Scott Collins in The LA Times writes in tomorrow’s paper about Geraldo Rivera’s pursuit to clear his name….

Rivera is demanding a correction from the paper, armed with videotape that he said proves he didn’t nudge anybody out of the way. “No one is fairer game than me,” the 62-year-old newsman said in a phone interview Wednesday. “But you still have to be accurate about me.”

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Alex S. Jones, a former New York Times reporter who is now director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, noted that, while columnists and reviewers such as Stanley have “a great deal more latitude [than reporters in] framing and describing things,” they nevertheless have to be factually accurate.

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Paul J. Gough in the Hollywood Reporter argues that Katrina and the reporters that covered her shouldn’t be as important as the disaster that followed…

Will Katrina and its grim aftermath spell an end to some of the excesses in TV hurricane reporting? Let’s hope so.

In the case of most hurricanes, the coverage has two- or three-day arcs: preparation in the path of the storm, surf, rain and wind during the storm itself, then a day or so showing the destruction and human toll. Katrina, we know now, transcended that story line. But up until the true picture of the devastation emerged, TV news covered the hurricane with many of the standard techniques it has honed over the years.

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CJR Daily’s Liz Cox Barrett takes aim at Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman and FNC’s Neil Cavuto….

Just when we thought we’d already experienced the entire spectrum of dreadful cable news punditry — several times over — along comes marketwatch.com media columnist Jon Friedman, who appeared on Fox News’ “Your World With Neil Cavuto” yesterday afternoon, with his own brand of dreadful. (And Cavuto didn’t look too good, either).

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Something interesting is going on here. CNN’s prime time programs are still way up from their pre-Katrina levels. The question is will this dynamic last or will CNN’s large percentage gains over a month ago, which so far it has been able to hold, evaporate? MSNBC turned in a big night for The Situation after having a “normal” night the night before. But despite beating HLN by over 100,000 in Prime time, MSNBC couldn’t beat it in the prime time Demo…
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. NBC announced today that Cheryl Gould has been named Senior Vice President of NBC News…

“I’ve been fortunate to work with Cheryl for my entire career at NBC News,” said Capus. “She is a real pro who knows this business - and particularly NBC News - inside and out, and we are so pleased to have her back at 30 Rock.”

Gould will work closely with Capus on a variety of day-to-day management issues.

Since 2001, Gould has served as Vice President of CNBC, concentrating on Primetime and Weekend Program Development, while retaining her title of Vice President, NBC News. In addition to oversight of a number of CNBC primetime shows, Gould was responsible for coordinating political and Afghan war coverage between NBC News and CNBC.

What I would like to know is was this move long planned or is it more Shapiro related fallout?

The AP’s David Bauder writes about the battle for coverage the two events are generating….(via WHAC)

For the cable news networks, it’s a conflict designed for the split screen.

The Senate confirmation hearings for John Roberts as the nation’s chief justice opened Monday as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continued to dominate the news.

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Crooks and Liars has video of Anderson Cooper on Real Time talking about what’s going on in the disaster area….

Tina Brown takes a stab at it in the Washington Post…

Its media competitors keep scanning its ratings — in vain at the moment — for signs that Rupert Murdoch’s cable station will wilt along with President Bush’s poll numbers. At New York gatherings, one much-masticated indicator of possible zeitgeist shift is that even though Fox still leads the pack, CNN’s increases during Katrina were greater in percentage terms than Fox’s.

Transatlantic Murdoch watchers can tell you that all this is wishful thinking even without the demonic TV skills of Fox’s supremo Roger Ailes. Less publicized than Murdoch’s fierce political conservatism — undoubtedly his private conviction — is his readiness to turn on a dime when it’s commercially expedient. That suppleness is one of the things that make him such a formidable opponent. Nothing distracts him from his business goals — not ideology, not friendship, not some inconvenient promise, not even family.

UPDATE: FNC fires back on TVNewser….