CNN proves BBC America is a great news source

The 6:30 AM news update on CNN started with Japan followed by the latest on Charlie Sheen. Click here for BBC World News America.

Image courtesy of the Great Gregory Marlowe

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New unemployment claims rise to a one year low?

Initial Jobless Claims Average in US Falls to One-Year Low Bloomberg

Unemployment claims jump unexpectedly CNNMoney.com

They report and I can’t decide.

SHOCKER: Survey sez recession adding stress to holidays

CNN, doing it’s part to keep pollsters employed now that the election is over.

Americans say the sagging economy is making the 2008 holiday season more stressful than previous years, according to a CNN poll out Monday, with up to two-thirds of them reporting some belt-tightening.

Next up: Most Americans say water IS wet!

A little sympathy for Jeffrey Toobin

The wonderful writer for the New Yorker and legal affairs analyst for CNN was thoroughly in the wrong place today — caught covering the Michael Vick non-event on the same day as Alberto Gonzales resigned. Watched Toobin briefly on CNN and could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew he was missing THE story.

I am fascinated to see who the White House comes up with for a replacement for Gonzales. It has been a post continually filled by the 2nd dimmest bulb in the administration. One person on meeting Mr. Ashcroft was shocked at how dumb he was, to which another person said, “Well, don’t forget he did lose an election to a dead guy.” To give Mr. Ashcroft his due, though, the more we find out about his refusal to renew secret wire-tapping efforts the more he seems like a truly stand-up guy.

In Re: Mr. Vick

Gotta say the most irritating thing about his little non confession was the literal “come to Jesus” moment.

Michael Vick, speaking to the media in Richmond, says he has found Jesus and turned his life over to God.

Even if he has done so there’s no way this announcement made on the day he is pleading guilty to a felony can be perceived as anything but spin. I hope Mr. Vick has indeed found a moral guide, whomever that may be. But a suggestion to all those celebs who are seeking actual redemption and not just redemption in the public eye: keep it to yourself until we can see actions that show you really are practicing what He preached.

Penguins of irony rejoice: List of 2006’s worst marketing blunders blunders. Includes disasters from 2007.

CNN is running a story listing four of 10 biggest marketing blunders of 2006 as compiled by “Kelly O’Keefe, an independent branding consultant and CEO of O’Keefe Brands.” (Apparently it takes Kelly three months to come up with a Top 10 list as the person/company always puts out the list in March.) The big problem is that two of the four listed — TBS Aqua Teen Hunger Force silliness and JetBlue — took place in 2007. Maybe they meant biggest marketing blunders for the fiscal year ending March 07?

In CNN’s defense they do say “last year and even early this year,” but it sure reads like a very late Top 10 of 2006.

Aqua Teen Hunger Farce

Turner is coughing up $2M to pay for all the silliness.

Allow me to give a little post-mortem on the events.

• Was it worth it? For Aqua Teen Hunger Force, yes. For TBS, no. This little niche show will get a big boost. Turner takes a momentary hit but comes out looking better for $2M.
• Was it intentional? No. If it had Turner would have been a lot better prepared to respond.
• Did the Boston cops do anything wrong? Not really. As laughable as it may seem to others, the police got a report from a reliable source of an unidentified electronic object on the side of a bridge. It was 9 AM and the thing wasn’t lit up so they had to treat it as a bomb. Or did you want to be the person who had to go take it down without knowing what it was? That first report was followed by reports of other unknown items, which made it look worse not better.
• Was it funny? As things turned out, yes. Up until Mrs. Collateral Damage sent me an email identifying the Mooninite, though, it wasn’t. She works two blocks from where one of first devices was found, so I was a little nervous until she clued me in.
• Was it stupid placement? OH YES. I am no fan of false alarms and this was the biggest one this city has ever seen. The city was truly at risk when all those emergency workers had to be diverted to what some are calling a hoax. It wasn’t a hoax. That involved knowingly trying to decieve. They didn’t do that.
• Are the hair guys insensitive idiots? I don’t know about that. Their arrest was a case of the officials wanting a scalp. It was an absurd moment and I understand their reacting to it as such. Was that exactly the wrong thing to do from a PR standpoint? OH YES. From a comedy POV it was pretty good, though. Kudos to whichever reporter thought to phrase a question in a form of a ’70s Hair Styles issue.
• What was the dumbest quote? The Globe had some civilian saying that he/she saw it, thought it could be a bomb but didn’t report it to anyone. Thanks for caring.
• Will we remember it three weeks from now? No.
• Did I enjoy my three-minutes on the edge of the media whirl-wind? Yep. I was guilty of not laughing nearly enough when I answered questions, though.
  Here’s me on CNN: