DJonNews

And we have problems already. Muslim groups are sounding alarm bells over CNN hiring John Miller as its chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/muslim-groups-slam-cnn-for-hiring-ex-nypd-official-john-miller/ Miller, a former NYPD official, "told the City Council earlier this year that the department never engaged in illegal surveillance of Muslim Americans after 9/11." Contrary to what he said, the department acknowledged that they did engage in said illegal surveillance (which was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning report from the Associated Press in 2011) following the events of 9/11, with New York City Mayor and retired NYPD captain Eric Adams saying, "What we did was wrong." It also admitted that the program did not produce any leads to a terrorist plot. Yet, even after those, he continually refused to admit that there was any wrongdoing by the NYPD. Thus, Muslim Advocates have called CNN's hiring of Miller "a cruel joke" and are convinced Miller will pick up from where he left off and continue to "propagandize on behalf of law enforcement and dismiss clear discrimination against Muslims and other marginalized communities."

Oh, but it will be a full-fledged news network. It's just going to take longer for NewsNation to be so, as they won't be going to an all-news schedule until 2024 at the earliest. https://thedesk.net/2022/09/newsnation-nexstar-24-hour-news-channel-plans/ Speaking of, Matthew Keys posted a tweet yesterday that I feel should be worth paying attention to, since it validates what I said earlier about NewsNation being far behind when it comes to news being broken outside of their news hours:

You are very correct. Dan Abrams said on his show that he doesn't understand why cable news loves to harp on the British royal family and how we Americans are "obsessed" with it. One, I beg to differ on the "obsession" part. Two, they're just doing their job! Nobody's harping on anything! They're just telling it like it is and reporting on what they're seeing. Often, they'll also do this while they're on the scene, by which I mean "on location" at the site of, say, London, for example. Gross negligence of highly important news that is being broken literally everywhere else but NewsNation can't be played off as cable news "obsessing" over something trivial, much like how the July 4th shooting in Chicago just a few miles away from the WGN building (where NewsNation is housed) can't be played off as us being "obsessed" about something that we could've very well yawned at, even though this is July 4th we're talking about, you know, America's birthday! The news cycle runs a lot faster than those at NewsNation think, and their choosing to air reruns of "Blue Bloods" over wall-to-wall breaking news coverage isn't befitting of a channel like NewsNation. They wanted to be a news channel. So far, they're still not being it, even when we completely disregard the fact that NewsNation is still airing completely unrelated syndication programming that can be found basically everywhere else, including streaming services! Not having an international bureau is fine, as long as you can still break the news of something that may have importance on us Americans, like, oh, I don't know... Britain's longest-serving monarch in history passing away at 96! It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. When news like this breaks, you need to come on the air as soon as possible. Same for important tornado warnings, flood warnings, whatever! Otherwise, expect to lose a lot more viewers and trust than you've already lost simply because you think we're "obsessing" over news that is being covered practically everywhere else but here! NewsNation should know that by now, and yet, they still don't!

I just tuned in to "Dan Abrams Live." Hopefully what I'm about to say answers questions as to why NewsNation, as always, was asleep at the wheel when it came to breaking the news as soon as possible, especially during their sweet spot of off-net reruns. Okay, here it goes... the show just ran a story that basically went like this: "Don't get me wrong: We all loved and respected the Queen, but cable news seems to be obsessed with the British royal family, as they covered no other stories except the Queen's death for hours on end! They even ran nonstop coverage relating to the Queen before news of her death was announced, simply because her doctors were 'concerned' that she was in poor health!" Far be it from me to go into full context on the topic at hand, but the Queen's death was far from the only story covered, as news outlets (like Fox News, as mrschimpf said) were covering other news stories to balance out the time. These were all earlier in the day before her death was announced. It wasn't until the saddening news came that the news cycle came to a screeching halt. Even international news outlets far beyond America and the UK were covering the death endlessly after initially focusing on a wide breadth of news stories earlier in the day, like Seven Network in Australia, Newshub in New Zealand, and CBC News in Canada. Believe it or not, the PBS NewsHour was also business as usual at first, as it too covered a wide variety of stories (one of them including the Queen's death) before finally devoting an entire special report on the Queen's legacy at 8pm Eastern after the NewsHour was over. It was the Queen's death that led to a ton of last-minute scheduling changes being made on very short notice, both globally and domestically (even though this was expected to happen sometime). Too bad no one at NewsNation got the memo, and it was planned all along this time around. Why? Because they just had to prepare a segment on Dan Abrams Live questioning why cable news felt the need to cover nothing but the Queen's death and how we Americans are so "obsessed" with the British royal family. I mean, this is just sad.

Then again, even when taking seriously the fact that NewsNation doesn't exactly have a large international bureau, they've missed their chance to go to live breaking news coverage outside of their regular news hours more than a few times throughout their history, including a breaking news story that they missed which happened near their own backyard on July 4th earlier this year! (WGN even beat NewsNation to it, and NewsNation has the station right at their fingertips!) That being said, missing out on a big chance for live breaking news coverage is nothing new for NewsNation, including on the domestic front.

You don't need to be shocked about this, though. Practically, none of us should, if their history is anything to go by. Virtually every single major news outlet (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, etc.), including Fox News and even Newsmax, is providing as-it-happens breaking news coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's passing at the age of 96 (she'll be dearly missed). NewsNation, on the other hand? Would you believe it, they're showing "Blue Bloods" in lieu of any live coverage! The death of Britain's longest-reigning monarch in history (seven decades at the throne) is taking precedence over basically everything else in the news cycle, and still, NewsNation doesn't want to let go of "that beautiful syndie rerun footage..." Way to go, NewsNation. Way to go. Your one big chance, and you blew that, as well...

And I know this is from four days ago, but this bears mentioning. CNN tried an extended reality segment on "New Day" as part of their ongoing "Climate Crisis" series. It didn't go so well, if the execution is to be believed. https://www.The Other Site.com/2022/08/30/cnn-climate-floor-map-ar/

Katie Couric with some choice words of her own in an Instagram post regarding the firing (the coverage never ends)... https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/katie-couric-lisa-laflamme-ctv You know the drill by now.

Another day with this... Now Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre has some choice words regarding the firing of Lisa LaFlamme. Notice in the following quote that he's referring to Bell, the telecom company, which owns CTV through its Bell Media subsidiary. He says it's "not surprising" not only because it's yet another addition to Bell Media's history of newsroom interference, but also because LaFlamme's firing is one more reason as to why Canadians are leaving traditional media for other news sources. I bet that's the "changing viewer habits" Bell Media was (indirectly) referring to? The article for those who want to see it: https://www.nsnews.com/bc-news/laflamme-firing-disappointing-but-not-surprising-poilievre-5755711

Now even CNN is joining in the coverage... ...as is the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/world/canada/lisa-laflamme-ctv-departure.html

Well, here's the thing: At least Fox recognized that this was a mistake and returned to the game as soon as possible, so it's not as bad. Too bad it was in extra innings by the time the game returned. For what it's worth, at least it wasn't a true repeat of what happened in the "Heidi Game" fiasco. After all, it could have been worse: Viewers would have missed out on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth inning. Fox definitely wouldn't have returned to the game then, as the game would be over by that point. Remember how the "Heidi Game" saw tons of viewers angry that they missed out on two late-game touchdowns from the then-Oakland Raiders? It wasn't just viewers, though; even the family members of many New York Jets players were upset, as they were never told of the game's actual conclusion. For further backlash, not only did NBC start the "Heidi" movie as promised (because ratings and also jammed switchboards) rather than stay with the game until its eventual conclusion, but they made the bone-headed move of displaying the final score while the movie was going on in a case of bad timing following a case of bad timing. I won't go into further detail here, as Wikipedia goes much more in-depth on this than I can. Like I said, at least Fox didn't make this a true repeat of the "Heidi Game," as they did realize their mistake and eventually went back to the game, even though a lot of big moments were lost due to the "Monarch" preview... that is, if you weren't watching the game on the Fox Sports app or better yet, listening to the game on radio.

Bell Media is pushing back against accusations regarding LaFlamme's sudden firing. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/08/29/bell-media-lisa-laflamme-ctv-national-news/ Wade Oosterman, president of Bell Media, says this: The journalists at CTV News say this: And as for why the journalists are going unnamed for this story, according to CityNews: Gee, I wonder who to side with here?

Well, then... I thought we learned our lesson with NBC's infamous "Heidi Game" fiasco from 1968, but apparently, someone didn't... https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/giants-twins-coverage-rain-delay.html The Giants-Twins game went into a rain delay for just under an hour after the seventh inning. Naturally, Fox switched viewers of that game over to the Braves-Cardinals marquee matchup. When that game ended, Fox showed a preview of its upcoming show, "Monarch." Why is this a problem? Would I be asking that question if I didn't put up the intro before the link? You know why: because Fox forgot that the Giants-Twins game resumed play! And need I remind you that the Giants were leading that game 1-0 at the end of seven by the time the rain delay happened? It wouldn't matter that much if the game was either a blowout or uninteresting, and Fox would have had perfect reason to go to the "Monarch" preview. But what if there was a no-hitter on the line? What if someone was about to pull off the first perfect game since 2012? What if there was a combined no-hitter? A combined perfect game (which has never, ever happened in the history of MLB)? A one-run game (as this game was)? A tie game? A back-and-forth battle? A milestone home run? A milestone hit (like the 3,000th)? Surely you wouldn't want to make viewers angry by cutting away from all of those in favor of the show you want to promote, right? Right?! At least it wasn't a total loss; viewers could still watch the game they were missing out on by going to the Fox Sports app... provided Fox let you know about it in the first place without having to rely on your own knowledge! And for what it's worth, Fox did eventually go back to the game... which was in extra innings! Like I said, I thought networks would get the memo by now and not repeat what happened with the "Heidi Game" fiasco in 1968, but apparently, one of them didn't.

As if that wasn't enough, have a look at this! https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-bell-media-newsrooms-involved-in-at-least-three-previous-formal/ (paywalled, unfortunately) In each of the past three years, there have been three previous formal reviews of the Bell Media newsrooms, so Bell Media is actually quite familiar with it. These were in response to, and I quote, "alleged bullying by managers, sexual harassment, and the use of the N-word during an inclusive-leadership training session." These all bear repeating: "alleged bullying by managers, sexual harassment, and the use of the N-word during an inclusive-leadership training session." So, as another review looms, staffers are adamant that this next review won't change anything because they've learned from past experience that none of the three reviews mentioned earlier led to any significant changes, if there were any changes made at all to begin with! Plus, exactly what this next review will entail is unclear. Why "unclear?" Because Bell Media won't answer questions from The Globe and Mail regarding the details, according to the article. (Maybe it's because they want to save face and prevent further backlash, never mind that they already caused far too much of it for them to handle with a straight face?) This is from the same company that just silenced their own network's newsroom regarding the matter at hand, might I add. The action of which that has given the Canadian Association of Journalists very good reason to worry.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-open-letter-bell-media-laflamme/ Over 70 prominent Canadians have signed an open letter calling on Bell Media to "make things right." I'd give my thoughts here, but you know the drill.

Carolina Panthers, again: The third time any parts of the graphics have changed throughout the same preseason. This time, the text in the down and distance marker is larger.

And they're about to blow their chance. Their ratings could indeed improve... for one day. The staffers have every reason to complain and more. Remember how Cuomo was fired by CNN in December 2021 for everything he did (favoritism, sexual misconduct allegations, etc.)? No one wanted to touch that man with a ten-foot pole after this. No one but NewsNation execs, of course. Apparently, they've forgotten what "sexual misconduct" means, which is why they've been allowing Bill O'Reilly, who was fired by Fox News in 2017 for allegations of his own, to enter talks to join NewsNation as well. Yes, they're trying to get more viewers and more money, but the staffers believe Cuomo is the wrong person for that kind of job. Imagine the volume of complaints when Bill O'Reilly gets picked up! Every line in the sand has to be drawn at some point, and hiring someone who was accused of sexual misconduct to work for a news channel crosses it.

(deadpan) Oh, wow. How surprising. I bet this has to be the talk of the town too... https://radaronline.com/p/newsnation-staff-angry-chris-cuomo-boycott/ Deadpan time over... I think this speaks for itself when even NewsNation's own staffers basically tell the higher-ups at the failing network they flubbed big time in hiring Cuomo.

First, Dove Canada. Then, Wendy's Canada. Now, Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue (despite making no mention of LaFlamme's firing). https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-lisa-laflamme How anyone at Bell Media thought the choices they made (firing LaFlamme for letting her hair go gray, blaming it on "changing viewer habits," putting out a CTV press release saying she declined to bid farewell to the viewers when that's not the case, announcing LaFlamme's successor, Omar Sachedina, less than 30 minutes after her firing) would lead to only a day or two of controversy is the real mystery here.

Well, get ready for this: A restaurant chain has joined in calling out Bell Media for Lisa LaFlamme's abrupt firing. https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/08/wendys-canada-lisa-laflamme/ Oh, and for good measure, LaFlamme's predecessor, Lloyd Robertson spoke out in regards to this. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/lloyd-robertson-lisa-laflamme Here's what he said: And just when it couldn't get any worse for Bell Media, this happens: https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/08/ctv-lisa-laflamme-bell-boycott/ Again, Bell Media made a horrible mistake doing what they did. "Lisa LaFlamme chose not to bid farewell to viewers before ouster?" Ha! I highly doubt that. "Due to changing viewer habits, we have made the decision to let LaFlamme go." I think by "changing viewer habits," you meant "LaFlamme's hair turning gray?"

This... https://etcanada.com/news/923053/dove-canada-throws-shade-over-lisa-laflammes-controversial-ousting/ Bell Media management really should be hanging their heads in shame. Dove Canada, of all the names, is calling them out for firing Lisa LaFlamme for no reason other than the done-to-death excuse of "changing viewer habits..." and it's a soap bar product! And yet, Bell Media still doesn't care...

Cleveland Browns: Same as last year

Kansas City Chiefs: Same as last year Miami Dolphins: Hold your breath...

Indianapolis Colts: Make that five preseasons with the same package...

"Lisa LaFlamme chose not to bid farewell to viewers before ouster..." Yeah, I doubt that. Bell Media showed LaFlamme the door without allowing her to bid farewell. It wasn't LaFlamme's choice -- it was all Bell Media. Is it telling that even their own employees were among the many, many, many people against firing LaFlamme for no reason? Is it telling that this huge backlash is why Bell Media was forced to open an independent investigation of the CTV newsroom, even though they didn't want to do so? Oh, and that decision by Bell to announce LaFlamme's successor, Omar Sachedina, less than 30 minutes after her abrupt firing, which robbed viewers of a historic moment since Sachedina is an accomplished journalist of color? Thank goodness Bell finally admitted it was a terrible mistake to do so. But what I can't forgive them for is this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/19/lisa-laflamme-going-grey-canada-tv-terminated Great idea by Bell Media to fire her after her hair turned light gray...