GretaWire mentions that a show in front of an audience is being taped today in addition to the regular live show…

By the time you get this, I will be “on the road” headed to New York City. I have an early flight since I have much to do in New York today. We are taping an audience show tonight in New York with Beth Holloway Twitty (mother of Natalee Holloway), Janet Pelasara (mother of Taylor Behl) and Melvin Figueroa (father of LaToyia Figueroa.) This special show will air next week… but I am curious whether any of you have any questions for any of these guests. Each of the three has/had a missing child and went through/are going through very different experiences with criminal justice systems. If you have any questions, e-mail the questions to me (the shorter, the better.) When I get to New York, I will log on to the computer and check out your questions. I always appreciate your input.
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Even though she’s not on FNC anymore, her fans might be interested in knowing that Laurie Dhue has her own blog on the Geraldo At Large website which has been going since Day 1…

I’ve got butterflies in my stomach and a huge smile on my face. This is the professional opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to work with one of the most courageous and well-respected journalists in the world, the one and only Geraldo. It’s an honor and a privilege, and I can’t wait to get started.

I’ll be serving as a news update anchor and a roving correspondent. For the first couple of weeks, while Geraldo is literally AT LARGE, I’ll be in the New York studio with the day’s top stories. We’re calling the headlines, “The World at Large.” When I’m not doing the headlines, I’ll be reporting from the field, possibly three or four cities in three or four days, covering anything and everything. Getting out “in the field,” as we call it, is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

Here is Rick Kaplan’s memo to MSNBC’s staff announcing the changes…

I wanted to share with you some news about realignment of our dayside coverage.

Beginning after the first of the year, we are going to increase our live news coverage on the weekends. With the addition of our new program with Connie Chung and Maury Povich, we will be in live or topical news programming from 8am until 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. This more than doubles our current live weekend programming!

In order to accomplish this, we will be shifting some resources in the coming month. After a year of great programs, “Connected: Coast to Coast” will have it’s final telecast on Friday, December 9. I’m very proud of this program and the work of Ron, Monica and Sharon Newman and their entire team. They brought smart coverage and internet reporting to cable news and set a very high standard of coverage. As for the future of that time slot we’ll have some exciting new programming at noon which we will be announcing soon.

The weekend of December 17th will mark the final airings of MSNBC at the Movies and MSNBC Entertainment Hot List. I want to thank Sharon Tay, Scott Leon and his team for all their hard work on the program over the last year. They did a terrific job and we should all be very proud of what they accomplished.

Word is trickling in that Connected: Coast to Coast, Entertainment Hotlist, and At The Movies have all been axed. Also MSNBC is going to be expanding weekend news coverage. Connected will be replaced at the noon hour by a new as yet unknown program.

Rita Cosby will be doing a special on the life of professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero. What really surprises me about this is not the special but that it got announced last night on Monday Night RAW….

CNBC had a separate release for its new global business program to be anchored by Michelle Caruso-Cabrerra that will be airing from 4-6 am EST…

Utilizing the resources of CNBC, CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia, the unprecedented telecast will be anchored by Michelle Caruso-Cabrera in New York, Ross Westgate in London and Christine Tan in Singapore and will air from 4 am to 6 am ET in the U.S., 10 am to Noon CET (9 am-11 am in the UK) and 5 pm to 7 pm in Asia (Singapore/ Hong Kong time.)

“This broadcast is the first full integration of CNBC’s worldwide roster of anchors, correspondents and producers,” said Hoffman. “As business increasingly is conducted on a worldwide basis, it is essential for our audience to have the most complete and relevant coverage. Only CNBC has the resources to meet such a challenge.”
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CNBC announced this morning a new lineup beginning December 19th. The highlights…

- Squawk Box is extended to four hours

- Squawk box will feature a tri-anchor format with Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and the return to CNBC of NBC News correspondent Carl Quintanilla

- Mark Haines will host a 9 am live “Squawk on the Street” from the New York Stock Exchange

- Newsweek senior writer Charles Gasparino joins the CNBC “Squawk Box” ensemble as on-air Editor. He will also provide reports thoughout the day.

- CNBC will broadcast a new early morning worldwide program anchored from New York, London and Singapore.

Beginning December 19th, an ensemble-formatted “Squawk Box” will air from 6 am-9 am ET anchored by CNBC’s Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla, who is re-joining CNBC from NBC News where he was a correspondent.
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I nearly missed Cindy Adams’ blurb on Aaron Brown taking what appears to be a shot at his former network…

SO, no longer on CNN, what’s Aaron Brown going to do? “Be home for a while,” he answered. Then: “CNN in the old days had a clear vision. It knew what it was. It’s lost its way today.” Watch for a book from Aaron Brown . . .

Rush and Molloy write about George Clooney going mano-a-mano with FNC’s Bill O’Reilly for real….

George Clooney loves sparring with Bill O’Reilly — but the actor would just as soon keep the jabs verbal.

Appearing at an American Film Institute panel in L.A. last weekend, ­Clooney was asked if he’d be willing to box his longtime antagonist at the ­casino Clooney is helping to develop in Las Vegas.

“He’d kick my a—,” replied Clooney. “He’s 6-foot-4.” Not that Clooney, who’s 5-foot-11, is shying away from another round of teasing.
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David Ng in the Village Voice takes CNN and other American news organizations to task over its Paris riot coverage. Why CNN got singled out by name, I’m not sure since the writer makes an indictment of the American press in general…

Contrary to the breathless dispatches from the American press, Paris was most certainly not burning. Those of us ensconced in the central part of the city could hardly tell anything was going on. (”This is not exactly the second French Revolution,” another journalist colleague told me.) American media hyperbole served to heighten the distancing effect. Expounding on French social inequalities from their suites at the George V, the dashing reporters of CNN et al., their infographics a-blazin’, created a sensationalized image of an entire country under siege.
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USA Today’s Peter Johnson interviews Ted Koppel who had this to say about cable news…

“As long as they continue to be in this desperate race to be first with the obvious, they’re never going to realize their full potential. Cable TV specializes in what happened five minutes ago. It does a mediocre job of explaining what is most important in people’s lives. Once it starts moving in that direction, it’ll really compete with the networks.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister writes about Brown’s first comments since he “departed” CNN…

Brown’s in no hurry to return to work. He’s being paid for his estimated $1.5 plus-million contract, which runs until July ‘07. And he’s loving the time off.

“I feel really good. I’m relaxed. I’m excited about the ‘tomorrows’ of my life. I’m spending a lot of time chatting with people - friends, people in this business. Mostly, I’m just enjoying it all.”

And doing lots of lunches. “I feel like the king of lunch.”
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