CNN’s Jake Tapper has managed to get his hands on the critical White House email suggested as the proof that the White House was more interested in removing references to possible terrorist attacks in the now infamous Benghazi talking points then they were in telling the truth to the American public.
The actual email, written in the days following the Benghazi attack, reveals something else entirely. We now know that whoever leaked the contents of the email to various media outlets last week seriously misquoted the document, choosing to paraphrase the content in a way that made it appear that the White House was focused on protecting the State Department’s back and covering up information.
And the plot thickens…
At 10:30 on Monday night, Ann Romney is scheduled to take the stage at the Republican National Convention, in Act 1 of her husband’s four-day introduction to the nation. But tens of millions of people will not be able to watch.
CBS plans instead to show a rerun of “Hawaii Five-O,” its hit police series. Viewers of NBC will see a new episode of “Grimm,” about a homicide detective with the supernatural ability to sense evil. And ABC plans to show “Castle,” a series about a best-selling mystery novelist who helps solve crimes.
Misplaced priorities, or is this speech not that big a deal?
A win for the entertainment industry: The fines were a result of three separate incidents, spread across multiple years and two broadcast networks. The Court tossed three fines from two separate networks on Thursday, in a narrow decision which could have had wide implications for the entertainment industry, but probably won’t due to the way it was decided. Here are the indecency fines the networks were fighting against:
» But wait a second: Before you start celebrating the new era of guns and porn during prime-time television, know that the Supreme Court has not stripped the FCC of its ability to regulate broadcasters. In fact, they vacated a lower court’s decision to rule the so-called “indecency rule” unconstitutional; however, the justices did not believe that the organization provided “fair warning” to Fox and ABC that their respective broadcasts could result in fines. (Photo via Bloomberg)
CBS’ awesomely-sniping press release: The network, upset about ABC’s new “Big Brother”-like show “Glass House,” put together this sniping press release suggesting they are creating a show called “Dancing on the Stars.” This is ballsy in the best way, guys. (ht Matt)
She’ll need a bone marrow transplant: Monday morning, “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts told us all that she has MDS, a disease once known as pre-leukemia. This latest health scare comes only five years after her fight with breast cancer. During a painful bone marrow procedure, Roberts received the news that she would interview President Obama in an exclusive interview with ABC News. Roberts’ sister is a perfect match for the bone marrow transplant, which “greatly improves my chances for a cure,” Roberts said. source
Still watch Saturday morning cartoons? Or, perhaps, The Disney Channel? In case you do, you may soon stop seeing ads for sugary cereals, candy or other unhealthy products. The company is enacting a new policy called the ”Mickey Check” that will only allow for nutritionally-approved products to be sold on their shows, Web sites, or other branded products. On top of this, the company will cut back on sodium in the kids meals served in its theme parks and increase its efforts to promote exercise and healthy eating. Only downside: Due to currently-existing contracts, the ads won’t change over fully until 2015. Hey, Michael Bloomberg: this is how you do it.
Time is not Newt Gingrich’s friend, because the more time he has, the more he talks.George Will on “This Week”• Regarding the hazardous effects of Newt Gingrich’s prolonged loquacity. Will was reacting in part to Gingrich’s allegation, made earlier on the same show, that Mitt Romney is a “maniacal liar.” Just last month, Gingrich had pledged to run “a positive campaign focused on our country’s future;” guess that’s easy to say when you’re the frontrunner. source (via • follow)
Hey, ABC, you spelled “Jake Tapper” wrong. While Jake Tapper gets screwed yet again by his employer, George Stephanopoulos pulls double-duty and Christiane Amanpour moves back to CNN full-time, while hanging out around the ABC wheelhouse.
Brian Stelter of The New York Times — generally one of Twitter’s best users — made a gaffe in which he claimed that Christiane Amanpour is leaving ABC News’ “This Week,” where she made a high-profile move last year. However, he did so unintentionally — he meant to DM it, but instead, publicly shared it. Stelter, to his credit, kept the original tweet online. A look-back:
I’m hearing that Amanpour is formally out of “This Week” — though only from a single source — are you hearing the same? 212-556-4668
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 13, 2011
The initial tweet.
Well that was embarrassing. That was supposed to be a DM.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 13, 2011
The reaction.
3 reasons I didn’t delete accidental tweet: people had already read it; some had retweeted it; it needed to be explained.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 13, 2011
The explanation.
If I had gotten in the NFL as a kid, I would’ve been a football star all my life, too!Mitt Romney • Getting a solid comeback on Newt’s rip on him a second ago.
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» There are several different elements to this. First and foremost, two respected media outlets provided a half-quote when they should have provided a full quote. The intent (if any) behind the ABC article is debatable—they later updated it to make Perry’s comments clearer—but Ed Schultz was being flatly disingenuous when he said that “[the] black cloud Perry is talking about is President Barack Obama.” It wasn’t, and that was clear in the original quote. However, it is legitimate to ask whether or not the phrase “big black cloud” was consciously chosen to evoke—however subconsciously—racial imagery. The whole strategy behind race-baiting is to suggest race with a veil of plausible deniability, and while it’s not at all clear that Perry was doing this, it’s at least a fair question to ask. What do you think?
It’ll be sort of a little bit of what Oprah did. Obviously, no one can ever fill Oprah’s shoes, but some of the things that she did on her show, some of the things we used to do on the Today show.Katie Couric • Describing to Jay Leno her plans for her new show, which will hit the airwaves around September of next year. She signed a contract with ABC on this matter yesterday, and her right-hand man for the show is Jeff Zucker, a man who can get thrown out of NBC during a huge merger, but can’t make coffee. Her transition comes at the perfect time — her main competition is pretty much gone, her rep for news reporting faltered with her time on CBS, and with the ABC deal, she gets to keep her toes in the news side if she so desires. source (via • follow)
In April, all the chief members of Ms. Couric’s support group — Mr. Berger; her publicist, Matthew Hiltzik; and her lawyer, Craig Jacobson — met at Mr. Zucker’s apartment in Manhattan to thrash out the options. While Mr. Zucker struggled to figure out how to make coffee for the group, he led the discussion, writing down pros and cons on a large easel. The cases for ABC and CBS were extremely close, and though members of Ms. Couric’s team said ABC had taken a slight edge in everyone’s opinion, they said they believed CBS remained interested right until the end.
Yo Jeff: Coffee grounds. Filter. Water. Go. It’s not that hard brah.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
producermatthew:
This is amazing news for pretty much the hardest-working unemployed person we’ve ever seen. We can’t imagine what he’s about to do now that he’s getting a paycheck. :) High-fives all around from the SFB staff.