say that the cleavage stirs the same kind of discomfort that might be churned up after spotting Rudy Giuliani with his shirt unbuttoned just a smidge too far. No one wants to see that. But really, it was more like catching a man with his fly unzipped. Just look away!"

Really? A slightly low-cut black top is like a guy with his fly unzipped? I mean, I know Robin has won a Pulitzer -- and is an SP Times alum -- but, well, REALLY?

I find myself, however morbidly, grateful that breaking news of the FBI and IRS busting Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, along with news of a seizure suffered by Chief Justice John Roberts, kept CNN from wallowing in much discussion on this topic.

  I also know it's irresistible. Male politicians mostly wear suits in variations of gray, black and blue. Women offer much more variation and opportunities to critique -- the same dynamic I noted when Katie Couric took over the CBS Evening News and began wearing more than the red tie/striped tie/yellow tie  variations practiced by rivals Williams and Gibson.

Still, the upshot is that women get pieces like Givhan's written about them, while men -- at least those with enough sense to avoid $400 haircuts -- do not. And the fact that I just spent seven paragraphs exploring this issue -- like TV, I've shrouded the discussion in exploring media and blog reaction to the issue -- only highlights the problem.

What I Don't Get About the Zahn/Brown Exchange

Now we are days past the official announcement that former Weekend Today cohost Campbell Brown is coming to CNN to unseat longtime fifth wheel Paula Zahn -- allowing Zahn to do her exit interviews and Brown to do her entrance talks.

So I can ask the question: Is CNN really getting anything for its trouble?

What is working at 8 p.m. is the opinion of Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, the big winner, and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, the up and comer. Zahn was essentially a hire from the big broadcast networks who stopped at Fox before landing at CNN.

So why did the cable newschannel go out an grab another version of the same kind of broadcaster, but a dozen years younger? "I'm not Bill O'Reilly," Brown told the Washington Post in an article today. "I'm not Keith Olbermann. I'm not going to do opinion. That's not who I am."

Neither was Zahn, who sometimes placed fourth in the ratings, despite viewership gains from a year ago.

So why would Brown's tenure turn out any differently...?

Remembering the TV Critics Press Tour: Last Musings of a Decompressing Critic

It has been three days since I got home from the two-week marathon that is the TCA summer press tour, and my body is still stuck somewhere between West Coast and East Coast time -- which means you get odd bursts of energy at midnight and 3 a.m., but can't keep your eyes open during a 10 a.m. meeting.

But another thing a few days from press tour offers is a little distance. I didn't have much when I wrote this Floridian piece published today about some of the odder trends in network TV this fall -- particularly the influx of Brits playing Yanks -- but with a few more days perspective under me, I've got a few more observations.

So, borrowing a format cribbed from my pal Robert Philpot at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I want to add a few more notes to the press tour aftermath.

Most Buzzed-About Shows

Best thing about TCA is you get to talk TV with 150 other people who are just as obsessed about TV as you. And some of them are even a little smarter -- so you get some valuable perspective on what's working and what ain't this fall.

So far, the only buzzed-about new shows seem to be ABC's Pushing Daisies, which features a fanciful pilot about a guy who can bring people back from the dead with a touch, but send them back to the beyond for good with another touch. so what happens when he touches a dead girlfriend? NBC's Chuck and CW's Reaper also got some heat, both focused on nerdy guys granted heroic powers (Chuck gets secrets downloaded into his brain and the Reaper becomes a slacker bounty hunter for the devil) Hey, I told you this fall season wasn't so hot.

Most Hated Shows

ABC's Cavemen is probably tops here, just because its such a broad premise so widely missed. also not much liked is Fox's New Amsterdam, mostly because it's a show about a cop (police procedural) who lives forever (sci fi/fantasy) but may become mortal if he finds his true love (romance) Could they stick more moving parts on this thing? And shows with no pilots, or pilots so extensively remade they might as well be new -- including CBS' drama about a vampire private eye, Moonlight -- automatically land on most critics' to hate lists.

Most welcome trend -- With science fiction and fantasy shows ruling the movie box office and TV, this comic book geek has really enjoyed seeing writers and producers on top TV shows who are also active in the comic industry. From the top executive at BET to top writers at Lost and Medium, the TV industry is filled with folks who respect the storytelling of comic books and still work in the medium, which makes some of these science fiction and fantasy shows go down a bit better.

Most unwelcome trend -- The lack of truly great TV comedies, which even veterans such as Kelsey Grammer and Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre couldn't explain.

Coolest TCA Moment -- Besides watching Jeff Goldblum play pool in the Sand Room at the Friars Club or confronting the Cavemen at the Beverly Hilton patio, it was probably watching House star Hugh Laurie suck out loud at Skee Ball during a street carnival held by Fox (I told him it was a good thing he didn't have to win an Emmy that way) and watching Brian Williams explain how fans of his appearances on the Daily Show "keep saying, Brian we want more Big Giant Head." Which he actually said. Really.

Coolest non-TCA moment -- This year, I made sure to get out of the hotel by scheduling visits to sets outside the official press tour lineup. So I spent time on the set of CBS' new Hispanic family drama Cane, where a very nice, but very distracted Jimmy Smits made sure I saw everything there was to see on set and chatted me up. I also hung out a bit with the most underrated guy in late night television, CBS' Craig Ferguson. And I saw Oliver Platt in the passenger's seat of a convertible in Beverly Hills, looking like he'd had about 10 times too much hair of the dog, if you know what I mean.

Sigh. Los Angeles. I miss it already...

TV Guide Names TV Stars' Salaries

Is it possible that Maury Povich -- the guy whose daytime talk show has mostly devolved into telling women who fathered their babies on air -- makes more than award-winning 60 minutes journalist Lesley Stahl?

Does Judge Judy take home three times more cash than the father of modern TV game shows, Bob Barker?  And is the oddball guy with the beard on CSI really one of the highest-paid actors on television?

If you believe the salary figures quotes in a recent TV Guide they are. I'm never sure exactly where these numbers are coming from -- agents always quote high to make their clients look successful and networks always quote low to keep other stars from asking for more, and every quote is off the record.

Still, it's fun to look at the numbers and play compare and contrast. See where your fave star lands in the mix of compensation.

NETWORK PRIME TIME (all salaries are per episode)

William Petersen (CSI):  $500,000

Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men):  $350,000

Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU):  $350,000

Chris Meloni (Law & Order: SVU):  $350,000

Hugh Laurie (House):  $300,000

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine):  $225,000

Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy):  $200,000

Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives):  $200,000

Jeff Foxworthy (Are You Smarter Than…): $150,000

T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy):  $125,000

Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy):  $125,000

Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters):  $100,000

CABLE (all salaries are per episode)

Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer):  $250,000

Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck):  $125,000

Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck):  $125,000

Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck):  $90,000

James Roday (Psych):  $60,000

DAYTIME

Judge Judy (per year):  $30 million

Bob Barker (per year):  $10 million

Maury Povich (per year plus profit participation):  $7 million

Ellen DeGeneres (per year):  $5 million

Jerry Springer (per year):  $3 million - 4 million

Tyra Banks (per year):  $3.5 million

NEWS ANCHORS (all salaries are per year)

Katie Couric (CBS Evening News anchor):  $15 million

Matt Lauer (NBC Today co-anchor):  $12 million

Meredith Vieira (NBC Today co-anchor):  $10 million

Keith Olbermann (MSNBC anchor):  $4 million

Harry Smith (CBS The Early Show co-anchor):  $3 million

Ernie Anastos (New York City local news anchor):  $2 million

Lesley Stahl (CBS 60 Minutes correspondent):  $1.8 million

WFTS-Ch. 28 Wins the Local News High Definition Race

It's an open secret that every news shop in town has been racing to claim a substantial bragging right: First to broadcast a local newscast in high definition.

If the press release i just received is any indication, it looks like WFTS-Ch. 28 broke the ribbon with its 6 p.m. newscast today, anchored by the station's top dog, Brendan McLaughlin. Click here to check out WFTS' on air victory lap, preserved on their Web site.

Here's the press release:

(Tampa, FL – July 28, 2007) WFTS-TV/ABC Action News is Tampa’s first television station to broadcast its local news in High Definition (HD). This allows viewers to see a sharper and clearer picture. Coupled with enhanced audio, the viewing experience is improved dramatically, regardless of what type of television set (high definition or standard) you watch.

“We are leading the way for all news viewers in Tampa with the most significant advancement of viewing technology since color TV,” said WFTS-TV Vice President and General Manager Bill Carey. “We have been recognized with numerous awards for leading the way in breaking news, investigative journalism, and our weather forecasting and coverage, so it is only fitting that we are the first in Tampa to offer viewers a superior newscast. It was also a distinct honor to have our main anchor, Brendan McLaughlin, who anchored our station’s first newscast, usher in this new era with our 6 p.m. news today.”

All ABC Action News newscasts will now be produced and transmitted in HD. Viewers with HDTV sets will see the newscast in a 16:9 wide-screen format and will enjoy a distinctly better picture. Viewers can receive the HD broadcast signal for free through their antennas, or, if they subscribe to cable, fiber, or satellite service, through those providers as well. Viewers with standard TV sets (4:3 ratio) will notice improved pictures too.

WFTS-TV’s Director of Engineering Jack Winter says “the planning and work behind the scenes to convert our newsroom studio and control room is an all-consuming task and we are proud our team of engineers and station staff are the first to serve Tampa Bay viewers in HD.”

WFTS-TV is the ABC affiliate serving the greater Tampa Bay area, the twelfth largest TV market in the country, and the largest in the state of Florida. It now joins ABC sister affiliate WFTV in Orlando as the only two stations in the state broadcasting local news in HD.

Scaring the Cavemen: Fun and Games in the Dog Days of Press Tour

It's a given that critics get a little giddy toward the end of the TCA tour. Two weeks living out of a suitcase -- even one parked in one of the ritziest hotels in Beverly Hills -- will do that to you.

So when I and a group of mostly black TV critics saw the actors from ABC's Cavemen series sitting on a patio at the Beverly Hilton, decked out in full regalia, having a smoke between filming promotional shots for the network, we couldn't resist. We had to go over and talk to them.

We didn't really say anything mean or aggressive; we mostly made small talk about where we were from and how the tour was going. But you could see in the eyes of the actors, who were fully made up in the fake hair, plastic noses and arm/hand hair, that they were wondering if we would hassle them about the show.

"Some people are pissed that we're even making the show," said actor Bill English, sweeping a lock of fake hair out of his face to exhale a plume of cigarette smoke.  "We're only in it for the money," joked the guy who plays the funny ascerbic cavedude, Nick Kroll.

In a few minutes, a beefy-looking security guy came to the table and said the guys had to shoot some more promotional spots. But as we left, one of my friends saw the guard pushing the guys into a meeting room, saying "Don't leave here."

Did we intimidate the guys just because they know some critics, particularly critics of color, don't find Cavemen's allegory to black people all that amusing? I'm not sure. But I think it may have helped them a bit to know that there are real people on the other end of their portrayals -- people who have to live with the consequences of their creative choices every day.

NOTE: Don't assume the TV show, as depicted in the pilot circulated to critics, is like the GEICO ads. It is not. While the cavemen in the GEICO ads look more like repressed metrosexuals, the allegories to race are much more obvious and heavy-handed in the initial pilot. See a scene from the pilot here.

Hot Ghetto Mess Review: Was there Too Much Made of This Show?

As the glow faded from the final segment on the BET show everyone is talking about, I couldn't help wondering:

Is this what everyone was so worried about?

True, the debut episode of BET's We Got to Do Better, aired at 10:30 tonight, was a disjointed, hyperactive sprawl, playing out like an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos drenched in urban cool. But it was hard to reconcile the tsunami of outrage mounting against this show nationwide with the mostly mediocre program BET unveiled tonight.

The balance of the show was divided between clips of people acting stupidly -- which, despite the show's original title Hot Ghetto Mess, featured folks of all races failing to act sensibly -- and clips of people asked questions requiring a particular knowledge in a segment called "streetwalkin'."

So the clips featureed an awful commercial in which a guy holding a joint urged people to use his wireless service named G-Mobile; a teeth-challenged black man who made up his own words to the star spangled banner, and an overweight white woman who plunged into a mud bath while competing in something called the Redneck Games.

The question segments were more interesting, asking an assortment of average people questions such as: "Are there any African Americans on the Supreme Court (most people shown couldn't provide the answer: Clarence Thomas)," or "What does the NAACP stand for? (most people didn't get that one, either)

"I'm hoping that, by seeing examples of people acting like damn fools, you will be less likely to replicate the behavior yourself," said host Charlie Murphy, who must not have re-recorded his segments after BET tried to tamp down protests by changing the show's name; he kept calling the show by its original moniker, Hot Ghetto Mess.

I'm betting the protest around the show mostly convinced producers to change the graphic images. The logo of the Web site on which the show is based, which features a stereotypical blackface-style character behind a red circle with a line through it was absent. Instead, there were circles with lines through a handgun, a blinged-out necklace and other examples of ghetto excess.

Mostly, it felt to me that the point of this show was blunted by spreading the focus to groups outside of the black community. It gives those are protesting less room to complain, but it also, curiously, seems to sap the show of its pro-black mission.

BET seemed to capitalize on the attention by loading up the show with commercials for their other new programs -- or the protests targeting advertisers were more effective than they've admitted.

At any rate, We Got to Do Better probably should do better. Even if its success will just revive another argument -- whether these extreme images of black folks should be tolerated by people of good conscience anywhere.

   

Is Cavemen the Series About Black People ABC Was Too Scared to Make?

LOS ANGELES – I summed up my reservations about Cavemen with a single question to the producers and cast here today: "Is this the series about black folks that ABC was too scared to make?"

I asked because the pilot episode of the show given to critics showed an opressed group of people who had athletic ability and sexual prowess, faced stereotypes of being dumb and lazy, and fought the popular notion that they were inclined toward criminality. From my perspective, the program offered a clumsy, intese allegory to black people -- with the added benefit for ABC of not actually starring any black people.

"In terms of them standing in for any one ethnic group, that's not our intention," said producer Josh Gordon, one of five producers onstage with the show's three stars, a long line of white guys defending their questionable choices. "We're aware that the pilot seems to lean a little more in that direction."

At first, I wasn't so passionate about this show and its choices, because it seemed so likely to fail. And for most people, the first question they probably had upon hearing ABC was developing a TV comedy starring the GEICO cavemen was: Why base a series on characters from a car insurance commercial?

But after 45 minutes watching the cast and producers of Cavemen field questions from TV critics here at the summer press tour, it was obvious: Even they don’t know why there should be a series on a concept whisked from a moderately funny collection of TV advertisements.

Executive producer Mike Schiff, a veteran of series such as In Living Color and 3rd Rock From the Sun, could barely stammer out an answer when asked what the series would actually focus on. Another producer, former adman and GEICO caveman creator Joe Lawson, said he was surprised critics would question a series developed from a commercial: “I didn’t know we would catch so much hell,” he cracked. “It was a nice surprise.”

Mostly, this crew could only agree on what Cavemen was not; noting that its leaden, heavy handed pilot episode – in which the cavemen are subjected to the kinds of stereotypes which often trouble black people, such as assumptions of laziness, stupidity or lawlessness – would not air until the 5th or 6th episode.

“Unfortunately, if you pick an offensive stereotype of any kind, you bump up against an ethnic group (victimized by it),” said Schiff, sitting among a collection of eight actors and producers who were all white men, saying the show would focus on the struggle for acclimation by outsiders.

They didn’t seem to get the irony; that a stage packed with white males would try writing a series about exclusion from the mainstream. Or that they would admit -- as these producers did during the press conference -- that there will be no cavemen shown who are not white people underneath.

Critics seemed to abandon any ire they might have felt about the pilot’s clumsy racial overtones for a feeling of pity – these guys clearly have no idea what a drubbing they are in for.

ABC Entertainment President Bows to Critics Ire, Complains about Isaiah Washington Coverage

Here's a tip for the press relations folks at ABC: When you face a group of reporters expecting to hear some news, don't tell them you're releasing your biggest announcement of the day somewhere else.

That's the unfortunate scenario ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson found himself in minute ago here at the TCA tour, telling a roomful of critics that the producers of Lost had a major announcement to make about the show at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego tomorrow.

"I've cast Don Imus on Lost," he joked in a tone that communicated just the right amount of contempt for the room.

Given that the questions launched here had mostly devolved to polite queries on why the network is shooting another episode to serve as the debut of Cavemen -- couldn't they tell a series based on a car insurance ad was a bad idea before spending millions to make a pilot that will not air until its fifth or sixth episode now? -- TCA members got surly quickly.

In a tribute to the power of the press, an ABC staffer quickly got on the phone to Lost producer Damon Lindelof, seeking his OK to release the news early, even as critics made the point that releasing news to a ballroom filled with 150 journalists probably made more sense than releasing it to a convention hall filled with fans.

So McPherson gave it up: Harold Perrineau, whose character Michael sailed off into the sunset with his son Walt at the end of Lost's season 2, is coming back to the show this season. McPherson gave no specifics, but rumor around here has it that Perrineau left Lost to star in a pilot for a series that didn't get picked up, leaving him free to return to the show, salary negotiations permitting.

In other news, McPherson confirmed that Dana Delany is joining the cast of Desperate Housewives, along with Nathan Fillion (Serenity). The network is developing and American version of Dance X, a reality show in Britain pitting two choreographers against each other, starring dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba from Dancing with the Stars.

In talking with reporters after his press conference, McPherson seemed bitter that critics didn't  challenge NBC president Ben Silverman when he faced us, both for Silverman's decision to hire Isaiah Washington for the Bionic Woman remake after he was fired by ABC and for his covert negotiations to take the job leading NBC's entertainment division, ousting a McPherson friend, Kevin Reilly.

"He's either clueless or stupid," McPherson said, referring to Silverman and his statements that he talked with Washington about possible projects before he was fired by ABC, unaware of the swirling controversy over the actor's use of an antigay epithet.

McPherson also implied the NBC president might be guilty of inducing Washington to break his contract with ABC in the middle of the controversy, perhaps by letting him know Bionic Woman and a development deal was an option at NBC: "You guys let him off the hook...it was pretty obvious what went on there...(Silverman) didn't know what went on? Was he living in a cave?"