The Morning Fix: Emmy skirmishes; Tassler talks tough; Marines say no to Facebook and Twitter
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After the coffee. Before deciding where you stand on the new Emmy format.
Emmy flap heats up. The Writers Guild of America blasted the move by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to drop several writing awards from the live broadcast on CBS this fall. Don Mischer, the show’s executive producer, defended the changes at the network’s portion of the press tour Monday, saying, ‘We are trying to keep the Emmys alive as a major television event.’ Host Neil Patrick Harris added, ‘We’re just trying to edit down the standing and the hugging.’ Coverage from The Wrap, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline Hollywood Daily and the Los Angeles Times.
Feisty Tassler. CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler took some shots at rival NBC and its former entertainment head Ben Silverman on Monday at the press tour in Pasadena. Asked about how Jay Leno would do in prime time, Tassler cracked, ‘Whatever numbers they get, they’re going to declare victory anyway.’ As for her thoughts on Silverman’s departure, she said, ‘I’m really just a D-girl so I wouldn’t comment,’ alluding to an infamous Silverman remark comparing his network rivals to so-called development girls. Variety, The Wrap.
Rebound is coming ... slowly. Well-known industry consulting firm Veronis Suhler predicts that advertising growth won’t happen until 2011, reports The New York Times. Even with that, Veronis Suhler executive vice president James P. Rutherfurd warned: “Newspapers, consumer magazines, TV and radio are shrinking and will not, in that period of time, get back to what they saw before.”
Clinton in Korea seeking release of Current TV reporters. Former President Bill Clinton is in Korea hoping to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two reporters for the cable network Current TV, who were sentenced to 12 years for illegal entry into Korea. Los Angeles Times, New York Times.
Semper fi, Facebook no. Wired Magazine reports that the U.S. Marines Corps are banning social network sites including Facebook and Twitter. These sites, an order said, ‘exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts OPSEC [operational security], COMSEC [communications security], [and] personnel… at an elevated risk of compromise.” That’s true for us civilians as well.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Marvel’s revenue and net income takes a dip. Keith Olbermann resumes firing shots at Bill O’Reilly and Fox News. CNN’s Lou Dobbs draws fire for continued coverage of Obama’s birth certificate. Patrick Goldstein on Lions Gate’s gamble with Russell Crowe. All the news from press tour.
-- Joe Flint
