Are you done hearing about Sarah Palin and her magnificent/awful/whatever interview with Charlie Gibson yet?
In case you missed anything on ABC: "Yada yada yada, Bush Doctrine, blah blah blah." There, that was a perfect summation of the three minutes the media zoomed in on during the multiple-part interview. But was it really ABC's fault that Palin either came out looking like a dumbed-down Tina Fey, or smelling like roses, depending on your take? Who's side was ABC prez David Westin really on when he decided to air the show on 9/11?
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Sometimes ABC News president David Westin likes to reach out to the hundreds of people working beneath him to let them know about an exciting project underway at the network. Sometimes Westin also likes to reach out to the hundreds of people working beneath him to remind them how corporate synergy works.
In an email Westin sent out last night, he spams the entire ABC News staff with a few words about Randy Pausch, the professor and father of three with terminal pancreatic cancer. He's been telling his story on Good Morning America's "Last Lecure" — and now he's got a book out from sister company Hyperion! And also: "It turns out that Dr. Pausch's connections with the Walt Disney Company go back a very long way; he always aspired to be an Disney Imagineer." CONTINUED »
"While we felt the incident in question was disturbing, it was the only scene of physical punishment in the hundreds of hours of footage that ABC News reviewed." That was the excuse the Disney-owned network gave in April 2006 when, after airing an episode of Primetime that showed footage of a teenage girl being beaten, viewers called and emailed in outrage about the network's decision not to step in to help.
That excuse was not good enough, at least for 20-year-old Kyle Nelson, then 15, who was pummeled by her stepfather in footage taped inside their home by ABC. Nelson is filing suit against ABC, the Walt Disney Co., network president David Westin, and even anchor Diane Sawyer, claiming they acted with "wanton and reckless behavior" and "gross negligence" by not alerting authorities to the abuse.
The Primetime episode, called "Stepfamilies in Crisis," aired the footage at least three years after it was shot; four days after it aired, Sawyer interviewed Kyle on Good Morning America, where she said she forgave her father.
But she hasn't forgiven ABC, which, her attorney Matthew Norfolk, will claim "immunity and a constitutional right provided under the First Amendment to broadcast or report to America what happened in Kyle's home."
Maybe. But then he goes off the deep end. CONTINUED »
We're hearing that ABC News president David Westin (whom some people find strangely attractive) is about to completely overhaul the structure of his news division. Insiders say Paul Slavin (the SVP of ABC News since 2003) will no longer be Westin's second-in-command going forward, and will now have a bullshit assignment jurisdiction over "Digital" rather than oversight of the news programs.
Update: WABC general manager Dave Davis joins ABC News as its new executive vice president [TVNewser]
ABC staff and viewers were decidedly not laughing over this clip of World News Now anchors Ryan Owens and Taina Hernandez giggling their way through a segment on actor Owen Wilson's apparent suicide attempt.
No word yet on whether the two will be disciplined by David "He's cute when he's angry" Westin, but the ill-timed "Case of The Giggles" has already triggered an on-air apology, and prompted notorious "corpser" Jimmy Fallon to shake his head in disbelief and remark, "Jeez, even I could have made it through that one."
Remember that ominous memo (entitled "The Future!") ABC News prez David Westin sent out on June, 22nd, that shook up an otherwise humdrum summer Friday with the scary-sounding news that 35 jobs were being "trimmed?"
Well, apparently (snip-snip!) the first sixteen cuts have already been made.
And then there were (next to) none at the Washington Bureau.
BONUS: Still 19 more "trimmings" to go!
Don't you hate it when you're sitting back at your desk, enjoying another lazy summer Friday, celebrating the fact that your boss is out of the office (and is, in fact, rotting at his lake house on Cape Cod with his two bratty kids) when suddenly, you get one of those "Uh Oh, Someone's Getting Fired" emails?
Well, that's exactly what happened over at ABC headquarters today, when news president/hottie David Westin sent out an officewide memo (read: to everyone at ABC News) announcing that they're "consolidating some operations," and "yes, some positions will be lost."
But is Charlie Gibson's coveted anchor spot safe over at World News Tonight? And what about the co-Daytime Emmy award-winning staff of Gay-MA GMA?
Writes Westin:
And, of course, you want to know as quickly as possible whether this will affect you personally. We haven't made final decisions about everything we're considering, but to give you a sense of the ultimate outcome: After we've added positions in some areas and cut positions in others, we will trim about 35 jobs from ABC News staff worldwide.
Translation: The on-air talent is most likely safe, however only time will tell whether the freelance desk assistant with the annoying laugh will live to answer phones another day.
The full memo (creepily entitled "The Future") after the jump.
• If they ever do make a tv movie about Bob Woodruff, the role of ABC news president David Westin will be played by a Desperate Housewives "hunk."
• The Post gets to the heart of the U.S. News/Sarah Lawrence controversy by reminding everyone that U.S. News and World Report is actually owned by Mort Zuckerman.
• Last week, the two biggest news stories were the Scooter Libby verdict and the presidential race. (And lest you thought our country had smartened up too much, it's worth noting that Antonella Barba grabbed the #3 slot.)
• Turns out CBS Evening News' new exec producer is actually friends with the Clintons. Conflict of interest? Or just boring coincidence?
• "[Keith] Olbermann types with one finger. His right pointer. Eighty words a minute." Just think about that.
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World News Tonight anchor Bob Woodruff is back home in upstate New York making "great progress on his road to recovery."
With a fully intact face, Bob will be spending time at home recovering with his family, as well as continuing treatments in the city. ABC News president David Westin has circulated an email through the press (no idea how we got skipped on that one) written by Woodruff himself.
Because he's come so far, he'll be spending more of his time at home as well as continuing his treatment in facilities here in the New York area. But, knowing Bob as we do, you'll understand that he'd rather speak for himself. So, here's something he wrote and asked that I pass along to you.
The full e-mail, thanking his fans, doctors, nurses, family and friends, after the jump.
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From the desk of ABC News president David Westin comes this Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt update:
Bob has made some substantial progress in recent days. He is now conscious and talking, although he remains under fairly heavy medication for pain from his various injuries, which are healing well.
They have him up and walking around. He's conversing with [his wife] Lee, with his children and with the nurses. He's approaching the point where he will be leaving Bethesda Medical Center, and they are working hard at the moment to make sure they have the right facility to continue his recovery. Once again, it's important for all of us to bear in mind that this will be a long process. We're not close to the end yet. But, as he has throughout, Bob is exceeding expectations and giving us real reason for optimism.
Doug Vogt, who was also injured in the Jan. 29 attack, is back with his family in France and recovering well. He will continue to undergo treatment there and come back for occasional checkups.
Notice, of course, that there's no mention of what the future of World News Tonight is going to look like, especially with Liz Vargas out on baby leave. But at least Diane Sawyer is stepping it up.
Meanwhile, we're reminded of us an email that landed in our inbox late last month, which we didn't have much of a newspeg for at the time. Couresty David Westin, now we do. Cue the "sister's cousin's roommate's ex-best friend's lesbian love child" music.
I was speaking with an acquaintance last night who told me that his friend's son is serving in Iraq, and, in fact, was with the unit that had Bob Woodruff embedded with it. He was apparently in the armored personnel carrier that was hit, injuring Woodruff and his cameraman. According to my friend, when the two injured newsmen were pulled back into the APC his friend's son described Woodruff's face as having been "blown off".
This morning I heard that Woodruff is still in a medically-induced coma. The incident in which he was injured took place almost a month ago.
In searching the internet for further information today, I came across the following Associate Press article from February 3rd. Google had it cached, which was lucky since there doesn't appear to be a direct link to it anymore. It appears from the text of the article that my friend's friend's son may have been accurate in his assessment.
Note the phrase ""I saw Bob's face hanging from the hatch…"
Sad shit…
Speaking of sad shit hanging from the hatch.
Injured ABC newsman Bob Woodruff is back in the U.S. after a medical stopover in Germany. He's in a Maryland hospital en route to recovery and, at long last, there's a talking head updating the press on his status besides ABC president David Westin.
Yep, Bob's brother David Woodruff is filling us in on the World News Tonight anchor's status.
"It's tough to look at. He definitely has some facial wounds, but they're pretty much on one side of his face. It looks like kind of a burn that you might get from being hit with some sand," he said.
"Those things, frankly, for us, are minor compared to just making sure he's going to return from the injury to his head."
Maybe minor to family members, but you think Westin is going to let Woodruff – chosen for his pretty boy looks, like Liz Vargas was chosen for her "grace" – return to the air looking like one of the bloodied soldiers he tried to report on? Harsh, sure. But true none the less.
Meanwhile, as we predicted, ABC has asked Charlie Gibson to fill in the WNT anchor chair — and Diane Sawyer as well. So expect even more saddle bag undereyes, as their Good Morning America duties haven't been relinquished just yet.
Anchor improves [Helen Kennedy, NYDN]
Gibson, Sawyer to fill in for injured Woodruff [AP]
Earlier: With Woodruff shock over, let's start talking numbers
Earlier: Alessandra Stanely just couldn't help but weigh in on Woodruff
Earlier: Forget Woodruff's health. What about ABC's ratings?
Earlier: Bob Woodruff & Doug Vogt 'stable' after Iraq assault
Related: All Bob Woodruff coverage
Damn, looks like "tawonda" got the leg up on us all! She's the last Bob Woodruff well wisher to get a word in before David Westin & Co. locked us all out.
World News Tonight Forum [ABCNews.com]
Given Alessandra Stanley's recent (and historical) ability to deliver egregious factual errors in any body of copy, we were a little concerned when we spotted her byline accompanying an item about something so serious as Bob Woodruff's attack in Iraq. So, the investigative journalists that we are, we decided to go through her piece with a fine-toothed comb. And we mean fine-toothed, folks. This comb has got tiny ass bristles. Like, skinnier than Nicole Richie's calves.
So begins Stanley:
Bob Woodruff was in Baghdad for ABC reporting the good news that the Bush administration complains is ignored by the news media, and he ended up as a glaring illustration of the bad news.
So far, so good, 'Sandra.
Mr. Woodruff, the newly named co-anchor of "World News Tonight," spent Friday chatting with friendly Iraqis on the street and slurped ice cream at a popular Baghdad shop to show how some in Iraq are seeking a semblance of normalcy.
Sure, we've got no way of independently verifying that Woodruff "slurps" his ice cream rather than bites into it with his front teeth, but given Iraq's heat index, we imagine that's how a news anchor might eat his ice cream. So, check.
Yesterday he and an ABC cameraman, Doug Vogt, were badly wounded while traveling in a routine convoy with Iraqi military forces who are being trained to impose that normalcy and allow American troops to go home.
What happened to Mr. Woodruff and Mr. Vogt was one of those chilling television moments that mark a milestone. This conflict has shown all too clearly that soldiers, civilians, aid workers and journalists are all targets.
Normally facts reported elsewhere and repeated verbatim would be an opportunity for Stanely to slip up — but she's wow-ing us here. Wow-ow-ow-ing.
Soldiers, American and Iraqi, are wounded and killed by roadside bombs and ambushes every day in tragedies so common they float to the back pages. But until now, at least, network anchors always seemed to sail through hot spots with an inalienable aura of invulnerability, like senators or movie stars.
Mr. Woodruff's plight underscored at a whole new level that Americans there feel like sitting ducks, picked off by a faceless enemy.
We're a little wary here. "Every day?" Surely there was a 24 hour period when neither an American or Iraqi soldier was injured or killed. Well .. Hah! Who are we kidding? The way George Bush is running things over there, we're surprised when 60 minutes go by without incident. Way to go, Ales-es-es-es-es-sandra. Another gold star.
The attack, which led all the network evening newscasts, was obviously a blow for ABC, which only last month appointed Mr. Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas as a team to replace the late Peter Jennings, packaging the duo as pioneers of a new, more light-footed style of evening news show. Last night, Ms. Vargas did the anchor duties alone in a dark pinstriped jacket, gravely interviewing other ABC correspondents about the escalating danger of roadside bombs.
We'll give Stanley the benefit of the doubt here: Yes, we believe she watched Sunday night's broadcast, even if she did file her copy so shortly after it wrapped.
One reason networks, and ABC in particular, have been loath to appoint a single female anchor is that many news executives believe that in an emergency, viewers prefer a comforting fatherly presence. In this case, ABC's chosen authority figure was hurt in a crisis, and the distressing news was delivered by a female anchor chosen more for her on-air grace than her experience or gravitas.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Now that's what we were looking for: a reason for the Times to issue one of its many Alessandra Stanley Brand corrections.
Vargas was hired more for her grace than her "experience or gravitas?"
You know Tuesday's paper is going to carry the following: "An article on Monday that described ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas' hiring misrepresented her qualifications. She was identified as having grace, while she was actually hired because, when sat next to dreamboat Bob Woodruff, viewers want to fuck the news."
Thanks for playing along at home!
A Bomb Detonates, and an Anchorman Tells a Story of the War by Becoming the Story [Alessandra Stanely, NYT]
Earlier: Forget Woodruff's health. What about ABC's ratings?
Earlier: Bob Woodruff & Doug Vogt 'stable' after Iraq assault
Related: All Bob Woodruff coverage
Glad to know we aren't the only ones considering how Bob Woodruff's life-threatening injuries might affect ABC's ratings. It took the New York Times' Richard Oppel and Jacques Steinberg just four graphs to get there.
For years now, "World News Tonight" has been lagging in the ratings, and ABC has much money and prestige riding on its new co-anchor format, which was intended to stand out from its competitors by having Mr. Woodruff and his partner, Elizabeth Vargas, take turns reporting from the field while the other stays in New York.
Shrapnel, schmrapnel.
ABC News Anchor Is Badly Injured by Bomb in Iraq [Richard Oppel & Jacques Steinberg, NYT]
Earlier: Bob Woodruff & Doug Vogt 'stable' after Iraq assault
Related: All Bob Woodruff coverage
By now, you've certainly heard the horrible news: Newly inducted World News Tonight anchor and long term ABC heavyweight Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were severly injured when their military convoy was hit with an IED attack on Sunday just north of Baghdad.
First, the good news: they're alive. More so, it looks like the shrapnel that sliced through their body armor – and into their heads – did not pierce their brains. After the loss of Peter Jennings, the entire ABC family and everyone in the industry is doubly feeling this tragedy. Even us sarcastic and usually morally reprehensible folks at Jossip are saddened by the news.
While fellow news media have been feeding on the story, ABC president David Westin has been keeping his Disney-owned minions informed. Jossip has obtained the emails he's been sending out to staff since top brass first learned of Woddruff and Vogt's conditions.
The first email was sent First, when the attack first took place.
8:05 am
Bob Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were injured in an IED attack near Taji, Iraq today. They were embedded with the 4th Infantry Division, traveling with an Iraqi Army unit in an Iraqi mechanized vehicle. Bob and Doug are in serious condition and are being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Iraq. At this point, we don't know much more than this. We'll keep you posted as we learn more. I know that all of us will keep Bob, Doug, and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
Then two hours later, came a short update:
10:03am
Our best information as of now is that Bob and Doug are in surgery at Balad Air Force Base north of Baghdad. We will let you know as we get more information concerning their status.
Westin popped in again, in the afternoon:
13:08
We have learned from the U.S. military and from our producer on the scene that Bob and Doug are out of surgery and are both in stable condition. We take this as good news, but the next few days will be critical. The military plans to evacuate them to their medical facilities in Landstuhl, probably overnight tonight.
It's been standard procedure for journalists injured in Iraq to be immediately treated at a U.S. military medical facility before being transferred to Landstuhl, Germany, once the victim is stable enough for transport. And that's exactly what's happening with Woodruff and Vogt — while Woodruff's newly minted co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas was wrapping Sunday night's program.
Certainly, our main concern is with the health of Woodruff and Vogt. But the media world, and those couple million people still tuning into World News Tonight (but not enough to ump it out of fourth place), want to know: What's David Westin going to do about World News Tonight?
The heavily touted dual anchor format that was supposed to buoy ABC's news program out of last place suddenly looks as fragile as ever. Will Charlie Gibson – who refused to join the multi-anchor format because he wanted a 3-year, not a 2-year, deal – be asked to fill in for the interim? Will Vargas assume sole responsibilities, becoming the single female-only anchored network news program on the air? If Woodruff is out of commission for the foreseeable future, will his future as co-anchor be jeopardized if the "Vargas only" format proves to be a ratings winner? And, uh, were the cameras rolling when this went down?
We'll let you know what secrets continue to pour out of David Westin's email outbox. In the meantime, catch him and (a very exhausted) Vargas on this morning's Good Morning America.
• Jann Wenner is on the hunt for a new COO, but that doesn't mean ("officially") he's putting Wenner Media up for sale. But god, how we wish he would. [WWD]
• Charlie Gibson would've been a part of the new World News Tonight, be wanted a three-year deal while ABC News prez David Westin was only signing 2-year gigs. [NYT]
• Katie Couric is expected to deliver a decision to Sean McManus (err, Les Moonves?) about whether she'll torment CBS's evening news viewers with chipper chatter for the next couple years. [NYP]
• Rolling Stone's newest inductee, political scribe Matt Taibbi, is brining the "gonzo" to the Wenner camp. [WaPo]
• The New York Times' $410 million purchase is finally about to .. do something. About.com is readying itself for a relaunch, which hopefully will explain to advertisers (and NYT's investors) what the hell makes it worth so much. [DM News]
• Thousands and thousands of words dedicated to the process of how Defamer's Mark Lisanti creates headlines. Riveting journalism. [Los Angeles Magazine]
• Throwing Dave Chappelle's decision to talk away from Comedy Central back in his face, the network plans to air as-yet unseen episodes to comprise the third season of Chappelle's Show amassed from sketches and other clips they've hung on to the copyrights for. [MediaWeek]
ABC News President David Westin is hard at work trying to find a permanent replacement for Peter Jennings, quickly growing tired of tossing Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas into rotating anchor chairs while NBC's mainstay Brian Williams is cleaning up in the hurricane ratings game.
Meanwhile, CBS News prez Andrew Heyward (or rather, CBS head Les Moonves) has been on the hunt since November when Dan Rather stepped down and Bob Schieffer began filling in — and still ABC is expected to name their nightly news replacement first.
But you already knew all this, right?
ABC is conducting its search for a successor very privately. CBS has struggled, although it gave itself the bigger challenge.
NBC's ratings spiked high in the wake of Katrina and the very visible work of its anchorman, Brian Williams. Even though its anchor decision hasn't been made, ABC moved aggressively to make sure its biggest names were on the scene with Rita: Charles Gibson and Bob Woodruff both reported from Texas, and Diane Sawyer spent a rare Saturday co- anchoring "Good Morning America."
If only they had snagged Katie Couric in time, she could've uncrossed her legs for CBS instead of hammering nails on the Today show.
After all the memorial specials and colleague soundbites, it's still business over at ABC. It's been just one week since Peter Jennings' death and already ABC News prez David Westin has pulled his name from the network's World News Tonight.
But that doesn't mean they're any closer to naming a permanent successor, so Charlie Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas will continue to fill in.
Meanwhile, CBS's Les Moonves is also taking his time in naming the next host of CBS Evening News, leaving interim anchor Bob Schieffer in place. Only NBC had a transition plan in place, but it turns out that viewers don't care who's reading the news, as ratings are staying the same, emphasizing a point we made in early July: It doesn't matter which white guy sits in the chair.
Because news media is home to more incest than an Arkansas family reunion, your regularly scheduled coverage of the Shuttle Discovery's delayed launch has been postponed to bring you a montage of Peter Jennings remembrance footage.
We join in mourning the newsman's death here in New York yesterday, marking the end to his battle with lung cancer. Or at least that's how the networks will be covering it, but sometimes it won't be "battle." Often, they'll use "struggle" and sometimes "bout."
You're welcome to share your thoughts on ABC News' message board. We're sure David Westin will be posting much and often.
Editorial Director
