|
(Jan 1)
"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally
perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the
heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves
and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason."
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
(Jan 5)
"I thought he was a bit of a dweeb."
Katie Couric describing NBC boss Jeff Zucker
(Jan 6)
''I can tell you categorically that we at 60 Minutes did not pay Michael
Jackson one cent.''
Executive Producer Don Hewitt
(Jan 7)
''I'm a firm believer that if
it ain't broke, don't fix it."
CNN General Manager Princell Hair
(Jan 8)
"Don’t overstate Fox News. It’s still much smaller than the
least of the network niches."
Tom Brokaw
(Jan 9)
"I disappointed myself…I disappointed God."
Former WKBN anchor Catherine Bosley after wet t-shirt contest photos
of her began circulating in the Internet
(Jan 12)
"I can't address what people whisper through the
halls."
NBC anchor Brian Williams
(Jan 13)
"You better show those photos, or you'll lose a
subscriber."
NewsBlues subscriber
"If NB publishes these, I will cancel my
subscription."
NewsBlues subscriber
(Jan 14)
"He rocked the status quo."
Marty Haag eulogy
(Jan 15)
"I think Les Moonves is the most highly overrated person in
television."
Donald Trump
(Jan 16)
''I'm a comedian, for God's sake. (Viewers) shouldn't trust me. And you
know what? They're hip enough to know they shouldn't trust me. I'm just
doing stand-up comedy.''
CNBC's Dennis Miller
(Jan 19)
"I'm about as straight an arrow as you'll find out there.''
MSNBC's Deborah Norville
(Jan 20)
"We have become our own editors. People are better
informed.''
Garrick Utley
(Jan 21)
"I didn't miss the rat race, but I kinda missed the rats."'
Jerry Nachman
(Jan 22)
"I don't think kids even vaguely connect to guys like Jennings and
Dan Rather."
CNBC senior producer, Eddie Feldmann
(Jan 23)
"That yenta Barbara Walters, she's nine-million years old."
Howard Stern
(Jan 26)
"I'm not going to sit on the porch of the old anchorman's home with
a drool cup."
Tom Brokaw
(Jan 27)
"This is kind of like when Walter Cronkite retired."
Bob Zelnick commenting on Barbara Walters
(Jan 28)
Brian Williams is "the best newscaster and reporter of his
generation."
NBC boss Jeff Zucker
(Jan 29)
"We did hear from some viewers; it wasn't positive. We're not going
to do it again."
WCBS commenting on commercials disguised to look like news reports
(Jan 30)
"Don't make it an interview, kid. Make it a conversation.
Interviews have clipboards."
Jack Paar on how to do a talk show
(Feb 2)
"I think a lot of people in television news look at the cable
networks with great envy."
Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace
(Feb 3)
"I think we have a real brouhaha brewing."
Bob Lee, chairman of the CBS affiliates advisory board
(Feb 4)
"We were really ripped off, we were punk'd by Janet
Jackson."
MTV boss Tom Freston
(Feb 5)
"Don't get too focused on the most dramatic part of this.
You may not have rehearsed [Jackson's exposure] but the rest of it you
did."
Michael Powell to Viacom President Mel Karmazin
(Feb 6)
"In politics, some of the easiest reporters to mislead are
television reporters.
Typically, they show up and they don't know what's going on;
in a lot of cases, they don't even know who they're interviewing."
Republican political consultant
(Feb 9)
"If you start pandering to young people, you're going to get
accused
of simply giving people what they want.''
NBC's Brian Williams
(Feb 10)
"A male model with a gift for the glib.''
Tom Shales describing NBC's Matt Lauer
(Feb 11)
"We have a wonderful opportunity to create a company that combines
distribution
and content in a way that is far stronger and more valuable than
either
Disney or Comcast can be standing alone."
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
(Feb 12)
"You knew what kind of entertainment you were selling....it lined
your pockets."
Senator Heather Wilson to Mel Karmazin
(Feb 13)
"I'm not in the slightest bit beleaguered or battered. [That's]
ridiculous."
Michael Eisner
(Feb 16)
"Local news departments, in their
unquenchable thirst for edgy video, have allowed themselves to be
manipulated as unwitting dupes in a classic stock scam."
Securities fraud investigator, explaining Taser stories
(Feb 17)
"Whether he can breathe life into a moribund operation is another
story.
But everyone agrees it can't stay the way it is."
MSNBC insider commenting on hiring of Rick Kaplan
(Feb 18)
"He's a lying, back-stabbing, snail-gut-sucking weasel, and he
nearly ruined CNN."
Don Imus commenting on hiring of Rick Kaplan
(Feb 19)
"I intend to fire everybody."
New MSNBC boss Rick Kaplan
(Feb 20)
"There is no For Sale sign on our door."
Disney president Robert Iger
(Feb 23)
"It's NBC's own fault. If they hadn't paid him so damn much,
he wouldn't have been able to retire!"
Andy Rooney explaining Tom Brokaw's pending retirement
(Feb 24)
"What you're seeing is the normal ebb and flow of any business
and an attempt to better distribute resources around the
company."
CNN explaining latest round of firings
(Feb 25)
"The most important job you'll ever have is in the walls of your
own home."
Former CBS host Jane Clayson
(Feb 26)
"The news director, the producer, the journalist that routinely
decides to cover extended highway police chases is guilty of bad
journalistic judgment."
Steve Rendall, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
(Feb 27)
"Janet Jackson's breast has gotten me into a whole bunch of
trouble."
Howard Stern
(Mar 1)
"You make an investment, and you expect a certain level of return
on it."
GM Michael Costa explaining why WDSI closed its news department
(Mar 2)
"There's a little more ego involved in these jobs than people might
realize."
Walter Cronkite on TV news anchors
(Mar 3)
"Important stories may not always be interesting, but they're
important."
CNN General Manager Princell Hair
(Mar 4)
"It's not about fence mending. They have to rebuild an entire dam.
The flood waters have washed over it."
Disney investor
(Mar 5)
"It's been terrible for news. Stations (are) doing idiotic things
to get ratings that had nothing to do with journalism. Anything that
brings an early death to that is good."
WESH General Manager Bill Bauman on sweeps
(Mar 8)
"I apologize. The confusion out here is immense."
CNBC's Mike Huckman after incorrectly reporting Martha Stewart verdict
(Mar 9)
"KSTP just doesn't represent the community well.
You watch the news now and you think you're living in the
ghetto."
Former Minneapolis photog Cy Dodson
(Mar 10)
"The whole Comcast bid just scares me to death.
(Disney) should not be a subsidiary of a cable company."
Diane Disney Miller
(Mar 11)
"What I've learned after all these years in the business is that
you really can't have it all." Veteran Milwaukee anchor Renee
Riddle
(Mar 12)
"They never called me again. But they keep renewing my
contract."
Walter Cronkite explaining his 1981 departure from CBS
(Mar 15)
"Some people continue to pretend that anchor people are
reporters."
Peter Jennings
(Mar 16)
"23 years at CNN is like 233 human years."
Former CNN correspondent Tom Mintier
(Mar 17)
"When a news anchor position opened for us, a dozen sports guys
sent me tapes."
Ft. Myers WZVN News Director Darrel Adams
(Mar 18)
"I am a journalist, not a news robot."
Reporter Don Lemon explaining his suspension from WMAQ
for refusing to cover a news story
(Mar 19)
"What are they, crazy? We can't get a five-day right.
How are we going to get a seven-day?"
Dale Eck, The Weather Channel
(Mar 22)
"It is propaganda, plain and simple -- and unethical to
boot."
Duke University professor Susan Tifft describing VNRs
(Mar 23)
"You wouldn't take the job if you knew this is how you would leave
it."
Ousted WCCO morning anchor Noelle Walker
(Mar 24)
"My job is to let the light in, not to keep it out."
WUSA anchor Gordon Peterson
(Mar 25)
"I lapsed into rude."
CNBC's Dennis Miller
(Mar 26)
"It was not a fun place to work."
Former Atlanta WGCL anchor Jane Robelot
(Mar 29)
"Time doesn't go. Time stays. We go."
Linda Ellerbee
(Mar 30)
"I didn't think I'd win."
KVBC's John Fredericks explaining why he was at the bar
when he was named "Best Las Vegas Weatherman"
(Mar 31)
"I've had some of the best and most traumatizing experiences (at
NBC)."
Ashleigh Banfield
(Apr 1)
"Jack Welch loves Roger (Ailes) and Roger loves Jack."
NBC insider
(Apr 2)
"News used to be the rent that the station paid to you, the
landlord.
Today, (it) has been turned into a license to make money."
KOIN anchor Mike Donahue
(Apr 5)
"I'm shocked. Stunned. Disappointed. This came out of the
blue."
WCAU reporter Beth McDonough on her unexpected dismissal
(Apr 6)
"Enemy involvement: none. Name: Bloom, David.
Military unit: civilian. Status: deceased."
Military report of NBC reporter David Bloom's death
(Apr 7)
"In the end, every job is a job. We don't call it playtime. There's
a reason for that."
GMA weathercaster Tony Perkins
(Apr 8)
"I didn't get here for my acting... but I love show
business."
Ted Turner, accepting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
(Apr 9)
"I don't know whether to pat my people on the back or fire
them."
WCBS President Lew Leone on confusion with Nielsen ratings
(Apr 12)
"Someday perhaps I'll have to get a grownup job...
but for now I'm having too much fun being a reporter."
NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell
(Apr 13)
"I feel like I found my way out of the wilderness after 8
years."
Orlando meteorologist Danny Treanor on his triumphant battle against
alcoholism
(Apr 14)
"Come early and hold your breadth."
"Apprentice" finalist Kwame Toure Jackson
(Apr 15)
"If I were coming up now, I would never get hired. There is
something [unfortunate]
about having to be totally beautiful and totally sexy to be a
newsreader."
Former LA anchor Marcia Brandwynne
(Apr 16)
"There's nothing wrong with being fired."
Ted Turner
(Apr 19)
"I am definitely going to try and push the envelope here in Las
Vegas."
KTNV Executive Producer Bill Applegate, Jr.
(Apr 20)
"I haven't had much 'touchy-feely' time.
As I get closer to the date, it will probably be more emotional for
me."
Tom Brokaw on his planned Dec. 1 exit
(Apr 21)
"For CNN, I'm Huey Lewis, and you just heard The News."
After the final song at CNN's RTNDA party
(Apr 22)
"We ignore it and move on."
C-Span's Brian Lamb on handling prank callers
(Apr 23)
“I look on those two stories as mistakes, journalistic mistakes.
I made them, and I regret it.”
Lesley Stahl on two pre-Iraq war reports she filed on weapons of mass
destruction
(Apr 26)
"I just believe the Lord has another plan, another purpose for me,
and I look forward to seeing what it is."
Fired WHAS sportscaster Garry Gupton
(Apr 27)
"CNN only airs what they want you to see.
I finally told my mom to stop watching, because it wasn't true."
Army Specialist Justin Jacobsen
(Apr 28)
"I don't want it to be seen in any fashion as a political
gesture."
Ted Koppel explaining his decision to read (Friday on Nightline) the
names
of all 500+ American servicemen and women killed in Iraq
(Apr 29)
"This has been the most painful and expensive experience
that the company has ever been through."
King World Productions boss Roger King describing the cancelled talker
"Living It Up! With Ali and Jack"
(Apr 30)
"I've been doing 'Nightline' for over 24 years. I've been at ABC
for 41 years. If that's really the impression I've left with people,
then I have failed in such a colossal way
that I can't even begin to consider the consequences of it."
ABC's Ted Koppel responding to Sinclair's claim that tonight's
"Nightline" special
"The Fallen" is politically motivated
(May 3)
"Do you know what White House correspondents call actors
who pose as reporters? Anchors."
Jay Leno
(May 4)
"I just didn't think her talent and the role matched
up."
MNF producer Fred Gaudelli explaining Lisa Guerrero's dismissal
(May 5)
"We feel the [ratings] war is over for now. CNN is closer to MSNBC,
and we wish them well in the battle for second place."
Fox News spokesman Paul Schur
(May 6)
"I hope he dies."
Howard Stern upon learning that Clear Channel CEO Lowry Mays
last week had a blood clot removed from his brain
(May 7)
"Well, I'm from Georgia. I do the best I can with names like
yours."
MSNBC's Deborah Norville after mispronouncing the name
of Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme
(May 10)
"I am amazed that CNN can’t get its act together."
Rupert Murdoch
(May 11)
"I feel pigeon-holed right now. I hope next contract I can be a
reporter."
CNN Headline News anchor Rudi Bakhtiar
(May 12)
"They're kind of a Triple-A Fox News, and that's not derogatory.
Their orientation is clear." Robert Zelnick describing
Sinclair's NewsCentral
(May 13)
"I knew I was getting older and this would come sooner or later,
but I was just hoping it would be later."
Reporter Charlie Scott, 73, upon getting fired from Nashville's WKRN
(May 14)
"Thank God. I thought he'd never leave."
Mike Wallace on Don Hewitt's pending retirement
(May 17)
"We're like Uma Thurman buried alive. Never underestimate us."
Granite Broadcasting Chief Executive Don Cornwell
(May 18)
"I plan to die at my desk."
Don Hewitt, when asked last year if he would ever retire from "60
Minutes"
(May 19)
"It's a lot easier to get news from people than from trees."
Matthew Winkler explaining why Bloomberg News
is moving from New Jersey to Manhattan
(May 20)
"I think FoxNews ratings are a reliable guide to the attitudes of
the American electorate." CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld
(May 21)
"I'm following my heart."
Raleigh anchor Stacey Elgin, who is leaving the TV business to get
married
(May 24)
"I don't think we ought to treat it as more than it is."
Tom Brokaw on his scheduled Dec.1 "retirement"
(May 25)
"At 7 minutes to air, we realized we were in a train
wreck."
WHEC News Director Adam Bradshaw after a major computer meltdown
caused cancellation of the late newscast
(May 26)
"Never take yourself too seriously. You may be interviewing the
President today,
but tomorrow you’re covering a dog wedding."
New CNN anchor Drew Griffin
(May 27)
"I've got a new wife I've hardly seen."
John Roland explaining his retirement from WNYW
(May 28)
"No one (at CBS) explained to me why they're making this
change."
CBS's Don Hewitt
(May 31)
"I'm looking forward to being (back) on the air as soon as
possible. I'm not retiring."
Former WCBS sports anchor Warner Wolf, 66
(June 1)
"This is the first time in my 32 years in public broadcasting that
PBS has ordered up programs for ideological instead of journalistic
reasons."
Bill Moyers explaining PBS's shift to conservative values
(June 2)
"Mel's the one who has kept the corporate asses off me."
Howard Stern on Mel Karmazin's departure from Viacom
(June 3)
"He owes the fine journalists at the Fox News Channel
an apology for his insulting comments."
Roger Ailes responding to LA Times editor John Carroll's
description of FNC as "Marketers of opinion"
(June 4)
"There's no comparable situation in journalism."
Newsday sports editor Bill Eichenberger
on betting windows in racetrack press boxes
(June 7)
"We have not, did not, and would not ever pay for an
interview."
NBC News spokesperson
(June 8)
"Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it's very hard to
turn it, even slightly."
Dan Rather
(June 9)
"We're certainly not selling news content."
WV Media Holdings' Bray Cary
(June 10)
"We're just having a little fun."
Roger Ailes explaining the new Fox billboard in Manhattan
located directly above a CNN sign
(June 11)
"It was so hot. I'm wearing my hair back all week."
WABC anchor Liz Cho describing the experience
of covering Ronald Reagan's funeral in D.C.
(June 14)
"The level of peril in this was not overwhelming."
Fox News anchor Britt Hume after parachuting with George Bush, Sr.
(June 15)
"Just another miscreant with a modem."
ABC's Sam Donaldson describing NewsBlues
(June 16)
"After trashing us in one way or another literally every day, why
would I possibly accommodate you for a tour of this network?"
Irena Briganti, Senior Director, Media Relations -Fox News
(June 17)
"Frankly, I don't know what to expect. It's starting to worry me a
little bit."
KOTA anchor Helene Duhamel, who will undergo a "pre-emptive"
double mastectomy
(June 18)
"Fox News public relations officials set a policy of refusing to
allow any staffers
to comment for my articles. It seemed petulant then and it seems
petulant now.
I'm not sure what it accomplished."
Baltimore Sun TV writer David Folkenflik
(June 21)
"I was struck how a guy who basks in the reputation of being a
tough reporter
can't handle criticism when it applies to himself."
Buffalo News reporter Mark Sommer on NBC's Tim Russert
(June 22)
"It's the same zoo, different animal."
Jill Sorenson on her move from sports to news
(June 23)
"Many thanks Martha Stewart...uh, Martha Radditz...I
apologize..."
Peter Jennings
(June 24)
"Quite honestly, when you eliminate 11 people, morale's going to
suffer."
Former WPGH News Director Sharon Ritchey
(June 25)
"Everyone knows that big corporations don't really have hearts, but
the ones
that own TV stations at least know how to pretend from time to
time."
WCBS reporter Lou Young
(June 28)
"If they think I'm going to cave, they've picked on the wrong
person."
Former CNNer Bonnie Anderson on the cable network's efforts
to shut down her insider book "News Flash"
(June 29)
"I thought it was going to be some chit-chat...I had absolutely no
idea."
CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, one of two journalists
to witness the official transfer of power in Iraq
(June 30)
"Fox News is hated because they're elitists...and the worst winners
television's ever seen."
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann
(July 1)
"I'm in a war, a cultural war."
Howard Stern
(July 2)
"I'm not a wisecracky, shticky guy. I'm not a clown."
WCBS sports anchor Chris Wragge comparing himself to predecessor Warner
Wolf
(July 5)
"There's a bit of Ron Burgundy in every newsroom."
Fox News Channel anchor Martha MacCallum
(July 6)
"CNN has become worldwide and skin-deep...
Its coverage splashes over everything and saturates nothing."
Reese Schonfeld
(July 7)
"This was pulling teeth. This was one of the hardest I've ever had
to get.
Some people I've known for decades wouldn't talk to me."
NBC's Andrea Mitchell on her Kerry-Edwards scoop
(July 8)
"There's nothing a professor likes better than imposing his opinion
on as large a number of people as possible."
Syracuse University TV pundit Robert Thompson
(July 9)
"Everybody made a mistake and they are embarrassed
and they have apologized for it and it happens even on NBC
sometimes."
Rupert Murdoch explaining NYPo's front page VP gaffe
(July 19)
"When Fox is allowed to frame its distorted, ideological point of
view
as 'fair and balanced,' we're all in trouble."
Don Hazen, Executive Editor of Alternet
(July 20)
"We try to make sure that everything is fair and is balanced.
It's our slogan, but it's also what we live by."
Bill Shine, vice president of production for Fox News
(July 21)
"Good thing I brought my own handcuffs."
Former cop, now WGCL news director, Micah Johnson, confirming
that a station employee had been arrested with a hooker in the live
truck
(July 22)
"You know what? This can't really happen anymore."
WWTI General Manager David Males announcing the cancellation
of his station's 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts in Watertown, NY
(July 23)
"If NASCAR knowledge were pie charts, I was one little pizza
slice."
Fox Sports Net NASCAR reporter Krista Voda
(July 26)
"CNN International, Al-Jazeera and BBC are the same
in how they
report
mostly that America is wrong and bad."
Roger Ailes
(July 27)
"About the last thing you will find here...is suspense."
Dan Rather at the Democratic National Convention
(July 28)
"So far today, we've filed for MSNBC, MSNBC.com, Nightly News, our
new mobile phone uplink and now onto Hardball. We have the platforms —
now to find the story!"
Andrea Mitchell at the Democratic National Convention
(July 29)
"Never have so many covered so little for so few."
Sam Donaldson at the Democratic National Convention
(July 30)
"The days are largely gone when the three broadcast networks
could decide what the American people would watch."
ABC News President David Westin
(August 2)
"How desperate some in the print media are to smear Fox News.
In the words of Teresa Heinz Kerry, the newspaper critics can shove
it."
Bill O'Reilly
(August 3)
"We have to do more than keep media giants from growing larger;
they're already too big. We need a new set of rules that will break
these huge companies to pieces."
Ted Turner
(August 4)
"We get paid to catch hell. But (the number of) those who are
prepared
to pay the price for that has gotten fewer."
Dan Rather
(August 5)
"Basically (they're) turning news into a form of game show."
Texas journalism professor Don Heider on Austin's KEYE
(August 6)
“I’m against the ongoing push for reducing restrictions on media
concentration.
It’s contrary to the greater goals of democracy for the country.”
U.S. Senator John Kerry (D)
(August 9)
“I think there's a lot of upheaval there.
It's going to be a while before they settle things down.”
Former WUSA anchor Gurvir Dhindsa
(August 10)
“Fox News is something like the busty blonde among news channels:
colorful, loud, in-your-face, and always wearing a little too much
make-up.”
Germany's Der Spiegel newspaper
(August 11)
“What are you doing? I'm a reporter, not a criminal.”
Mike Wallace
(August 12)
“All I was trying to do was protect my meat loaf.”
Mike Wallace
(August 13)
“I'm absolutely outraged that NBC News is out here trying to create
news rather than report news. This clearly scared the hell out of a lot
of folks and wasted a lot of valuable resources, tying up emergency
forces, and all of it was entirely unnecessary.”
Bob McDaniel, director of the St. Louis Downtown Airport
(August 16)
“In a business where there are a lot of reprehensible people, he stood
out
as particularly dishonest, obnoxious, and self-centered.”
Former Bill O'Reilly colleague Byron Harris
(August 17)
“I am dumbfounded that there hasn't been a crackdown with the libel
and slander
laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet.”
Walter Cronkite
(August 18)
“When you're bringing in a fairly unknown candidate challenging a
sitting president,
the population needs a lot more information than reduced coverage
provides.”
Walter Cronkite
(August 19)
“Our reputation is more important than the last hundred million
dollars.”
Rupert Murdoch
(August 20)
“It completely sucks.”
Fired staffer of Charlotte's News 14 Carolina
(August 23)
“Only as time went on, did I begin to realize that Fox News Channel
wasn't a
news-type organization. It was a political propaganda machine.”
Former Fox News anchor Jon Du Pre
(August 24)
“They're violating their agreement. We're not going to stand for it.”
Local union official promising to disrupt CNN efforts
at the upcoming Republican National Convention in New York
(August 25)
“they that they— that they—.”
Jon Stewart interviewing John Kerry
(August 26)
“When they come out and - clearly your war record, it's - it's in the
public files - so.”
Jon Stewart interviewing John Kerry
(August 27)
The inspectors “could have chosen other better options.”
Allan Fromberg apologizing for Mike Wallace arrest
(August 30)
"You can have a good professional life, but if your personal life
isn't what it should be, you have to fix that."
Former Charlotte Anchor Kristyn Hartman
(August 31)
"Katie Couric's got that good-girl-but-probably-wild-in-the-sack
thing goin' on."
Cartoon lion in NBC's 'Father of the Pride'
(September 1)
"Fairness is not an attitude.
It's a professional skill that must be developed and exercised."
Brit Hume, Fox News
(September 2)
"If Fox News gets a big number at the Republican National
Convention,
that's a 'dog bites man' story."
Network executive
(September 3)
"I think this country needs a higher crank-up of democracy now.
Louder, more boisterous democracy would be better for us right
now."
MSNBC's Chris Matthews
(September 12)
"After 10 hours of standing in the wind and the rain, talking about
the wind
and the rain, you start to wrinkle and you start to get a little
punchy."
Anderson Cooper
(September 13)
"I intend living here always, hopefully in peace and loving my
neighbors.
But if you want war, then you will get one."
Geraldo Rivera suing his neighbors
(September 14)
"Clearly, something went horribly right."
Keith Olbermann upon winning Playgirl's "Sexiest Newscaster"
Poll
(September 15)
"I don't want to boast, but I made the (Playgirl) list without
begging,
unlike some sad sacks -- Keith Olbermann, MSNBC."
CNN's Anderson Cooper
(September 16)
"Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say,
'Folks, this is what went wrong and how it went wrong.'"
Dan Rather
(September 17)
"Bad things seem to happen around Dan Rather. He's a lightning
rod."
Ed Fouhy, former executive VP of CBS News
(September 20)
"I think it's a watershed moment in the politicization of
journalism."
David Bernknopf, former CNN executive
(September 21)
"I'm sorry."
Dan Rather
(September 22)
"I can begin to understand how anchor monsters are made. If you're
not careful,
you can become used to being treated as though you're special and begin
to expect it."
Anderson Cooper
(September 23)
"Cyberspace is populated by a coalition of political obsessives and
pundits
on speed who get it wrong as much as they get it right. It's just that
they type
so much they are bound to nail a story from time to time."
Tina Brown
(September 24)
"The documents have not been conclusively proven false.
Neither have they been proven authentic."
Bill Burkett
(September 27)
"This is the hurricane season from hell."
Vero Beach City Manager David Makerski
(September 28)
"I've got fifteen questions for you. If they're dumb, tell me
they're dumb.
Because the audience will like that."
Bill O'Reilly interviewing George Bush
(September 29)
"This is a news pool, and we are not subject to agreements between
candidates.
We will use (presidential debate) pictures as we see fit."
NBC News spokeswoman Barbara Levin
(September 30)
"We are in the business of gathering the news.
We're not in the business of talking about the news."
CNN's Aaron Brown
(October 1)
"Paula Zahn may be an adequate reporter, but do you think
she'd still be hanging on at CNN if she looked like Mother Teresa?"
Retired CNN anchor Don Farmer
(October 4)
"What I think is highly inappropriate is what's going on across the
Internet, a kind of
political jihad against Dan Rather and CBS News that's quite
outrageous."
Tom Brokaw
(October 5)
"The use of scripts queue for humor, sarcasm, parody or other
unprofessional conduct
is strictly forbidden. Failure to follow this directive is a dismissable
offense."
John Moody, Senior Vice President, News Editorial at Fox News
(October 6)
"The feeling is, if someone can get fired for what seems like
such a petty thing, could it happen to me?"
WCAU employee
(October 7)
"It has been one big nightmare the last couple of years. I lost my
joy for radio."
Howard Stern
(October 8)
"I don't want my two young children to be fatherless."
Fox News pundit Sean Hannity
(October 11)
"Another one of President Bush's powerful corporate friends trying
to help him."
Kerry spokesperson David Wade describing Sinclair Broadcasting
(October 12)
"Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country."
Dan Rather
(October 13)
"This is an abuse of the public trust. And it is proof positive of
media consolidation
run amok when one owner can use the public airwaves to blanket the
country
with its political ideology -- whether liberal or conservative."
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
(October 14)
"If a woman ever breathed a word I'll make her pay so dearly that
she'll wish
she'd never been born. I'll rake her through the mud, bring up things in
her life
and make her so miserable that she'll be destroyed."
Bill O'Reilly
(October 15)
"I have been advised to keep my big mouth shut, and I have promised
to do that."
Bill O'Reilly
(October 18)
"I never expected my life to take this acute left turn."
Fox News producer Andrea Mackris
(October 19)
"I feel our company is trying to sway this election."
Fired Sinclair political reporter Jon Leiberman
(October 20)
"If you tailor your news viewing so that you only get one point of
view,
well of course you're going to think somebody else has got
a different point of view, and it may be wrong."
Peter Jennings
(November 8)
"I don't have any focus groups on talent and programming.
If I need five people in a mall to be paid $40 to tell me how to do my
job,
I shouldn't do my job.''
Roger Ailes on Fox research
(November 9)
"The dirty little secret of journalism is that it really isn't a
profession, it’s a craft.
All you need is a telephone and a conscience and you’re all set.''
Political blogger Andrew Sullivan
(November 10)
"My wife and children seem to like me quite a bit,
and as long as that is true, I'm really OK.''
NBC's Brian Williams
(November 11)
"If the news isn't there, don't create it. If I look at local news,
I don't know what's real.''
Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton
(November 12)
"An overly aggressive CBS News producer jumped the gun with a
report that should have been offered to local stations for their late
news. We sincerely regret the error.''
CBS apology for reporting Arafat death during prime time
(November 15)
"I'm terribly hurt and heartbroken.''
KVOA anchor Patty Weiss, demoted after 30 years
(November 16)
"This is real, not about sex. It's about art."
WOIO anchor Sharon Reed, who posed nude for sweeps
(November 17)
"I'm my own person. I don't do anything I don't want to do for any
job, or anything."
WOIO anchor Sharon Reed, who posed nude for sweeps
(November 18)
"I can't fucking talk here."
Richmond WTVR-6-CBS reporter Tim Trudell
(November 19)
"Radio stations are deathly afraid of the religious right... and
Michael Powell..."
Howard Stern explaining his move to satellite radio
(November 22)
"I did it, I love it, and the hell with anyone who doesn't like
it."
Sharon Reed on her nekid photo shoot
(November 23)
"We wish CNN well in their annual executive shuffle."
Fox News spokeswoman
(November 24)
"Nobody's pushing me out."
Dan Rather
(November 25)
"Nobody comes home at night anymore and says, 'Honey, give me that
martini
and I'm going to turn on Dan Rather and watch the news.' "
Media strategist Robbie Vorhaus
(November 26)
"That's flattering, but completely out of the question."
Diane Sawyer on the possibility of her replacing Dan Rather
(November 29)
"Dan Rather is guilty of not being skeptical enough
about a story that was politically loaded."
Bill O'Reilly
(November 30)
"I regret that we didn't connect the dots on terrorism."
Tom Brokaw on his biggest regret
(December 1)
"Tom Brokaw is leaving. Dan Rather is leaving. You realize the most
trusted guy in
television news will wind up being Geraldo Rivera."
Jay Leno
(December 2)
"If I err, I err on the side of believing this is a serious
business.
Frankly, I think there's too much talk about 'style.'"
NBC's Brian Williams
(December 3)
"We don't look at sweeps anymore. We look at the data every
day."
WNBC President Frank Comerford
(December 6)
"The evening news is a concept whose time has come and gone."
Former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg
(December 7)
"Knowing what goes on is extremely useful when you are reporting
what's going on."
KSTP anchor Cindy Brucato
(December 8)
"We’re way overdue on a woman sitting in one of those Big Three
chairs."
ABC's Elizabeth Vargas
(December 9)
"I cannot wait until she comes out of jail and we can work
together."
Producer Mark Burnett on Martha Stewart
(December 10)
"There are times when one has to argue with people who buy ink by
the barrel,
or own television and radio stations."
Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres
(December 13)
"If he had John Roberts's hair, he'd be a shoo-in."
CBS exec on Harry Smith's chances of replacing Dan Rather
(December 14)
"I don't know when network executives will get out of the Dark
Ages."
Connie Chung on the absence of female network news anchors
(December 15)
"For an organization to kind of get wrapped around the axle
and be really concerned about opinion, just seems to be a misplaced
priority."
Sinclair commentator Mark Hyman
(December 17)
"It is with mixed emotions that I leave my caring and talented news
team."
WDSU News Director Margaret Cordes
(December 20)
"A smart guy with a lot of nice shirts."
Roger Ailes describing Brian Williams
(December 21)
"I'm not gonna sit here night after night and put up with this
shit."
Former KABC anchor Paul Moyer to now former co-anchor Ann Martin
(December 22)
"I'm sorry."
Tyrone Davies, after puking on the news set of "Good Morning
Missouri"
(December 23)
"I've been stimulated to look for other jobs."
Longtime Nashville WSMV sports anchor Rudy Kalis
(December 24)
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people
who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
Mark Twain
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