Rasmussen Reports has a new survey on “media bias”. I still believe that most, but not all, claims of “media bias” are more or less just code words for “they didn’t tell the story the way I believe it should be told”…

By a margin of 33% to 16%, Americans say that CNN has a liberal bias. The nation’s adults say the same about NPR by a 27% to 14% margin.

There is one major exception to the belief that media outlets have a liberal bias—Fox News. Thirty-one percent (31%) of Americans say it has a bias that favors conservatives while 15% say it has a liberal bias.

When it comes to delivering news without bias, 37% believe NPR accomplishes that goal. Thirty-six percent (36%) say the same for Fox and 32% believe it’s true of CNN. As noted earlier, just 25% believe the major broadcast networks deliver news in an unbiased manner. Results for other media outlets will be released over the next week.

Thursday brought another round of Demo scratching. Morning Joe scratched. Mad Money scratched. Fast Money scratched. Mad Money scratched again at 11pm.

Cable News Ratings for July 12, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 883,000 viewers
CNN – 484,000 viewers
MSNBC – 307,000 viewers
CNBC – 201,000 viewers
HLN – 237,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,657,000 viewers
CNN – 949,000 viewers
MSNBC – 555,000 viewers
CNBC – 186,000 viewers
HLN – 506,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 246,000 viewers
CNN –150,000 viewers
MSNBC – 117,000 viewers
CNBC – 59,000 viewers
HLN – 93,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 378,000 viewers
CNN – 252,000 viewers
MSNBC – 176,000 viewers
CNBC –79,000 viewers
HLN – 163,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 852,500 viewers (282,000)
American Morning – 411,000 viewers (142,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 204,000 viewers (a scratch with 38,000)
Robin & Co. –144,000 viewers (55,000)
(more…)

The Politico’s Anne Schroeder blogs about the news that Jessica Yellin coming is to CNN and scoops that Andrea Koppel is out at the network.

We hear Yellin, in fact, is headed to the Hill, replacing Andrea Koppel, whose contract, as we understand it, wasn’t renewed despite her uber-journo genes. “Koppel’s gone, they just pushed her out,” our CNN’er deftly explained.

Ken Silverstein in Harper’s Magazine writes about Howard Kurtz’s commentary regarding Silverstein’s undercover reporting tactics involving two lobbying firms…

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post has faithfully parroted the talking points of the two lobbying firms I embarrassed in this month’s Harper’s, but APCO and Cassidy & Associates have had less luck with other journalists. The story exposed how the firms offered to polish the image of Stalinist Turkmenistan when I approached them, claiming to represent a shady energy firm that allegedly had a stake in that country’s natural gas sector.

The lobby shops attacked my ethics and Kurtz dutifully supported them in the Post and in a commentary last Sunday on CNN’s Reliable Sources, saying during the latter, “When you use lying and cheating to get a story, even a really juicy story, it raises as many questions about the journalist as his target.” Encouraged by Kurtz’s parroting of the lobbyist line, APCO has been sending out a press statement denouncing me to other journalism experts.

But after being pitched by APCO, Edward Wasserman, a Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University, wrote an article in the Miami Herald saying:

And it’s here. Not much to see at present. Just a front page and a submission form at present…(via TVNewser)

I believe that journalism is a powerful tool for change.
I believe that stories can empower and enrich.
Let’s ask the questions no one else is asking.

By doing so, we can change the lives of cancer patients and their families with news, community and online tools that support patients and their caregivers in the same way that a global news network supported me and my family.

Eat The Press’ Sklar looks at coverage of the Conrad Black verdict…

All right, CNN officially wins as “Official Network of the Conrad Black Verdict” where “Official Network” means “actually covering it, as far as I can tell.” ETP scientifically assessed the coverage on the three cable nets (read: switched the channel and then got distracted online), and here is our report: Both MSNBC and Fox News spent most of the time in our random channel-surf covering the sad case of Zinna Linnick, the Tacoma girl snatched on July 4th and killed by an illegal immigrant sex offender (oy, Lou Dobbs is going to go berserk), with additional coverage of another missing woman, plus coverage of Terror! Terror! Terror! on Fox and two weather reports from MSNBC, one talking about the hurricanes that haven’t happened this hurricane season. CNN, meanwhile, has piped in CNN International for some analysis of the verdicts (though by now they are talking about the buildup to David Beckham). Upshot: In my morning of sporadic flipping, I have not seen Conrad Black covered on either MSNBC or Fox.

UPDATE: FNC did cover the Black verdict. E.D. Hill talked about it at 11:05 am this morning. This was followed by FNC Business correspondent Rebecca Gomez providing analysis…

…was a bit out of control apparently. What on earth is Janice Dean doing? Johnny Dollar has the video here…

Extreme Mortman notes Bob Novak’s upcoming “Q&A” C-SPAN interview, particularly the part where Novak talks about how much money CNN was paying him…

Following up on this morning’s item, ICN has learned that Fox News Channel and Rudi Bakhtiar have parted ways….her contract has not been renewed.

FNC has launched “Update ‘08″; its Daily Read from the Fox Political Unit. Its layout is a bit different from CNN’s Political Ticker or MSNBC’s First Read. For example, the site breaks off a special blog section for FNC’s Carl Cameron called Cameron’s Corner . (via FishbowlDC)

The New York Post’s Paul Tharp writes about a possible deal between CNBC and the Financial Times…

Business news channel CNBC is hedging its bets - by working out a plan in which it could replace The Wall Street Journal with the Financial Times as the heavyweight partner to bolster its shows.

The move emerged from earlier talks for a partnership on a much larger scale, involving the parent companies of the FT and CNBC.

UPDATE: This Wall Street Journal article by Aaron O. Patrick is apparently what triggered Tharp’s piece…

The Financial Times Group and cable business-news channel CNBC are discussing sharing news resources to bolster both companies’ Web operations, according to people familiar with the situation.

One option under consideration is for the Financial Times to use video clips from CNBC on its Web site, www.ft.com. In return, CNBC would get access to Financial Times articles for its site, www.cnbc.com.

The move could eventually lead to closer ties between the two news organizations if CNBC and the Financial Times’ main rival, The Wall Street Journal, end their longstanding content-sharing agreement in the U.S., a person familiar with the matter said.

The Washington Flyer’s Lauren Paige Kennedy has an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar that mostly concerns golf…

You’re an avid golfer. You even played on the guys’ golf team back in high school …

I lettered in boys’ varsity golf. I wasn’t trying to break down barriers, but with no women’s golf program, if you wanted to compete, you joined the guys …

Did they welcome you taking a shot, or resent you as a “skirt”?

If the guys played off the championship tees, so did I. Since they outdistanced me I tried to make it up on my short game and putting, which has always been the strongest part of my game.

Earlier this week I received an email from a Rudi Bakhtiar fan asking what has become of her. That was a surprise question to me because I didn’t know she had dissapeared but it got me thinking back to the last time I saw her on FNC. I couldn’t remember the last time. Was it one month ago? Two? Was it on Red Eye? The Big Story? I couldn’t be sure. A check of some of the fan sites didn’t turn up anything other than nobody seemed to know what happened to her. So the question remains, what has happened to Rudi Bakhtiar? And when will she return to the air?

From an emailer…

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who seems to be avoiding Sean Hannity on FNC since Jr’s comments on certain talking heads including Glenn Beck, during the Live Earth Concert did appear on HLN with Glenn Beck as a part of what Glenn called the “I Hate Glenn Beck” segment. RFK Jr. came off looking very arrogant and nasty, I wonder if he will show up on H&C this or next week?

Transcript…

BECK: I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but the “Real Story” is there are actually a few people in this country who don`t like me. Yes, I know, I was surprised. I thought, “Really?” I mean, why not invite these people to come on the show, you know? To know me is to love me. Put them back on the show. We can get all the hate out in one segment, and we`re going to start tonight with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Last January, he wrote that I was “CNN`s chief corporate fascism advocate.” And then, last Saturday, at a Live Earth event, he went even further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: And so I`m going to tell you this, that the next time you see John Stossel, or Glenn Beck, or Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity, these flat-Earthers, these corporate toadies, lying to you, lying to the American public, and telling you that global warming doesn`t exist, you send an e-mail to their advertisers and tell them you`re not going to buy their products anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: So what does RFK, Jr., think of these corporate toadies, what should happen to these people?
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