NY Observer > CBS News

What Does It Take to Get a War Correspondent Back on the Front Page?

Felix Gillette — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:00:30 -0400

As we noted recently, reporters and correspondents in Baghdad have had an increasingly difficult time in recent months getting their reports on air and their stories on the front pages of newspapers.

But this morning, seasoned war reporter Lara Logan of CBS News popped up on the front page of the New York Post—albeit for a bunch of allegations about her life in Baghdad that have nothing to do with her enterprising reporting on the region.

The allegations against her couldn't have come at a worse time for Ms. Logan. Yesterday, CBS News announced that Ms. Logan, considered a rising star within the network, will be assuming a new role for CBS, serving as "chief foreign affairs correspondent" out of Washington, D.C.

CBS News Becomes Widget Factory

Felix Gillette — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:56:35 -0400

What does the long-term future hold for local television news business? Unclear. What does the short term promise?

Widgets.

On Wednesday, June 18, executives as WCBS, the CBS-owned and -operated station in New York City, unveiled a new online business venture in which they will supply “widgets with real-time news feeds” to a network of local blogs.

Reached on the phone recently, Dan Shelley, the director of digital media for the station, explained that WCBS was offering bloggers a variety of different widget packages to choose from, ranging from sports to entertainment to breaking news.

“We have a ‘water cooler’ section, which is a robust section full of weird news stories,” said Mr. read more »

CBS 'Early Show' Names New Executive Producer

Felix Gillette — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:34:09 -0400

Roughly three months after the tumultuous exit of Shelley Ross, The Early Show on CBS has named Zev Shalev as the show's new executive producer. Rick Kaplan of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric had been filling in on an interim basis.

From the press release:

Shalev has been senior broadcast producer of the program since March. read more »

Report: Larry King Extends Contract with CNN, But Not Guaranteed 9 P.M. Show

Felix Gillette — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:26:55 -0400

On Tuesday April, 22, Steve Krakauer of TV Newser was the first to report that CNN's suspender-wearing newsman Larry King had re-upped with the cable news network through June 2011.

Katie's Star-Crossed CBS Debate in North Carolina Officially Cancelled

Felix Gillette — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:40:58 -0400

The North Carolina Democratic Party has just announced that the proposed April 27 presidential debate in North Carolina has been officially cancelled. The star-crossed debate would have been hosted by CBS News--and would have been Katie Couric's first opportunity to prove herself as a debate moderator on a national stage.

From the web site for the North Carolina Democratic Party: read more »

Katie's Shot at Moderating a Debate Growing Slimmer

Felix Gillette — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:09:07 -0400

On Friday, before he got sidetracked, Senator Barack Obama suggested that he might bow out of a proposed April 27 debate in North Carolina to be hosted by CBS News and moderated by Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer, reports the Charlotte Observer.

"In a telephone interview with the Observer to discuss his economic plan, Obama doubted whether a proposed April 27 debate at Raleigh's RBC Center would fit with his schedule," reports the Charlotte Observer. read more »

The Future of Katie Couric: A Morning Round-Up

Felix Gillette — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:14:56 -0400

Filling out the rumors floated in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, today the New York Times reports that a “wide-ranging discussion” about Katie Couric’s future took place among CBS executives back in February:

Report: Katie Couric 'Likely' to Leave CBS as Early as January

Felix Gillette — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:00:47 -0400

The Wall Street Journal reports:

After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the "CBS Evening News" anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011—possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year. read more »

Local TV News Divisions Feeling Same Squeeze as Newspapers and Network News

Felix Gillette — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:23:17 -0400

Amid reports of a possible news-sharing partnership between CBS News and CNN and stories about layoffs at CBS stations around the country, today Matea Gold and Meg James of the L.A. Times write about the state of the local news gathering business.

They begin by noting the layoffs last week of more than 160 employees at CBS-owned stations in 13 cities, including a number of top anchors and seasoned correspondents. read more »

Times: CBS in Talks to Outsource Newsgathering Operations to CNN

Tom McGeveran — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:20:32 -0400

So now we know what Matt Drudge was talking about: Tim Arango at the Times is reporting that CBS "has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its newsgathering operations to CNN," a report sourced to "two executives briefed on the matter."

This is something CNN has talked about with other networks in the past, Mr. Arango points out in the article, but the talks with CBS have been "revived and lately intensified." read more »