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Oct 14, 2009
David Letterman Sex Scandal
On Friday afternoon, following Mr. Letterman's initial revelations, Ms. Markoe wrote on her blog that "this is a very emotional moment for me because Dave promised me many times that I was the only woman he would ever cheat on." Later, she responded to comments from her readers with a toast to them: "May none of you ever wake up one morning to find your name and photo included in a montage full of interns and personal assistants." New York Observer
Over the past year, Armen Keteyian, the chief investigative correspondent for CBS News, has reported on cyber-thieves in New Jersey, murder-for-hire plots in Wisconsin and teenage bomb-makers in Atlanta. But these days, Mr. Keteyian is hard at work on a story much closer to home—namely, alleged blackmail plots within his own newsroom.
On Oct.3, two days after news broke of the alleged blackmail attempt of David Letterman by 48 Hours producer Joe Halderman, CBS Evening News executive producer Rick Kaplan told The Washington Post that the network would be reporting the story as though it were a scandal in the Commerce Committee
http://www.observer.com/2009/media/its-cbs-news-investigates-letterman-scandal
Life was cyclical, Mr. Letterman had learned. Decades earlier, he had moved to Los Angeles with his first wife, Michelle, to try and make it in comedy. His career took off, and his marriage fell apart. As it turned out, comedy clubs put Mr. Letterman in too close proximity with too many beach girls from San Diego State.
"It was embarrassing and superficial," Mr. Letterman later said of his behavior, according to The Late Shift, by Bill Carter. "It was just me being a dork: Hey, young girls!"
And, now, here we were again.
http://www.observer.com/2009/media/bizarre-late-night-love-triangle
Posted at 05:43 am by Psychomike
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Oct 12, 2009
Coppola: Cinema Falling Apart
“The cinema as we know it is falling apart,” says Francis Ford Coppola.
“It’s a period of incredible change,” says the director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” “We used to think of six, seven big film companies. Every one of them is under great stress now. Probably two or three will go out of business and the others will just make certain kind of films like ‘Harry Potter’ -- basically trying to make ‘Star Wars’ over and over again, because it’s a business.”
Coppola, 70, sporting a dark suit, is being interviewed in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where his latest movie “Tetro” opened the Beirut Film Festival after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
“Cinema is losing the public’s interest,” says Coppola, “because there is so much it has to compete with to get people’s time.”
The profusion of leisure activities; the availability of movies on copied DVD and on the Internet; and news becoming entertainment are reshaping the industry, he says. Companies have combined businesses as customers turn to cheap downloads rather than visit shops or movie theaters.
“I think the cinema is going to live off into something more related to a live performance in which the filmmaker is there, like the conductor of an opera used to be,” Coppola says. “Cinema can be interactive, every night it can be a little different.”
Sitting on a red velvet sofa, surrounded by stone statues of Greek figures in the lobby of the Albergo hotel, Coppola says he did not direct for a decade until 2007 when “Youth Without Youth” was released: He spent that period working on abortive projects and readjusting to changes in the film industry
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajbmamDBit14
Warner Bros. and DC Comics have lost a little more control over the Man of Steel.
In an ongoing Federal court battle over Superman, Judge Stephen Larson ruled Wednesday that the family of the superhero's co-creator, Jerry Siegel, has "successfully recaptured" rights to additional works, including the first two weeks of the daily Superman newspaper comic-strips, as well as portions of early Action Comics and Superman comic-books.
The ruling is based on the court's finding that these were not "works-made-for-hire" under the Copyright Act.
This means the Siegels -- repped by Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates -- now control depictions of Superman's origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.
The first Superman story was published in 1938 in Action Comics No. 1. For $130, Jerry Siegel and co-creator Joel Shuster signed a release in favor of DC's predecessor, Detective Comics, and a 1974 court decision ruled they signed away their copyrights forever.
In 2008, the same court order ruled on summary judgment that the Siegels had successfully recaptured (as of 1999) Siegel's copyright in Action Comics No. 1, giving them rights to the Superman character, including his costume, his alter-ego as reporter Clark Kent, the feisty reporter Lois Lane, their jobs at the Daily Planet newspaper working for a gruff editor, and the love triangle among Clark/Superman and Lois.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007269.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Bryan Singer said Sunday he's interested in making another "X-Men" movie and has discussed the possibility with Twentieth Century Fox.
The American director made "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United," but passed on the third installment so he could make "Superman Returns." "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner ended up shooting that film, "X-Men: The Last Stand." South African filmmaker Gavin Hood made another spin-off, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which was released earlier this year.
"I'm still looking to possibly returning to the 'X-Men' franchise. I've been talking to Fox about it," Singer said at a talk at South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_en_ce/as_mov_skorea_people_bryan_singer
Posted at 03:24 am by Psychomike
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Oct 8, 2009
The Self Destruction Of NBC
JAY LENO VS NBC: WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE THEY THINKING?
the big winners:
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Not even a sex scandal could derail the Letterman juggernaught as network affiliates saw their news show ratings collapse and Jay Leno's ratings sink. Even Craig Ferguson is pounding away at Conan O'Brien and people trying his show are staying. For NBC, a plot against the writers has ended in a historic case of network self destruction.
By opening up a time slot earlier in the evening with little Writer's Guild protection or rules NBC thought they had freed up their evening slot. Whether Jay Leno won or lost, that time slot was now virtually union free. So a name brand that was a stronghold (The Tonight Show) was thrown away the way CBS stupidly threw away hit shows like THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES years ago. But that action by CBS has now been topped by NBC because they never saw the domino effect the Leno change would cause. With affiliates losing their identity and local money, sooner or later heads will roll. My guess is the network execs will circle the wagons and look for talent to blame. Conan might want to get his resume together. The biggest winner?
THE WGA! This must be sweet revenge for the Writer's Guild!
Posted at 04:35 pm by Psychomike
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Oct 6, 2009
After a summer bursting with expensive box office flops, a film made for a paltry $15,000 and starring an unknown cast is shaping up to become one of the year’s surprise successes.
Paranormal Activity, a horror film in the mould of the Blair Witch Project, has been selling out midnight screenings in a handful of US cities and looks set to become a bona fide hit when it is released across the US by Paramount this month.
The positive buzz surrounding the film is in sharp contrast to the negative reaction afforded several big budget releases this summer that flopped at the box office. As Hollywood studios tighten their belts, the lower budget film could be a sign of things to come.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edd9a0e8-b29e-11de-b7d2-00144feab49a.html
Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he is teaming up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the Rams, owners of the NFL's longest losing streak at 14 and just 5-31 since 2007.
In a statement, Limbaugh declined to discuss details, citing a confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs, the investment firm hired by the family of former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere to review assets of her estate, including the NFL team.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9B5OF6O0&show_article=1#
Posted at 05:24 pm by Psychomike
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Oct 1, 2009
Cable giant Comcast Corp. is kicking the tires of NBC Universal, according to people familiar with the situation.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator with almost 25 million subscribers, has been looking to increase its content holdings for several years. In NBC Universal it would get its hands on not only a big broadcast network and movie studio, but also several powerful cable channels, including USA, Syfy, CNBC, MSNBC and Bravo.
NBC parent General Electric has often denied that it is interested in selling its entertainment holdings. Of course, if history is any guide, Comcast doesn't necessarily wait for an invitation before making a play. Five years ago it made an unsuccessful run to buy Walt Disney Co. for $54 billion.
The price tag for NBC Universal would be substantially less than that. A recent analyst report from J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa valued NBC Universal at $30 billion to $35 billion. However, such a deal would likely be very complex because there would be huge tax implications for NBC Universal parent General Electric, which first bought NBC in 1986 for $6.5 billion.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/09/comcast-wants-nbc-universal-.html
Posted at 12:01 am by Psychomike
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Sep 24, 2009
How Music Industry Changed
The most important news story of the past decade doesn't concern a specific band or genre or trend. It's the story of how music news itself has changed. Think back to the turn of the millennium: How did you find out that your favorite band had a new album coming out? Sure, the few of us with fast enough internet connections might have read about it online, but it's more likely that you read about it in a magazine, saw a poster at your local record store, or maybe, maybe heard about it from MTV News. These days, that magazine has probably folded, your local record store is now a Best Buy, and MTV just wants to show you "Hills" spin-offs. You're going to find out about that album from a music news blog or site, or even from the band themselves, via their own web portal or Twitter. And you're probably going to end up hearing that album much, much sooner than the band intended, thanks to a leak. Via Bryan Wendorf
http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7699-the-decade-in-news/
Posted at 04:03 pm by Psychomike
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Sep 23, 2009
Hillary did not write her book, Gore pressed for apology on Monica, Jimmy Carter Opposed 1998 Attacks On Iraq Over WMD, More in book shocker!
Clinton on Gore: "I Thought He Was in Neverland"
In a soon-to-be-released book based on taped interviews, Bill Clinton discusses his presidency, while dishing on Al Gore, Maureen Dowd, and GOPers
Mon September 21, 2009 9:32 PM PST
On Monday, USA Today ran a front-page article on the soon-to-be-released book chronicling a series of secret interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch held with President Bill Clinton throughout the Clinton presidency. The piece focused on a bizarre episode in which Russian President Boris Yeltsin during a visit to Washington in 1995 ended up in his underwear and drunk on Pennsylvania Avenue, trying to hail a cab. As for the Lewinsky affair, Clinton told Branch, he "just cracked" under political and personal pressures. USA Today also noted that Clinton and Al Gore had an explosive conversation following the 2000 election. But the newspaper provided only a few details on this meeting.
I've obtained a copy of the book, and that encounter, as Clinton recalled it to Branch, was more than dramatic; it was also weird.
During the discussion, Clinton told his vice president that he was disappointed that Gore had not used him in the last ten days of the 2000 campaign in strategically significant states--Arkansas, Tennessee, New Hampshire, and Missouri. But Clinton said he could understand that. What was more upsetting for him, Clinton remarked to Gore, was that Gore had not crafted a more winning message during the campaign, that he had not campaigned on any grand themes. Clinton insisted to Gore that he hadn't cared about how Gore had referred to Clinton—and his personal scandal—during the campaign. Paraphasing this portion of the conversation, Branch writes that Clinton told Gore, "To gain votes, he would let Gore cut off his ear and mail it to reporter Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, the Monica Lewinsky expert."
At one point in the conversation, Gore told Clinton that he was still traumatized by having been caught up in the fundraising scandals of the 1996 Clinton reelection campaign, and he indicated that he blamed Clinton. Clinton could hardly believe this, and he told Branch that Gore was probably in shock from the election or unhinged, remarking, "I thought he was in Neverland."
In this same conversation, Gore pressed Clinton for an explanation of his affair with Lewinsky, noting that Gore had stood by him throughout the ordeal without Clinton ever confiding in him. There was little to say, Clinton replied. But Clinton did say that he was sorry. Gore responded that that this was the first time Clinton had apologized to him personally. This angered Clinton, who countered that he was only repeating what he had already said publicly. Moreover, Clinton noted, Hillary had more to resent that Gore did, and she had just campaigned successfully for Senate by unabashedly citing the Clinton-Gore record—not running away from it. Gore responded with his own anger, insisting that Clinton's character had been at the root of his failure to win the White House. Clinton acknowledged that he had not confessed to those closest to him, but that he was glad he had not talked more about the affair, for that would have made the controversy even worse.
The 707-page book, titled The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President, is a fascinating read, full of the most inside information on the policy fights, political tussles, and personal controversies of the Clinton years. I haven't finished the book, but here are other intriguing portions that caught my attention:
* In an interview with Branch shortly after he left office, Clinton passionately defended his last-minute pardon of Marc Rich, the fugitive financier. Summing up Clinton's outrage over the dust-up caused by the pardon, Branch describes the now ex-president's rant: "They said Clinton had a conflict because Rich's ex-wife was a donor to his library. Lord have mercy, he cried, Papa Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and others before the Iran-contra prosecutions may have targeted Bush himself. Nobody fussed." Clinton showed no remorse to Branch about this pardon.
* In 1996, when Washington author Sally Quinn was telling people that Hillary had not written her book, It Takes a Village, Branch suggested to the First Lady that she invite Quinn and her husband Ben Bradlee to the White House. "You know," Hillary shot back, "she has been hostile since the moment we got here. Why would we invite somebody like that into our home. How could she expect us to." Branch writes, Hillary "said Quinn and her friends simply invented gossip for their dinner circuit. They had launched one juicy affair between Hillary and a female veterinarian attending Socks, the Clinton family cat, with tales about how somebody discovered them in flagrante on a bedroom floor in the White House."
* After the 1998 congressional elections, Clinton bemoaned the fact that GOP Rep. Jim Bunning had narrowly won a Senate seat in Kentucky. Branch writes, "He said Bunning, a former baseball player, was so mean-spirited that he repulsed even his fellow know-nothings. 'I tried to work with him a couple times,' said Clinton, 'and he just sent shivers up my spine....I know you're a baseball fan and everything, and you don't like to hear it, but this guy is beyond the pale.'"
* When Clinton prepared for military strikes against Iraq in 1998, he griped about former President Jimmy Carter. "[Republican Senator Bob] Dole will support me," he told Branch. "Carter will probably criticize me. Carter always criticizes, but he doesn't have much positive to say."
* In 1997, when Senate Republicans were opposing Clinton's pick for CIA chief, Anthony Lake, Clinton told Branch he considered Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican (who had once been a Democrat) and a leading Lake detractor, to be a dogged and spiteful man. Clinton added that Shelby was supported by two GOP "know-nothings" on his Senate committee, Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
* In 1996, Esquire magazine was looking for a writer to contribute a pro-Clinton article to its election issue. After Clinton hit snags with Texas columnist Molly Ivins, Harvard professor Thomas Patterson, and bestselling crime author John Grisham, Branch took on the assignment.
* In 1994, after Bob Woodward's book on the budget battles of Clinton's first year in office, The Agenda, came out, Clinton told Branch he suspected that the major sources for Woodward were George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, and Alan Greenspan.
* In 1994, Hillary Clinton told Branch that a year earlier she had been at a dinner party where Henry Kissinger had whispered to her that if her health care plan became law he would never be allowed to see his personal physician again. Hillary had tried to explain to Kissinger why this was not true. But, Branch writes, "she said Kissinger merely scowled and growled behind his 'game face' of impregnable secret knowledge." Hillary also disclosed to Branch that she had dreamed of being at a banquet with Kissinger and telling him that her health care reform effort was not dead and "there's always light at the end of the tunnel."
* In 1995, Clinton predicted to his confidantes that Colin Powell would challenge him in 1996, while Hillary and Gore contended that the retired general would not. After Powell declared he would not run, Branch writes, the president did not call Powell, fearing this would "advertise his relief." Clinton's "mistaken prediction about Powell," Branch adds, "seemed to gnaw at Clinton."
* Toward the end of 1995, when Japan was in the midst of political and economic crises, Gore urged Clinton to visit Japan. Clinton, though, nixed the dates Gore suggested, saying, "Al, I am not going to Japan and leave Chelsea by herself to take" her junior-year midterm exams. This caused a big fight between the two.
* Following his 1996 reelection victory, Clinton was mad about revelations of Democratic Party campaign finance irregularities. He feared—after Whitewater—that this could be a legitimate scandal. He was annoyed that Democratic Party officials could not provide him answers about what had gone wrong. But, Branch writes, "he thought fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe vaguely knew." Referring to antagonism toward him within the press at this time—especially at The Washington Post and The New York Times—Clinton declared, "I am bitter about it."
* In 1997, after New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote an acerbic column about Clinton and golfer Tiger Woods—maintaining that the the two green-eyed hucksters deserved each other—Clinton told Branch, "She must live in mortal fear that there's somebody in the world living a healthy and productive life."
You can follow David Corn's postings and media appearances via Twitter.
Posted at 05:59 am by Psychomike
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Sep 21, 2009
BAILOUTS FOR AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS?, NEW COMPUTER VIRUS ATTACKS BANKING INFO, WHAT AMERICA WASN'T TOLD: EUROPEAN SOCIALIST COUNTRIES REJECT BAILOUTS!
The president said he is "happy to look at" bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses. "I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them," Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59523-obama-open-to-newspaper-bailout-bill
Cyber criminals have created a highly sophisticated Trojan virus that steals online banking log-in details from infected computers.
The Clampi virus, which is spreading rapidly across hundreds of thousands of computers in Britain and the United States, infects computers when users visit websites that host a malicious code.
Once on the computer, the virus sits unnoticed until the user logs on to bank, credit card or other financial websites. It then captures log-in and password information and sends it to a server run by the attackers. They can then tell the compromised computer to send money to accounts that they control, or they can buy goods with the stolen credit card details
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6841779.ece
The story America wasn't told.... Socialist countries reject bailouts! Socialist Sweden told financially troubled Saab motors there will be no government bailout similar to the U.S. efforts to rescue General Motors.
Saab will therefore most likely sink, along with the fortunes of the Swedish city of Trollhattan, whose citizens are as dependent on Saab for their livelihood as the people of Flint, Michigan, are on GM.
"The Swedish state is not prepared to own car factories," Sweden's enterprise minister, Maud Olofsson, told The New York Times.
Ironically, Sweden's usually soft-hearted, socialistic paternalism toward labor and business is nowhere apparent in this modern, free-market world solution just as the U.S. spends billions to save its uncompetitive global car companies.
http://moneynews.newsmax.com/streettalk/saab_sweden_gm/2009/03/25/195995.html
Posted at 09:35 am by Psychomike
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Sep 17, 2009
If analyst Laura Martin is right, Hulu will wipe out the network television business as we know it. In a new report, the Soleil Securities analyst estimates that the online video hub will cost TV networks US$920 per viewer in advertising if their audiences are cannibalized by Hulu. And she believes the bulk of viewing on Hulu is indeed taking eyeballs from TV. It's not the first time Martin has sounded the alarm on the rise of online TV. In a May report she warned that the entire US$300 billion market valuation of the television industry is threatened by the shift of programming from TV to the Web. Spearheading the overthrow of TV-as-we-know-it is Hulu, the premium video site backed by NBC Universal, News Corp. and Walt Disney Co. that offers content from 120 partners from the Food Network to Paramount Pictures.
As of July, Hulu had grown to 38 million monthly viewers who watched 457 million streamed videos, making it the sixth-most-visited video site, ahead of competitors like AOL, CBS Interactive and the Turner Network, according to comScore. On the financial side, Martin estimates that in 2009 Hulu will still lose money - US$33 million on revenue of US$164 million. NBCU, News Corp. and Disney are believed to keep 75% of estimated revenue, or US$123 million. With a rapidly growing audience, high-quality video and increasing revenue, Martin has little doubt Hulu will succeed in the long term. - www.mediapost.com
Posted at 02:20 pm by Psychomike
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Sep 16, 2009
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Conservatives score string of scoops
By: Michael Calderone and Mike Allen
September 15, 2009 04:29 PM EST |
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The right-wing media's single-minded focus on a handful of targets over the past months and its success in pushing those stories into the mainstream have underscored the sharp divide between traditional news organizations and the bloggers and talk show hosts aggressively pursuing an ideological agenda on-line and on TV and radio.
From birthers to tea parties to town halls and ACORN, the scandal-plagued anti-poverty group — not to mention President Obama's speech last week to school children and the background of former White House aide Van Jones — issues initially dismissed or missed entirely by the national media have burst, if only fleetingly, onto the national agenda after relentless coverage on Fox News, talk radio and in the blogosphere.
"If it wasn't for Fox or talk radio, we'd be done as a republic," Glenn Beck declared Tuesday morning on "Fox & Friends." Beck, who's aggressively pushed the Van Jones and ACORN stories, told the morning show hosts that he plans to devote his hour-long, top-rated 5 p.m. show to new undercover tapes of ACORN employees.
Last week, Big Government, a site run by conservative Andrew Breitbart, showed videos of undercover stings in three ACORN offices, where journalists posing as pimps and prostitutes were instructed by employees on how to skirt legal restrictions on housing. The tapes got big play on The Drudge Report—where Breitbart has worked—and right-leaning news outlets and commentary shows. But only after the Senate voted to cut off federal funding to ACORN on Monday did the story get more attention in the mainstream media.
ABC "World News" anchor Charles Gibson seemed caught off guard by the ACORN tapes on Tuesday when he told Chicago radio hosts Don Wade and Roma that he hadn't heard of them, in a clip flagged by prominent conservative blogger Michelle Malkin. Gibson added that "maybe this is just one you leave to the cables."
Jon Banner, executive producer of ABC's "World News," told POLITICO that he's been discussing doing an ACORN piece with chief White House correspondent Jake Tapper over the past week, but the show hasn't run one on the latest scandal. "World News," he said, is expected to report on ACORN tonight.
MORE: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=BF62E557-18FE-70B2-A87609DA5ED88AED |
Posted at 09:19 am by Psychomike
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