Rita Cosby's switch from Fox News to MSNBC went over as two parts blonde ambition tour and one part Tucker Carlson fuck-you. The GE news network is looking for ratings and, so far, it's been quite pleased with what Cosby's been delivering (not a jump in her fan club membership, but a jump in ratings .. for Joe Scarborough too).

But at what cost to things like .. serious journalism?

MSNBC's promotional arm has made much of Cosby's status as an investigative journalist. The network's Web site promises that "Rita Cosby: Live and Direct will be a hard-hitting, no-nonsense news program that brings viewers stories they won't see anywhere else." But if the network's going to try to score points by bragging about Cosby's three Emmys for investigative reporting, or her historic "back-to-back interviews" with Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon, they should be all the more ashamed to feature her in such a low-rent grab for ratings. So far, interviews have included Victoria Gotti's former publicist (now there's a "get"!) and Martha Stewart, who appeared with Mark Burnett to promote her two new shows, Martha and The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Cosby served up a few creampuff questions (Q: "Is the best ahead?" A: "The best is yet to come.") before musing about Stewart's personal growth in prison: "Maybe she's, you know, grown a bit. I mean, this experience has got to change someone. But she seems very genuine, I thought."

Whatever keeps Rick Kaplan off her back.