Cable World Magazine has put out a list of the 50 most influential minorities in cable. Among the 50, HLN’s Executive Vice President and General Manager Rolando Santos came in at #16, Fox Cable Networks’ Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, Rita Tuzon was #35, Fox Networks Group’s Senior Vice President, Business Development, Mitchell Chun was #37, and Fox Cable Networks’ Senior Vice Presidents, Business and Legal Affairs, Claudia Teran and Jennifer Chun tied at #40.

As the cable industry convenes in New York for Diversity Week, the consensus among executives is that women and ethnic minorities are still fighting for adequate opportunities. Yet cable is hiring more people with backgrounds in ethnic marketing and business, diversity on camera and behind the camera is improving, albeit slowly, and cable is offering more ethnic channels than it did last year. We also noticed a marked increase in the number of nominees for our 50 Most Influential Minorities list, including more at the senior vice president level and above. In addition, our list this year includes three people working at cable operators among the top 10; we had none last year. Although that’s anecdotal evidence of improvement, it’s a good sign.

But we also bring bad tidings: Cable lost several top minority executives. Some quit, others were victims of bad times or consolidation. Still others left the cable business. Programming executives MIA from last year’s list include MTVN’s Herb Scannell, Si TV’s Jeff Valdez, La Familia’s Clark Ortiz, Court TV’s Jennifer Randolph, Showtime’s Geof Rochester, AZN’s Peilin Chou, CNN’s Kim Bondy, ESPN’s Kerry Chandler, TBS’ Christy Kwon Kreisberg and The Weather Channel’s Susan Scott and Vicki Hamilton.

The AP writes about the delicate balancing act the networks strike in how and how much they show of what happened on 9/11…

Any use of the pictures by NBC News has to be prefaced by a warning that gives time for people to turn away, said Steve Capus, NBC News president.

“I don’t think we will ever change our rules completely,” he said. “But I think the fifth anniversary is an appropriate time, within limits, to show it, where you might not have done it a year or two ago.”

The ban continues at ABC News. Paul Slavin, the division’s senior vice president, said he suspects that will remain so until some producer makes a compelling case in a specific instance, but that hasn’t happened yet.

One trend this year is to repeat a network’s real-time coverage of the events as they unfolded five years ago. CNN is making this available, for a fee, on its Web site. NBC News and FOX News Channel are planning at least some airings of their original coverage.

FOX has allowed the pictures only in certain cases, such as during the trial of World Trade Center conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, said John Stack, the network’s vice president of newsgathering.

Ok, now that I’ve got some of my readers’ blood boiling with that headline…

The St. Petersberg Times Eric Deggans thinks Keith Olbermann had an Edward R. Murrow moment with his segment critcizing Donald Rumsfeld…

He read it while waiting for his plane to take off in Los Angeles.

And the moment MSNBC host Keith Olbermann realized the impact of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s Aug. 29 speech before the American Legion in Salt Lake City - which he felt compared critics of the Bush administration to those who enabled Adolf Hitler’s rise to power - the anchor knew he had to respond.

“To consider any of his critics as not merely unpatriotic but equivalent to the (Nazi) appeasers of the 1930s, just struck me as absurd and so contradictory to anything in our nation’s history,” said Olbermann, who wrote a rough draft of his now-classic rebuttal on the back of his travel itinerary.

Howard Kurtz had David Gergen and Bill Press on CNN’s Reliable Sources this morning to talk about ABC’s 9/11 Docudrama mini-series. Transcript follows…

KURTZ: For more on the issues surrounding this fifth anniversary of 9/11, joining us from Boston, David Gergen, editor at-large for “U.S. News and World Report,” a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a former aide to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

And here in Washington, Bill Press, host of “The Bill Press Show” on “Sirius” satellite radio.

Bill Press, did Bill Cohen and Sandy Berger and Madeleine Albright have a right to be upset over these embellished scenes or are they overreacting to what is, after all, just a movie?

BILL PRESS, “THE BILL PRESS SHOW”: I don’t think they’re overreacting at all. And I think it’s unfortunate that “ABC” has chosen to mar with really for all of us ought to be a sacred day of remembrance with a pretty bit of, schlocky bit of political journalism or if you can call it, not journalism, entertainment.

You know, to me, the facts of 9/11 are so powerful, that’s what we ought to be focused on today. You talk about the police and firemen at ground zero, you talk about United 93 and our heroes on that flight, talk about the politicians here in Washington who came together, Republicans and Democrats, saying “God bless America.”
(more…)

DNC Chairman Howard Dean meets Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice for the first time on the set of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace this morning (Photo: Freddie Lee/Fox News Sunday)…

UPDATE: Dean had a lot to say about the War on Terror, Iraq, Karl Rove, and the Republican party. Highlights follow…
(more…)

FNC announced its coverage plans for President Bush’s 9 pm ET address to the nation on the fifth anniversary of 9/11…

Brit Hume will lead Fox News Channel’s live coverage of President Bush’s address to the nation beginning Monday, September 11, 2006 at 8:58 PM/ET. Programming will include a post-address panel discussion with Hume, Nina Easton of the Boston Globe, Mort Kondracke of Roll Call, Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist, as well as live reports from Chief White House Correspondent Bret Baier.

FNC’s Shepard Smith will anchor the FOX Broadcasting Network’s coverage beginning at 900 PM/ET, live from Ground Zero, which affiliates have the option of carrying.

FNC special programming will include:

- 8:00-8:57 PM/ET - The O’Reilly Factor
- 8:58 PM/ET - Presidential address to the nation and post-address analysis anchored by Brit Hume
- Followed by a live special edition of Hannity & Colmes with a studio audience focusing on the rescue personnel of 9/11
- 10:30 PM/ET - On the Record with Greta Van Susteren
- 12 AM/ET - Presidential news conference and post analysis with Brit Hume (repeat)

I didn’t see this yesterday but I’ve receieved emails and seen blog comments that MSNBC mistakenly reported that “Bucky” Phillips had been captured yesterday afternoon before he really was captured. According to information I’ve read, MSNBC put up lower thirds announcing his capture but ended up taking them down when it was announced he was still at large.