Quote of the Day

"I think if I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that facts matter. And we shouldn’t be afraid to have tough and honest conversations, and maybe even argue a little bit when there’s a lot at stake. And yes, Gov. Sununu, I am talking to you."

-- Soledad O'Brien, signing off her morning show at CNN

So, there she goes: pretty much the last, best hope CNN had at doing real journalism -- certainly in the morning.

O'Brien's Starting Point, as you probably already know, will be replaced by a new Jeff Zucker-engineered Today show-like morning fluff-fest hosted by Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan, which means that at all times the anchor team of this new show will look like it's about to be run down by a car on a quiet forest road late at night. Bolduan, in particular, is an almost comically perfect choice for a morning show host: plainly, unthreateningly attractive, with an on-cam delivery that acts as a kind of televisual morphine -- someone guaranteed never to say anything the least bit interesting who, as it turns out, happens to be married to Michael Gershenson, a real estate investment principal within the Carlyle Group, making her both Beltway and Wall Street royalty.

As the now-famous promo goes -- this is CNN.

Abandon Ship

Today's column for the Daily Banter examines the latest rumor coming out of CNN and the ways in which I hope it's not true (but think that it probably is).

Here's the opening shot:

"I get that as in every other field of modern entertainment, when it comes to TV news, a rumor is just a rumor. I also get that a rumor generated by The New York Post is often even less than a rumor. But given what we’ve seen lately, particularly what we witnessed last week from the network, the rumor that Soledad O’Brien is on her way out at CNN sounds anything but implausible."

Read the Rest Here

Quote of the Day

"I really wasn't pissed -- we just had to lay out some ground rules. You know what it reminded me of? It's like when you speak to your kid, and you're like, let me tell you something: we can disagree, or we can agree, but this is how it goes."

-- Soledad O'Brien on her contentious interview with Rudy Giuliani, one in which she scolded him to "stop putting words in (her) mouth"

I've always really liked Soledad. We worked together on American Morning for a while and I came to know her as the whip-smart talent that she is. Like a lot of people, I'm really enjoying her willingness to let herself off the leash on her new morning show and her ability to treat political bullshit artists with the respect they deserve. Namely, very little.

Reality Bites

My column today at the Daily Banter takes a look at what happens when a journalist steps up and uses actual facts to debunk complete bullshit on the part of a political campaign. Bottom line: the guy speaking for the campaign doesn't respond very well to it.

Here's the opening shot:

"In case you haven’t seen this yet, it’s pretty much guaranteed to make your day. Or give you a brain hemorrhage. Or possibly both. Yesterday morning on CNN’s Starting Point, Soledad O’Brien got into a contentious on-air back-and-forth with Mitt Romney surrogate and talking scrotum John Sununu over the Obama and Romney plans for Medicare. The reason it was contentious is that O’Brien refused to simply let Sununu spew the usual nonsense talking points and instead actually held his feet to the fires of reality..."

Read the Rest Here

The big lie about Medicare being spread by the Romney camp -- and that's what it is: a flat-out lie -- has become quite the topic of conversation both at the Banter and throughout progressive circles. If you want to see Sununu's claims -- as well as Romney's ongoing ad blitz -- throroughly laid bare, take a look at what Cesca has to say about it in not one but two extended pieces. And if you're like me and would rather be spoon fed your facts by an attractive woman on television, there's my very good friend and fellow ex-CNNer Jacki Schechner's breakdown of the Medicare "debate" on Current TV.

Take a look:

Look Alive, Sunshine

This is actually very good news if it turns out to be true.

TV Newser: Soledad O'Brien Back To CNN Mornings?/9.15.11

I always believed that taking Soledad and Miles off mornings was a terrible idea. The problem was never the anchor team -- it was always the show itself. And it looks like CNN's going to correct that problem once and for all by separating its morning news into two distinct two-hour blocks, with Soledad anchoring the second.

Anchoring the first, according to the rumor mill?

Ashleigh Banfield.

Damn, and to think that I just republished my book and listed Banfield as working at ABC News in the "Where Are They Now" section of the new afterword. Things move fast in this business.

Anyway, glad to see both Soledad and Ash back in the anchor chair if this whole thing is really on the up-and-up. You go, girls.