SCANDAL: BROADCAST CHIEF A SLEAZE, REPORTS NY TIMES

” WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a “horse racing operation” and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll, according to a summary of a report made public on Tuesday by a Democratic lawmaker.

The report said that the official, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, had repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30broadcast.html?hp&ex=1156996800&en=8590fa5730300061&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Tomlinson’s Defense:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6366851.html

THE DEATH OF NEWS (See MC home page)
ttp://www.carnegie.org/reporter/10/news/index.html

The most useful bit of the media is disappearing. A cause for concern, but not for panic http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7830218

TRUTH AT THE EMMYS

Stewart and Colbert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPpuSSjtgjk



Conan O’Brian does the Emmy’s
http://e.ccialerts.com/a/tBE9NG6AHi236AkTOYUAFlgH3Yk/tvwk3

COVER UP CONTINUES

Downing Street declines al-Jazeera’s FOIA request to would disclose discussions about bombing al-Jazeera’s TV HQ in Qatar.

http://foia.blogspot.com/Wood.pdf

CBS IS PLACING ITS BETS ON KATIE COURIC’S AUDIENCE APPEAL BUT…BOOKIES ARE NOT SO SURE

”August 29, New York - September 5th is right around the corner and CBS is banking on Katie’s ability to turn her daytime audience into nighttime viewers, but is CBS hoping for too much? Analysts at BetCRIS Sportsbook made predictions on how many viewers CBS Evening News will have on Katie Couric’s first day.

* LESS THEN 6.5 MILLION 12 to 1
* BETWEEN 6.5 AND 7.0 MILLION 6 to 1
* BETWEEN 7.0 AND 7.5 MILLION 3 to 1
* BETWEEN 7.5 AND 8.0 MILLION 4 to 1
* BETWEEN 8.0 AND 8.5 MILLION 4.75 to 1
* MORE THEN 8.5 MILLION 3.75 to 1

“Katie Couric is America’s Daytime Sweetheart,” said Mickey Richardson,CEO of BetCRIS.com. “It will be interesting to see if evening viewers accept her as quickly as the day time viewers.”

I WANT MEDIA.com reports:

Was Redstone Right? Cruise Makes ‘Limited’ Financing Deal

”Tom Cruise is cutting a financing deal with Six Flags operator Dan Snyder and ex-ESPN exec Mark Shapiro that will allow him to move his production company out of Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. The deal, worth less than $3 million, underscores Cruise’s declining box-office popularity.

http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cotown/la-fi-cruise29aug29,1,4805123.story

PROTEST TODAY AT THE WASHINGTON POST; DC Antiwar Network DAWNDC.NET CHALLENGES WAPO

WHEN: Wednesday, August 30 5 - 7 pm
WHERE: Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW at L Street

WHAT: PROTEST “STOP TAKING MONEY FROM WAR PROFITEERS! IS THE TRUTH FOR SALE?”

”As we approach the August 31 U.S.-coerced United Nations deadline for the cessation of Iranian nuclear enrichment, Post editorials and Op Eds tend to support the possibility of a U.S. military attack on Iran, despite the unknown and potentially catastrophic results of such an attack. Even as two-thirds of Americans now think the Iraq war was a mistake, based in part on lies, the Post supports the U.S. staying in Iraq.

Washington Post editorials have supported U.S. attacks on Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq as well as U.S.-backed attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Its news reporting emphasizes government excuses for war and only belatedly and reluctantly exposes the lies and propaganda leading to those wars. It supports the Bush administration’s war on terrorism and does little to expose the anti-Arab and Muslim agenda of government and private organizations that is inflaming bigotry in this country.

Protesters demand that:

* The Washington Post stop running display advertisement from military contractors.

* The Washington Post run more articles about the anti-Iraq war sentiment shared by the great majority of Americans.

* The Washington Post discover and emphasize the administration’s false charges and lies excusing their drive for a military attack on Iran.

* The Washington Post widen the range of debate with more Op Eds by the broad spectrum of anti-war Americans.

* The Washington Post Board of Directors set aside one seat for a spokesperson for peace and non-interventionism.

MEDIA TORTURE? SADDAM FORCED TO WATCH “SOUTH PARK”

”Saddam Hussein has been forced to watch *South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut*, according to the film’s co-creator Matt Stone.

The former Iraqi leader is portrayed in the movie as a homosexual who is in a relationship with the devil, and Stone claims the prisoner is being forced to watch it “repeatedly” as he is held by US Marines.

The *South Park* movie was banned on release in Iraq seven years ago.

Stone reveals: “I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie. That’s really adding insult to injury. I bet that made him really happy.”

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds36384.html

JACKIE MASON SUES

”Saying he’s “as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami,” Jackie Mason filed a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus for using his name and likeness in a pamphlet.

The $2 million lawsuit seeks the immediate destruction of the pamphlet, which members of the missionary group have been handing out at various points around New York City.

“While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami,” the 75-year-old comedian said in documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Susan Perlman, a spokeswoman for Jews for Jesus, said the pamphlet was “good-natured.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/08/25/jackiemason.ap/index.html

A DEBATE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: Ahmadinejad challenges Bush to TV debate

Ynet in Israel reports:

“Iranian president condemned US, British role in the world since World War Two but makes no direct mention of int’l nuclear confrontation; ‘I suggest holding live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and ways to solve those issues,’ he says.” Adds: “The creation of the State of Israel was based on a ‘myth,’ alluding to past statements Ahmadinejad made on the Holocaust.”

The last foreign leader to seek to debate Bush was Saddam Hussein. Look at where that got him.

CIVIL WAR AMONG THE VIACOMESE

The rivalry between CBS honcho Les Moonves and Tom Freston of Viacom is said to be heating up over a lucrative movie deal between pay-TV channel Showtime and Paramount Pictures. People close to Viacom describe the internal sniping as “ugly” and “bizarre.”

http://www.nypost.com/business/its_showdown_business_tim_arango.htm

JOURNALISTS CRITICIZE ISRAEL

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3297119,00.html

HONESTREPORTING.COM SAYS ISRAEL LIBELED

”One of the most serious accusations leveled against Israel during the recent Lebanon conflict was that the IDF had deliberately targeted Red Cross ambulances. According to an AP report on July 24, Israeli jets blasted two Lebanese ambulances with rockets on the previous day, striking right in the middle of the red cross that was painted on top of the ambulance in a clear violation of humanitarian and international law…

“In the coming days, other international media outlets reported this story with considerable embellishments, including ITV News (click to see video), Time Magazine, the Guardian, Boston Globe, The Age, NBC News and, finally, the New York Times, some six days later.

“The claims that appeared in the media are comprehensively debunked in a damning report by the Zombietime blog (HonestReporting recommends reading the full text.

SPORTS: THERE ARE JEWS THERE

http://alanlaz.blogspot.com/2006/08/we-got-2-jews.html