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Katie Couric was repeated asked by critics at press tour about reports that she will soon exit her position as anchor of "CBS Evening News." “We have no plans to part company anytime soon,” she says. “There were a lot of speculative pieces that have been spin out of control. I’m very committed to the people and here and the product. I think [the rumors are] dying down considerable. I can’t control what media writers write. Sometimes we live in a bit of an echo chamber. I think people in your room are more fascinated by these things than people...

Kerrville Texas - A bitter divorce trial slated to begin in a Kerr County courtroom in late August between Joseph and Kimberly Burkett already is making national headlines. Public interest in the case grew when CBS’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, Lara Logan, announced she was pregnant. The father, she claims, is Joseph Burkett of Kerrville. Their relationship began while Logan was on assignment in Iraq, where Burkett was stationed as a federal contractor, according to news reports. The relationship reportedly began shortly after Logan broke off another relationship with a fellow journalist last November. Burkett and Logan apparently met years...

STEWART: That's the way to read through it. What do you feel like-- Do you watch the news that we're watching in the United States? LOGAN: No. STEWART: Do you see what we're hearing about the war? Do you-- LOGAN: No. STEWART: So we might actually know everything? LOGAN: If I were to watch the news that you're hearing in the United States, I'd just blow my brains out. 'Cause it would drive me nuts. STEWART: Really? LOGAN: Yeah.

It might run third in the ratings, but the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" has won an Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. I hope CBS starts playing up the deserved prize in promotion. The award should bring attention to the program: It's a far better newscast than the ratings suggest. The Murrow Awards were announced Tuesday by the Radio-Television News Directors Association. ABC News won eight Murrow Awards in all, notably the one for overall excellence. But it was a good day, too, for CBS News, which won nine prizes across various platforms. The Couric broadcast was...

Expensive gas isn't so bad to the "CBS Evening News," as long as it promotes an agenda that caters to left-of-center sensibilities and makes Americans behave more like Europeans. Economists from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (NYSE:CM) forecasted $7-a-gallon gas prices by 2010, which according to some analysts would force 10 million vehicles off U.S. roads over four years. CIBC based its prediction on $200-per-barrel oil by 2010. "In fact, by 2012, higher prices could send an additional 10 million vehicles off the road," CBS correspondent Priya David said June 26. Although $7 gas would do the most harm...

Sexy CBS siren Lara Logan spent her days covering the heat of the Iraq war - but that was nothing compared to the heat of her nights. The "60 Minutes" reporter and former swimsuit model apparently courted two beaus while she was in Baghdad, and has been labeled a homewrecker for allegedly destroying the marriage of a civilian contractor there, sources said. Passions got so hot in the combat zone that...

Sexy CBS siren Lara Logan spent her days covering the heat of the Iraq war - but that was nothing compared to the heat of her nights. The "60 Minutes" reporter and former swimsuit model apparently courted two beaus while she was in Baghdad, and has been labeled a homewrecker for allegedly destroying the marriage of a civilian contractor there, sources said............More at Link

On Monday’s CBS "Early Show," correspondent Jeff Glor did a report on "five things you should know about John McCain" and highlighted details such as: "Number four, a maverick even back in high school, John McCain was nicknamed ‘the punk’...A reputation that followed him to the naval academy." During the segment, USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro added: "John McCain graduated five slots from the bottom of the Annapolis class of 1958." Contrast those bits of information with the hard-hitting facts revealed about Barack Obama during a similar segment on last Wednesday’s show: "Number four -- in addition to enjoying basketball...

A warrant has reportedly been issued for Katie Couric, the face of the CBS Evening News, over an unpaid tax bill in the state of New York. According to the New York Daily News, the state Department of Taxation and Finance issued the warrant for the newswoman's failure to pay an outstanding bill of $210.41 from 2003. Couric, who has suffered in the ratings basement since replacing Dan Rather as anchor at the Tiffany Network, is said to earn $15 million per year. Her spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, told the paper the warrant and previous tax bills were apparently sent to...

CBS News and the Associated Press were quick to regurgitate claims that global warming has increased the intensity of earthquakes fivefold in the past 20 years. But had either taken the time to investigate, they would have discovered that both the source's facts and credentials were, if you'll pardon the expression, on very tremorous ground. In a Wednesday piece -- suddenly vanished on Thursday -- attributed to the AP, CBS warned in its subtitle that a new "study" has found "Seismic Activity 5 Times More Energetic Than 20 Years Ago Because Of Global Warming." Based on a Tuesday Market Wire...

Almost every day a news report comes out linking something to climate change – obesity, food riots or a century of wildfires. Some of the claims seem especially outlandish. Sometimes they are. On June 18, CBS.com posted a story claiming that global seismic activity on Earth is now five times more energetic than it was just 20 years ago because of global warming. The story had no byline, but was attributed to the Associated Press. The story was identical to a June 17 Market Wire press release attributed to Tom Chalko, the scientist that made the claim of the earthquake/global...

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Julie Chen teased an upcoming segment on Barack Obama: "...during the long primary season, we all learned a lot about Barack Obama. He is a Senator. He's a Harvard grad. He's a husband. And he is a father. But this morning, you're going to learn five things you probably don't know about Barack Obama." Later, in David Letterman style, correspondent Jeff Glor introduced the story: "...here are the top five things you likely don't know about Barack Obama." Among those things, were important facts such as "Number four -- in addition to enjoying basketball...

At least nine groups planning demonstrations during the Democratic convention in Denver have pulled out of an umbrella protest organization, citing concerns about its rhetoric and tactics.One of the breakaway groups, called Tent State University, is citing concerns that the umbrella group's statement of nonviolence doesn't go far enough.But Tent State says it doesn't believe the umbrella group, called Re-create 68, is planning violence.Some of the breakaway groups have formed a new coalition called Alliance for Real Democracy.Glenn Spagnuolo of Re-create 68 says he is not troubled by the emergence of the new group. He says both groups oppose the...

Kimbo Slice, a one-time homeless man, one-time strip club bouncer, one-time backyard, back-alley brawler turned Internet sensation/big money mixed martial artist isn’t a problem. Only in America, right? He’s said to be a great guy, a boot-strap success story who deserves everything coming to him. I’ve watched him maul “Adryan” a half dozen times alone. You have, or will, too. Kimbo Slice being a street fighter, rather than a Brazilian jiu-jitsu or Muay Thai master, isn’t a problem either. No, he isn’t the best and brightest in MMA. He’d probably get whipped in a second by the sport’s elite, as...

Last Friday Rush spent an hour of "precious broadcast time" discussing a book by Jim Nantz. Jim Nantz has worked for CBS for 24 years. CBS is self-described on their Web Site as: "...CBS RADIO is one of the largest major-market operators in the United States with stations covering news, alternative rock, oldies, country, talk, classic rock, JACK and urban formats, among others. A division of CBS Corporation, CBS RADIO operates 140 radio stations, all but one of which are in the nation's top 50 markets. The overall mix of each radio station's programming is designed to fit the station's...

CBS (NYSE: CBS), in a bid to extend its online properties, announced today that it would purchase CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) for $1.8 billion in cash, or $11.50 a share. Through the acquisition of the popular Internet network, whose properties include ZDNet, news.com and TechRepublic, CBS is looking to build out its online presence and become one of the most heavily trafficked brands on the Web. CBS, which largely sat out the cable channel buying boom in the early 1990s compared to its competition such as NBC, has been trying to leapfrog into the Web as a way to diversify...

Dan Rather fired another round against his former network Tuesday, charging in an amended lawsuit that CBS News labeled the anchor "too hot to handle" and prevented him from being hired by other networks following his acrimonious departure. Rather was rebuffed in an earlier attempt when many of his claims were knocked down by a New York state judge. But the judge also allowed Rather to resubmit his claims. In the latest filing, Rather claimed that CNN, ABC, NBC and other networks met to talk about possible employment but that all eventually declined for reasons that included, in the lawsuit's...

After months of speculation, by everybody from E! News to The New York Times, that Katie Couric will soon end her rocky tenure as anchor of "CBS Evening News," network chief Leslie Moonves stormed into the newsroom last week and attempted to snuff out the flames. According to The Associated Press, he told the staff that Couric, the first female solo evening news anchor, isn't leaving. He was adamant. He said she's "your anchor." Unspoken but implied: So get used to it and stop whining ... for now. Seriously, Mr. Moonves, will Couric stay perched at the CBS anchor desk...

How did the CBS Evening News explain away the much-smaller size of pro-immigration rallies around the country today? Fear and intimidation on the part of prospective participants. But fear of what? Physical threats or illegal reprisals? No. Of simple enforcement of US law. CBS singled out for praise one marcher who wouldn't be "intimidated." CBS correspondent Sandra Hughes narrated the segment, which included these morsels. View video here.

As if Katie Couric didn't already have enough problems. Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of "CBS Evening News," and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back. And for good reason.

As if Katie Couric didn’t already have enough problems. Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of “CBS Evening News,� and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back. And for good reason. The CBS newscast that carries her name recently aired a one-sided and inaccurate report about illegal immigrant women who give birth to their children in the United States. The news story challenged the broader constitutional law of birthright citizenship and stated — without providing the...

For the second week in a row, “The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric” has notched record low ratings. The newscast dropped some 50,000 viewers to average 5.34 million total viewers for the week of April 21, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. “Evening News” had averaged 5.39 million viewers the previous week. Finishing first in the broadcast network flagship news race for the week was “The NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” with 8.01 million total viewers. ABC’s “World News With Charles Gibson” averaged 7.79 million viewers, a quick rebound of some 280,000 from 7.51 million viewers the...

To judge by the ads, the most loyal adherents to CBS' quasi-journalistic programming are impotent and incontinent. It so happens that they share these afflictions with the network's actual news division. Katie Couric is reportedly itching to bolt her gig as the anchor of broadcast TV's worst-rated evening newscast. Last month, Shelley Ross lost her job producing The Early Show, the worst-rated morning newscast, after problems concerning temper tantrums and tequila parties. Most weeks, the perfectly decent Bob Schieffer, who will retire after the 2009 inauguration, sees Face the Nation to a finish as the third-rated Sunday show. And the...

To judge by the ads, the most loyal adherents to CBS' quasi-journalistic programming are impotent and incontinent. It so happens that they share these afflictions with the network's actual news division. Katie Couric is reportedly itching to bolt her gig as the anchor of broadcast TV's worst-rated evening newscast. Last month, Shelley Ross lost her job producing The Early Show, the worst-rated morning newscast, after problems concerning temper tantrums and tequila parties. Most weeks, the perfectly decent Bob Schieffer, who will retire after the 2009 inauguration, sees Face the Nation to a finish as the third-rated Sunday show. And the...

One week after media reports cast doubts about Katie Couric’s future on the “CBS Evening News,” the third-place broadcast set a new record low for viewership. The “CBS Evening News” attracted an average of 5.39 million viewers last week, placing the newscast more than two million viewers behind the second-place “World News with Charles Gibson” on ABC (7.51 million). The “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” ranked No. 1 for the week with 8.17 million viewers. While the network nightly newscasts have posted audience declines for more than two decades, a new record low for the “Evening News” will likely...

Katie Couric just can't catch a break. The CBS News anchor was looking forward to moderating a Democratic presidential candidate debate in North Carolina on Sunday, an event network executives hoped would spotlight something other than a recent spate of stories suggesting Couric may leave her post in the coming year. But without a commitment from Sen. Barack Obama that he would participate, the North Carolina Democratic Party canceled the tentatively scheduled forum today because of “time constraints and logistical issues associated with such a large, national event,� according to a statement on the party’s website. The party had gotten...

CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves gave his embattled anchor and her news division a vote of confidence yesterday, telling a staff meeting that Katie Couric "is my anchor today, tomorrow and in the future." But the public display does not change the reality that Couric is likely to relinquish the anchor chair after the election, according to two top network executives who declined to be named discussing a private meeting. Moonves asked to address the Friday staff meeting, held at the CBS News offices in New York and broadcast to network bureaus around the world, out of concern that Couric...

So just how badly is Katie Couric doing ratings-wise, anyhow? That seems to be the big question following word last week that the “CBS Evening News” anchor would be eased out following the presidential election. The answer is pretty bad. Couric has seen viewer declines in just about every category except for median age, where “Evening News” has grown slightly older. That’s the one place CBS wasn’t looking to rise. While ABC and NBC have seen modest declines this year among total viewers and adults 25-54, Couric is down by double digits in each, after seeing double-digit declines last year...

Douglas Feith has been much maligned by Iraq war opponents. In advance of his book release last Tuesday, 60 Minutes ran an interview with Feith, one of the architects of the Iraq War, last Sunday. I was at a weekend festival and missed it; but thanks to the wonders of the internet as well as CBS 60 Minutes now making their video archives embeddable, here is the interview: **Video on site** This is the only time that I can recall 60 Minutes conducting a book-release interview that was not by an anti-Administration author or by someone who appears to be...

Why is Barack Obama so comfortable around people who so despise America and its allies? Maybe it’s because they’re so comfortable around him. He presents as the transcendent agent of “change.” Sounds platitudinous, but it’s really quite strategically vaporous. Sen. Obama is loath to get into the details of how we should change, and, as the media’s Chosen One, he hasn’t had to.

Katie Couric may be the least of Leslie Moonves’s worries. While the fate of Ms. Couric and the “CBS Evening News” is in the headlines, the entire CBS News division represents only a fraction of the CBS broadcast network’s revenue. More perplexing is the prime-time schedule, where no new hit has emerged this year, and as a result, CBS is likely to lose the crown of most-watched network to the Fox network. And there are concerns over other parts of the CBS Corporation. The radio division is lagging. Pressure to make a digital acquisition is intensifying. Advertising revenue is softening....

Well I just got done watching The Lords Boot Camp On CBS. CBS put together a panel of teens from different religions to discuss the special. In the video below the teens say they think this Christian Camp is equivalent to Al Qaeda training camps. One of them says "Radical Christianity can be just as bad as Muslimism" He sounds very educated about "Muslimism" VIDEO IN BLOG POSTYou can watch the rest of these ridiculous videos HERE

If a journalism class of the future is asked to identify low points in the vaunted history of CBS News, it might do well to examine the second week of April 2008. Hours after word seeped out that CBS News and Katie Couric, the fresh face who was supposed to restore it to greatness, had discussed ending her contract more than two years early, a New York State judge ruled on Thursday that Dan Rather, the now craggy face who was synonymous with the CBS eye for a generation, could continue to pursue a lawsuit against his former employer. Only...

A wide-ranging discussion in February about Katie Couric’s future as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” threatened on Thursday to turn her into a virtual lame duck in the job. The discussion took place in New York on Feb. 28 and involved four people: Ms. Couric; her agent, Alan Berger of the Creative Artists Agency; Sean McManus, the president of CBS News; and Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS. The meeting took place in Mr. Moonves’s office. The conversation included what one participant said was some “idle talk and musings” about the big question hanging over CBS News: should...

The problem with CBS and Katie Couric is not that the show isn't working. CBS Evening News is a mother on life support and Katie was just stillborn. She never had a chance. Ever since CBS lied about the Bush National Guard story, it has as much credibility as, well....a major news network that makes up news. Small disconnect in that strategy but overcomeable with time except for the fact that CBS, ABC, and NBC are running out of time. All three of the major networks have been losing evening news viewers for the past 10 years in a major...

Breaking: The judge in Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS has issued a motion to dismiss most of the case. CBS News confirms. Developing... > More: TVNewser has learned most of issues of the lawsuit have been dismissed. What remains is the contract dispute: whether Rather was utilized appropriately in the remaining months of his deal as a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Jim Quinn, lead counsel for CBS tells TVNewser, "We're thrilled with the results. The core of the allegations of fraud and fair dealing have been thrown out. What's left is a garden variety contract dispute." In the meantime, the...

CBS, Couric Likely to Split By REBECCA DANA April 9, 2008 7:44 p.m. 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. Ms. Couric isn't even halfway through her five-year contract with CBS, which began in June 2006 and pays an annual salary of around $15 million. But CBS executives are under pressure to cut costs and improve ratings for the broadcast, which...

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.

The economic slowdown and migration of the audience to the Internet are taking their toll on staffing at the local level. When veteran Los Angeles news anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin were felled by a round of jobs cuts last week, they were in good company. At least 160 employees at CBS Corp.-owned television stations in 13 cities were let go, including such seasoned broadcasters as prominent Chicago anchor Diann Burns, renowned Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel and longtime Minneapolis meteorologist Paul Douglas. The jettisoning of such experienced on-air talent exposed the weakening of the once-robust local station business, which...

CBS, the home of the most celebrated news division in broadcasting, has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations to CNN, two executives briefed on the matter said Monday. Over the last decade, CNN has held intermittent talks with both ABC News and CBS News about various joint ventures. But during the last several months, talks with CBS have been revived and lately intensified, according to the executives who asked for anonymity because of the confidential nature of the negotiations. Broadly speaking, the executives described conversations about reducing CBS’s news-gathering capacity...

She is trailing in a highly competitive contest against her male rivals, is occasionally covered in a condescending way and faces predictions that she'll be forced out of the race. Katie Couric understands what Hillary Clinton is going through. "I identify with her to a certain extent because we share a gender," the CBS anchor says. "I'm sensitive to coverage that can be very subtly stacked against her, maybe a headline that has a little more snarkiness about her. . . . I understand that kind of coverage because I've experienced it myself." After a rough 19 months since making...

Paul Douglas, WCCO's longtime weatherman, was released today from the station as part of a nationwide purge of CBS employees, a wide-ranging, dramatic response to a sluggish economy and steep competition for the Internet, which have caused ad rates and audiences to dwindle. Douglas, who also serves as a Star Tribune columnist, joins at least five WCCO employees, including weekend anchor John Reger, who were told their services were no longer needed. They have plenty of company. More than 100 employees at CBS's 29 owned TV stations were cut, a lis at the CBS-owned station to get their walking papers....

News operations at CBS stations in several cities started a series of job cuts this week even as the CBS News network moved ahead with plans to lay off about 1 percent of its nearly 1,200 employees. Over the last several days, layoffs were ordered at local stations that CBS owns, including ones in New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco. Dana McClintock, a spokesman for CBS, said the actions at the network and the local stations were not related. “This is not the result of any corporate mandate,” Mr. McClintock said. The moves are the latest in a wave...

CBS reeling from disappointing earning in the last quarter has done some layoffs, at the corporate level, and separate from that, at some local O&O stations. On corporate level, TVNewser reports that CBS News has made cuts in to editorial, technical operations and the bureaus. CBS owns 29 stations, including 16 CBS affiliates ...

This time, the "CBS Evening News" traveled all the way across the pond to pushing the alarmists' global warming agenda. The March 27 "Evening News" went to the coastlines of England to show melting ice caps causing people to lose their homes. "Much of the effects of climate change have been couched in terms of if or when its effects will be felt," CBS correspondent Mark Phillips said. "Well, here there is no ‘if.' And when is now. So choices are being made. It's called managed retreat. Some areas of coastline deemed indefensible are being abandoned. Climate change is producing...

Not only is CBS not giving up on this story, but they've brought out a few other videos of Hillary "misspeaking."

National upheaval caused by a nuclear assault? Easy. Nielsen ratings? Hard. Despite efforts from zealous fans to keep Jericho alive — including the now-famous peanut incident — Tuesday's episode will be its last. "The March 25 episode... will be the series finale," CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler says in a statement. "Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high-quality...

With the housing market sinking and causing panic about the American economy, Moody's Economy.com Chief Economist Mark Zandi thinks the time is right for the government to invest in the housing market. Huh? Zandi, who has been pessimistic about the housing market and sees no end to its woes in sight, at least until the end of the decade, thinks a government bailout is the right way to solve this problem and would actually bring in tax money.

Network anchors tend to be the kind of people who pride themselves on grueling fits of on-the-job endurance. So when Katie Couric went missing from the CBS Evening News anchor chair for four days last month, it raised eyebrows -- particularly because her absences fell during February sweeps, one of the periods when ratings are measured. Was this Couric's way of protesting CBS News's failure to snag a primary debate for her? Actually, a spokeswoman says two of the absences were related to the campaign: On Feb. 7, she was away interviewing Hillary Clinton for 60 Minutes (and we all...

On Feb. 5, during MSNBC’s Super Tuesday political coverage, anchor Keith Olbermann joked that during this long primary season, it sometimes seemed like everyone in the business had already anchored a debate. “I think most people at home have now moderated one as well,” said Mr. Olbermann. If Katie Couric was watching at home, chances are she wasn’t laughing. Eight months and more than 20 debates into podium season, Ms. Couric has yet to get anywhere near the big stage. How did the highest-paid anchor on evening television get upstaged by Brian Williams, Brit Hume, Charles Gibson, Wolf Blitzer, Tim...