TechNewsWorld’s John P. Mello Jr. writes about FNC’s new UReport…

Although only a few days old, UReport is already garnering momentum, according to Fox. “We’ve seen a lot of content already coming through,” Sylvia Borowski, director of FoxNews.com’s project management office, told TechNewsWorld.

We Report, You Report

UReport is part of efforts by Fox News to “give the users a feel that they’re connected and that we’re listening to them and we want them to be a participant of the Web site,” she noted.

“The mantra behind the Fox News Channel is ‘We report, you decide,’” Borowski added. “This is an opportunity to have people report, too.”

Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times ponders whether Jim Cramer crossed the line or not.

The New York Post reported on the clip this week. On Thursday, Mr. Cramer called in to the Imus in the Morning radio show to say he should have been “more clear” and that “you can’t be as glib, because people will interpret this as being that you’re a bad guy.”

He apologized outright for his remarks about Mr. Pisani. “He deserved better from me. He’s one of the best. And you know, sometimes I screw up. I screwed up in saying that stuff about him.” Mr. Cramer’s show, “Mad Money,” airs on CNBC.

But he also lashed out at the Post for reporting on the clip, as well as its parent company, News Corporation, which also owns Fox News. “I think most of the discipline is coming from organizations that have kind of an edge against maybe CNBC, maybe of the FOX venue, the “New York Post venue,” he said. “It’s almost as if they’re about to launch their own business channel.” Fox has a news business-news cable channel in the works.

The article also references this Henry Blodget article in Slate which no doubt will rekindle the feud between Cramer and Blodget…
(more…)

CNBC came in 2nd in the primetime Demo and MSNBC came in 5th. The Fox Report had the 2nd highest priemtime Demo number (O’Reilly was first). The distance between The Situaton Room and Harball was closer than normal at 7pm. Nancy Grace’s repeat beat 360 in the Demo at 10pm.

Cable News Daily Ratings for March 22, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 850,000 viewers
CNN – 467,000 viewers
MSNBC – 332,000 viewers
CNBC – 310,000 viewers
HLN – 255,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,751,000 viewers
CNN – 741,000 viewers
MSNBC –598,000 viewers
CNBC- 668,000 viewers
HLN – 536,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 240,000 viewers
CNN – 147,000 viewers
MSNBC – 116,000 viewers
CNBC –118,000 viewers
HLN – 104,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 385,000 viewers
CNN – 197,000 viewers
MSNBC – 174,000 viewers
CNBC – 222,000 viewers
HLN – 183,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 795,000 viewers (304,000)
American Morning – 387,000 viewers (134,000)
Imus in the Morning– 318,000 viewers (115,000)
Robin & Co. – 119,000 viewers (58,000)
(more…)

In a must read, LA Weekly’s Bill Bradley writes about the recent Nevada debate debacle and all the events that surrounded it and ends up blaming both sides for this mess…

The successful bloggers’ campaign to dump Fox News from cablecasting the Nevada Democratic presidential debate on August 14 in Reno exposed serious problems on the left and the right. On the left, as interviews with campaing organizers Adam Green and Robert Greenwald reveal, there is a serious streak of hyperpartisan censorship. On the right, at Fox News, there’s a serious problem with poking Democrats in the eye — regardless of circumstance.

The Greenwald interview in particular is illuminating on several fronts…

When asked about shutting out Fox News, Greenwald replies, “Didn’t you get the memo?” Then he lays out his own view of Fox and its pernicious coverage: “They mix them up, commentators and news anchors, very carefully. You can’t tell them apart.”

“You can watch for a week,” he claims, “and not be able to tell the difference between a commentator and a news host.”

Greenwald evidently does not watch Fox News much. As I point out, it’s not hard to tell the difference between openly partisan talk-show host Sean Hannity and anchor Brit Hume, the Emmy Award–winning 23-year veteran of ABC News before he was wooed away by Fox News in 1996.

To which he says, “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, because the station is committed to a point of view.” Which is true, as well, of The New York Times.

Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman profiles American Morning host Soledad O’Brien…

Off-camera, Soledad O’Brien is just like the highly professional anchor you watch on CNN’s “American Morning,” except for one thing.

She has opinions and isn’t shy about expressing them to an interviewer.

Oh, O’Brien is every bit as solicitous and chipper in private as in public. But it became obvious, after I spent an hour speaking with her in the cafeteria in CNN’s New York offices Monday, that she’s no “Stepford” broadcaster who dutifully follows a script 24/7.

I asked her to talk about the competition. “I don’t watch ‘Fox & Friends,’” she told me. “I don’t have a (basis) for comparison. I compare us to the news portions on ‘Good Morning America.’”

O’Brien, in that simple sentence, drew a line in the sand between the popular chatty show on Fox and “American Morning,” which Time Warner Inc.’s CNN regards as a newsier show.

KSL TV reports on the day after the O’Reilly/Anderson showdown. It also notes no progress in finalizing a Hannity/Anderson debate…

Mayor Anderson told KSL’s “Nightside Project” he was surprised by the name-calling and said O’Reilly didn’t have his facts straight. He also said O’Reilly edited the program to make himself look better.

“O’Reilly was classic O’Reilly,” Anderson said. “He was rude, he interrupted. He wasn’t interested in talking about the substance, about the merits.”

Anderson also commented that he thinks that kind of journalism is on the decline. “I don’t think we’re going to see the Bill O’Reillys and the Rush Limbaughs and the Sean Hannitys much longer,” Mayor Anderson said. “I think people realize that they’re pretty fact-free, and I think we’re getting tired of that kind of uncivil dialogue.”

The show generated over 200 comments on ksl.com. M.L. wrote, “It was hilarious. Rocky Anderson is such a loser! That was great.” Robert wrote, “FOX has a financial interest in making sure that Hannity/O’Reilly win whatever encounter they participate in. It’s just better for ratings.”