By Drew Grant 1/31 9:25am

super bowl ads

Video

Is this man guilty of 'blackface with voice'? (YouTube)

Maybe This VW Super Bowl Ad Isn’t Racist; Maybe You’re Racist

By now, you’ve probably written your heated HuffPost post about how horrible those Nazis at Volkswagen are for coming up with such a racist commercial for the Super Bowl. (Actually, HuffPost already found a new racist Super Bowl ad; they have moved on.) The spot, which was leaked early–because who cares, they already paid their bazillions, so why not release it on YouTube days before the actual event? It will only generate more buzz that way!–features a Caucasian man with a Jamaican patois accent running around his office like Michael Scott in that one episode where he comes back from Sandals.

And it did generate “buzz,” so there’s that. Unfortunately, it was the kind of buzz that comes from a dozen angry blogger/Sean Paul bees flying towards your face. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 1/29 2:05pm

political spouses

s-CM-large

James Carville and Mary Matalin Leave CNN (Video)

James Carville and Mary Matalin, America’s favorite bipartisan power couple, are leaving CNN, Fishbowl DC reported this morning. Mr. Carville and Ms. Matalin were co-hosts of CNN’s Crossfire until 2005 and have been contributors to the network since.

“I was told that they wanted the contributors to be more available — essentially, closer to Washington,” Ragin’ Cajun Mr. Carville told Politico, noting that it was the network’s decision. ”I’m not always available, I don’t live there.” The couple primarily resides in New Orleans. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 11/12/12 1:41pm

broadcast news

Rob Marciano

Entertainment Tonight Taps CNN Weatherman Rob Marciano To Host

CNN’s Rob Marciano, a comforting face during Hurricane Sandy, is moving away from weather coverage; the meteorologist is moving to Entertainment Tonight, where he’ll be breaking Kristen Stewart and The Voice news alongside Nancy O’Dell.

Mr. Marciano, who received a Peabody Award for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina, has a degree in meteorology from Cornell.

By Foster Kamer 8/10/12 5:36pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

PLEASE TURN AROUND.

Media Briefs: Contain Your SchadenFareed!

Another day, another marquee writer who is bus-ted. The New York Times will sometimes respect their readers and the people they quote, and other times, have no respect for their readers and the people they quote. But they do have respect for learning, even if it’s something you should have learned as a child. They’re not the only one! Also, there’s no new news about Jay Penske pissing on some woman’s boots, so if that’s what you’re here for, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

Otherwise, here are your Friday Evening Media Briefs: Read More

By Foster Kamer 5/29/12 12:41pm

QUOTEABLES

Bourdain.

A Brief History of Things Anthony Bourdain Has Said About Scripps and Their Food Television Stars

Technically, Scripps-Howard isn’t a network so much as a series of networks, but the point is: Anthony Bourdain is taking his act on the road, away from the Travel Channel and to CNN. There are no more No Reservations to be had. The ratings-troubled cable news network probably ponied up some decent cash for Bourdain (and Reservations‘ production company, Zero Point Zero) to come their way. Something that also may have helped? The fact that the Travel Channel was purchased by Scripps-Howard in 2009, and Bourdain has never been one to mince words about the Scripps’ networks stable of culinary stars.

For example… Read More

By Foster Kamer 4/20/12 2:57pm

QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT RHETORICAL

joe muto

Has The Fox Mole Really Been Blackballed from Media Jobs?

Just a few days after Gawker introduced their recent and short-lived foray into corporate espionage-cum-pranksterism in the form of The Fox News Mole, one Joe Muto found himself on CNN, speaking with Howard Kurtz on Reliable Sources about the week he’d just had. In that interview, he explained that he was “completely blackballed within the cable news industry after working at FOX News,” which is to say nothing of how his job prospects might be now (“it’s pretty safe to say my career in cable news is over”). Is it, though? Read More