Tag Results for NBC

Two years ago, the Phoenix newspapers bestowed one of their annual Muzzle Awards on Comcast for firing Barry Nolan (photo), the Boston-based host of "Backstage," which appeared locally on CN8.

Nolan's apparent offense: speaking out against a decision by the National Academy of Arts & Sciences to present a coveted Governors Award to Fox News blowhard Bill O'Reilly. Nolan showed up at the Boston Emmy Awards to protest the choice.

"I got fired for saying demonstrably true things in a roomful of news people that people agreed with," Nolan told me at the time. "Which tells you more, I think, about the times we live in than about the idiosyncrasies of somebody at Comcast."

Now, at long last, Nolan's story — and his $1.2 million wrongful-termination suit against Comcast — is getting a full airing. Earlier this week, the Columbia Journalism Review posted on its website a 2,700-word story by veteran Boston journalist Terry Ann Knopf. The chief revelation: a "carefully worded, lawyerly letter" from O'Reilly to Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts in which O'Reilly said he considered Nolan's one-man crusade to be "outrageous behavior" and "a disturbing situation." O'Reilly wrote:

We at "The O’Reilly Factor" have always considered Comcast to be an excellent business partner and I believe the same holds true for the entire Fox News Channel. Therefore, it was puzzling to see a Comcast employee, Barry Nolan, use Comcast corporate assets to attack me and FNC.

Now, it's true that Nolan publicly referred to O'Reilly as "a mental case." But the fact that O'Reilly would reach out to crush a critic who was in no position to do him any real harm only serves to underscore his reputation for bullying people. It's even more disturbing that Comcast, which is now trying to acquire NBC, would cave.

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The always-lively segment where our panelists bring a variety of their own short topics to the discussion. Rants and raves include: Reuters displays a racy picture of pop star Miley Cyrus; BP's latest PR blitz; shameless self-promotion from NBC's Today Show; reports of Al Gore's sexual misconduct; and a YouTube puppet video takes a jab at technology reporters.

"Beat the Press" panelists sound off on their rants and raves of the week: Nina Easton blurs the line between reporter and political operative; politicians tango with the over election plans; a new report by Pew Research Center on online activity; a fake rumor spreads about Justice John Roberts' retirement; and Today Show reporter Natalie Morales moonlights as a fact-checker for The Marriage Ref.

"Beat the Press" panelists sound off on their rants and raves of the week: Topics include NBC's handling of the 2010 Olympics; the National Enquirer is allowed to compete for a Pulitzer Prize; Esquire's powerful profile of Roger Ebert; journalists still getting caught plagiarizing; and praise for the Boston Globe and Boston Herald's coverage of Amy Bishop's Massachusetts roots.

"Beat the Press" panelists sound off on their rants and raves of the week: Topics include WCVB's election night coverage; the New York Times charging for online content; sympathy levels for outgoing NBC host Conan O'Brien; coverage of the Supreme Court's ruling on corporate campaign spending; and using political party surrogates as political analysts.

The Beat the Press panel offer their own rants and raves about the media this week - including WCVB-Channel 5’s handling of the Gail Huff-Scott Brown marriage; fallout from the NBC late night feud between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien; Google's decision to no longer support China's censoring of searches; and media comparisons between former President Bush's response to Hurrican Katrina and President Obama's response to the Haiti earthquake.

Checkbook journalism seemed alive and well at the end of 2009, as witnessed by two of the bigger television "gets" of December.

First there was the terrifying story of the Nigerian man who tried to blow up a Northwest airlines flight as it headed for a landing in Detroit. A Dutch man, Jasper Schuringa, was hailed as a hero for rushing to fellow passenger Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and burning his hands trying to put out the fire Abdulmutallab was trying to set. Authorities later  discovered high explosives concealed in Adbulmutallab's underwear.

CNN landed both the first interview and exclusive first use of the a grainy cell phone photo of Abdulmutallab being taken away by authorities, reportedly by paying for the photo. The fact that Schuringa took photo eased the ethical dilemma - though paying for interviews is a no-no, it's common practice for news organizations to pay for photos (CNN didn't disclose how much, but said the reported figures of $10,000-$18,000 were too high). Thanks to Schuringa's cell phone, CNN got a package deal and got out front of the story without taking too much heat.

The Today show? Not so much. NBC was flat-out criticized for putting David Goldman, the father who successfully fought his deceased wife's Brazilian family for custody of his son, on a chartered jet back to the US. NBC conducted the first interview with Goldman after he recovered his son during the flight.

NBC said it had already chartered the jet for its own employees anyway, but the Society of Professional Journalists' ethics committee pronounced itself "appalled" - calling the offer of the flight a clear end-run around the ethical prohibition on paying for interviews.

A new Web Exclusive for Beat the Press. Our panelists unload on media topics that they find amusing, alarming or just plain annoying. This segment is only available on BeatthePress.org and on the new radio broadcast of Beat the Press on WGBH FM 89.7 FM.

The twists and turns in the reporting of Tareq and Michaele Salahi.  It was a kicker story that turned into a security breach with the White House social director refusing to appear at Congressional hearings. How responsible was the media in reporting this story?

NBC is apparently looking to start an NBC Boston local news web site that would compete with its own affiliate in the market, WHDH. NBC is already hearing from affiliates claiming the move to air Jay Leno at 10PM has undermined the ratings of local newscasts at 11PM.