Though word leaked out to TVNewser a while back on this, CNN is noting that former Headline News anchor Stephen Frazier is starting his duties at CNN International this week…

Former CNN Headline News anchor begins his new duties anchoring CNN International (CNNI) on Monday, August 7th.

“Stephen Frazier, who has had a distinguished career with both CNN and CNN Headline News since joining in 1993–traveling extensively and reporting from 55 countries during his career–brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm that will play an important role in ensuring CNN International remains the number one international news network,” says Chris Cramer, senior vice president of CNN International.

This week Frazier can still be seen on U.S. television, as he will co-anchor anchor “Your World Today” a CNNI show which is simulcast on CNN/U.S. each weekday from noon-1pm ET. Frazier covers the slot for Jim Clancy who is reporting from the Lebanon this week. In the attached image, Frazier is anchoring a special report on the current Mideast crisis.

August 4
P2+ Total Day
FNC - 899,000 viewers
CNN - 539,000 viewers
MSNBC - 216,000 viewers
CNBC - 163,000 viewers
HLN - 203,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC - 1,400,000 viewers
CNN- 709,000 viewers
MSNBC - 325,000 viewers
CNBC - 136,000 viewers
HLN - 380,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC - 270,000 viewers
CNN - 215,000 viewers
MSNBC - 87,000 viewers
CNBC - 64,000 viewers
HLN - 91,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC - 306,000 viewers
CNN - 276,000 viewers
MSNBC - 128,000 viewers
CNBC - 66,000 viewers
HLN- 122,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends - 923,000 viewers (348,000)
American Morning - 433,000 viewers (162,000)
Imus in the Morning - 160,000 viewers (76,000)
Robin & Co. - 179,000 (93,000)
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The Sunday Times has a column by Rod Liddle that is bound to stir up trouble even though he’s talking about British TV…(via Romenesko)

This is the nub of the issue: what on earth is there to learn about journalism at postgraduate level? The point and purpose of our lowly, occasionally useful, trade could be scribbled on the back of a postage stamp and would easily be comprehended by a 14-year-old hoodie with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and a carrier bag full of glue. Who has decided that it must be dignified with a doctoral thesis?

Nor is reading the news even what one might call “journalism”. It is an even simpler business called “reading”. All that the BBC demands of its female newsreaders is an ability to read in an impartial way words like “Israel has murdered more Lebanese children again today” from the teleprompter without belching or lisping. It helps if they have the eminently presentable demeanour of a girl guide leader from Esher.

Here is what Joe Scarborough said on Friday in response to comments from Laura Ingraham and John Gibson regarding the Mel Gibson experiment. Via the official transcript…

But first, as you know on Wednesday night, we conducted an experiment expert here in SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY, where one of my producers drank enough to get himself to a .12 blood alcohol level. Now, that was the same level that Mel Gibson was at when he went on that anti-Semitic terror.

We just wanted to test whether Mel Gibson‘s blood alcohol level was really the reason he defamed the entire Jewish race. Though a longtime Gibson fan, I didn‘t buy the old “bottle made me do it” routine that I‘ve seen Hollywood actors hide behind. I mean, this rehab routine has been tried so many times that I wanted to sniff out this sorry excuse.

So we tested Gibson‘s alibi, and we saw whether it was the alcohol talking or his own prejudices. So what did we do? We had our producer put himself in the same medical state as “Braveheart.” But our producer‘s reaction was quite different from Mad Mel‘s, who said this to the cops the night they tried to arrest him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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CNN announced that Christiane Amanpour will examine the Kenyan AIDS crisis in a special called “Where Have All the Parents Gone?” this Saturday at 8pm ET…

In the first of her new quarterly specials for CNN, chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes viewers into the lives of those struggling with the AIDS crisis in Kenya, where the affliction has left more than a million children orphaned. Where Have All the Parents Gone? introduces viewers to several of these orphans and the people who care for them, portrays the difficulties in treating the virus in Africa and profiles some bold new solutions.

Where Have all the Parents Gone? will premiere on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m., with a replay at 11 p.m. The documentary will also air on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. All times Eastern.

“With these quarterly specials, we rely on Christiane’s unparalleled ability to delve into incredibly complex issues around the globe and, through her poignant story-telling, make sense of them for all of us,” said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. “These special reports reflect CNN’s commitment to truly in-depth coverage of international news, that goes beyond the headlines. This is more than the harsh statistics of HIV/AIDS. This is a journey into the daily lives of families in Kenya, caught between horror and hope that is unimaginable for many of us.”
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FNC’s Carl Cameron is in Connecticut to cover their Democratic primary. He’s reporting on the race today, and will provide live reports for FNC’s Prime Time programs tomorrow night. Updates and results will be reported live on FNC throughout the night. Carl will also report live from CT on Wednesday as well.

UPDATE: Cameron will be at Lieberman’s campaign headquarters and Alan Colmes will be at Ned Lamont’s headquarters tomorrow night…

CNN will have Mary Snow and Candy Crowley and Jeff Greenfield in Connecticut… (via TVNewser)

MSNBC announced that Chris Matthews will be covering the race tomorrow…

Kicking off the primary season in a big way, MSNBC’s host of “Hardball” and chief election anchor, Chris Matthews, will cover the Connecticut primary from NBC’s WVIT-TV New Haven studios Tuesday, August 8 all day and into the evening. He will also host two live “Hardball with Chris Matthews” shows at 5:00 p.m. and 7 p.m. (ET).
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It’s the story that won’t die. The FNC TCA was weeks ago but the ramifications, recriminations, and finger pointing amongst the critics goes on, apparently unabated. Now Glenn Garvin responds to Lisa de Moreas on Romenesko’s Letter’s page…

Re the item in Lisa de Moraes’ chat, I certainly did not report that anyone heckled Roger Ailes during his appearance at TCA last month. Nor did I use the expression “walked out.” I wrote that “about two-thirds of the 150 critics left the room before Ailes took the stage,” most of them during a break between TCA sessions.

Neither that, nor the combative exchanges that followed — which included a Fox New promo film needling critics by name over some of the things they’ve written about the channel, a critic’s demand that Ailes promise he wouldn’t inject Fox local stations ‘’with that same Fox attitude,” and a critic’s accusation that Fox News maintains an “enemies list” — were the product of my imagination.

U.S. News & World Report’s Paul Bedard writes about Tammy Haddad’s new promotion at MSNBC… (via TVNewser)

Haddad is probably the most influential woman behind the TV news camera in Washington, a product of persistence and an E-mail list of 1,646 contacts. “Oh,” she assures Whispers, “they’re all real.” Besides bringing Larry King Live to cable, she’s been a show boss at a variety of networks, becoming something of an inside-the-beltway celeb herself who hosts the biggest (400 guests) pre-White House Correspondents Association dinner cocktail party. One trademark: A shock of white in her black bangs. “It’s kind of in vogue,” she purrs, though when blogging at this year’s Miss America pageant, “none of the contestants were asking me for advice.” Since politics is her game, we naturally asked for her 2008 presidential picks. “I like,” she deadpans, “whoever comes on our shows.”

The LA Times Matea Gold writes that Dennis Miller has joined Hannity & Colmes as a contributor…

Comedian and actor Dennis Miller is joining Fox News as a contributor to “Hannity & Colmes” this fall, according to a network executive. Miller, who did a stint on “Hannity & Colmes” in 2003 and then had his own eponymous show on CNBC, will begin weighing in on news and politics beginning Sept. 13. He will also provide commentary on the Fox News website.

Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman ridicules the news that CNN hired Fidel Castro’s daughter as a contributor…

My biggest problem with CNN is that it has been known to pander for viewers as a way to try to keep up with cable news leader Fox. I’m not crazy about Fox’s penchant to side with the Bush administration on every conceivable issue — but say this for Roger Ailes’ network: Fox certainly stands for something, whether you love or loathe it.

It’s never easy to get a handle on what CNN, which has been known to change its broadcasting styles seemingly as often as most people change their socks, stands for (today).

CNN’s latest stretch for publicity was a doozy of a gimmick: it announced late last week that it had hired Fidel Castro’s daughter as a contributor, just as the Cuban dictator’s health became the island’s biggest news story since the heady days of Elian Gonzalez. He was the bewildered little boy who found himself at the center of a media storm in 2000.

Maybe CNN had to settle for Castro’s daughter because Elian couldn’t skip soccer practice or something and wasn’t available for the gig.