Leading edge news reports from a Southern California journalist
In the event you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months, Apple and AT&T will officially put the iPhone on sale tomorrow at thousands of company retail stores nationwide. I’ll be covering all the insane geek action from the Apple Store in Thousand Oaks as the Jesus Phone is finally delivered into the hands of salivating geeks. Look for a live blog complete with video at the top of the Ventura County Star Web site.
MSNBC News anchor Mika Brzezinski gained a new fan base today after refusing to report the cable network’s lede story during the ‘Morning Joe’ program, hosted by Joe Scarborough.
During the live broadcast, Brzezinski begins a headlining report on Paris Hilton’s release from jail by saying, “I hate this story and I don’t think it should be our lede.” Later, she calls out producer Andy Jones for “not listening” and is seen reaching in to a male anchor’s chest pocket in search of a lighter saying, “give me this damn thing,” during which time the the male is overheard saying, “unhand me, woman… wench.” The blond-haired reporter then rips up the script after unsuccessfully attempting to ignite it with the lighter live on-the-air.
And as if that wasn’t enough, in yet another segment she is seen stuffing a copy of the Paris news script into a shredder, saying “I just don’t believe in covering that story, especially as a lede in a newscast on a day like today.”
I hope you’re paying attention, CNN.
As mentioned before, the Cable News Network has been busy readying a major Web 2.0 overhaul to its ubiquitous news Web site. Yesterday the beta version of the site was pulled and replaced with a note from CNN.com’s Senior Vice President, noting the popular destination will relaunch “this weekend.” During the test period, users complained the site was “too white,” didn’t display enough news on the front page, and focused too heavily on ad-supported video packages. My suggestion to CNN editors: how about reporting actual news this time around.
Heres a rundown of top stories recently seen on CNN.com:
After launching three television ads Sunday evening trumpeting the June 29 iPhone launch, Apple has since quietly pulled the small disclaimer at the end of each spot which noted, “Use requires minimum new 2 year activation plan.” Apple’s intentional removal of the contract disclaimer in the ads raises new questions as to whether the device will actually require a two year commitment for purchase. Some have speculated this could be because AT&T does not plan to subsidize the retail price of the phone and cannot legally require a contract. Either way, just be happy the phone isn’t 3G. (Special thanks to i heart kiiki for image)
Cingular AT&T retail employees are reporting large posters heralding the June 29 iPhone launch unexpectedly appearing in store shipments this morning. As the Jesus Phone release date inches closer, company representatives are being warned not to speak to the media—or face termination. It appears Steve Jobs’ totalitarian business practices, commonly seen at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, are now in high gear at AT&T stores nationwide.
After former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich excited conservatives last month by telling reporters “it is a great possibility” he would pursue a presidential bid in ‘08, he told the AP at a book signing this week he now would give it “4-to-1 odds” against. His backing out of the election begs the question, which candidate will the GOP conservative base unite around? Surely not Rudy McRomney..
After pretty much giving up in the ratings fight with Fox, the most-watched Most Trusted Name in News™ unveiled a new beta of its flagship website Monday, promising improved site performance, greater ease of use and the introduction of flash video. In addition to giving Microsoft’s disgraceful Windows Media codec the boot, CNN Senior Vice President David Payne has promised to deliver free live breaking news streams on the site beginning next month. But while the network has remained tight-lipped on when the re-designed site will replace its aging brother, word is Turner PR executives are secretly mulling the possibility of announcing Anderson Cooper’s (‘AC 360′ to you thugs) long-awaited outting to publicize the launch. What say you, Wolf?
18-year-old Allison Stokke, a senior and track athlete at Southern California’s Newport Harbor High School, has pole vaulted almost overnight from normal teenage student to hot internet celebrity… It all started with this picture of Stokke, snapped by a track and field journalist, showing her idly fixing her hair at a track meet in New York and posted as part of a report on a California prep track website. While the photo only caught the attention of a few pole vaulting geeks initially, a sports blogger later picked up the photo, along with several others, and quickly helped to skyrocket the future UC Berkeley freshman to Internet stardom. In the coming days, Stokke’s photos were plastered across dozens of admiring fan websites, facebook groups and myspace pages. A three-minute video of her was posted on YouTube (garnering over 750,000 views) and her story even made the front page of the Washington Post. Stokke, who took fourth place in yesterday’s state pole vault finals, says she now tries to avoid leaving her house alone, and that she gets gawked at in coffee shops. “Obviously, I’m not very happy about it, and if I could do something about it to stop it or slow it down a little bit, I’m going to do that,” she said. While Allison and her family may be upset from the unsolicited notoriety, it appears she is happily dating a douchebag.
No stranger to lay offs, the second largest newspaper in America today announced a new round of shitcanning ‘changes’ to its news staff.
“LA Times publisher David D. Hiller ordered the reductions in an effort to prop up The Times’ profit at a time when many advertisers are leaving newspapers to chase consumers onto the Internet. The vast majority of the cuts were achieved through voluntary separations and will save a little more than $5 million a year from the more-than-$100-million newsroom budget.”
While Apple geeks continue to speculate at the launch date of the holy grail of mobile devices, the Jesus Phone iPhone, an AT&T employee is claiming the iPod-turned-phone will be available for pre-order starting June 11 and should “hit stores by the 26th of June.” While this ‘inside’ info should be taken with a grain of salt, as with any other rumor regarding products from the fruit company, its worth noting that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is scheduled to deliver a keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on—you guessed it—June 11. The last time Jobs took the stage at Moscone Center West, back in January, he dropped the iPhone bomb on the wireless industry and tech-thirsty consumers. Will he use it again on the 11th to officially herald its arrival? It appears we‘ll have to wait and see. But regardless of which day the iPhone finally launches, heed Steve’s early advice and “don’t go to an Apple store.”
UPDATE: Apple announced Sunday the iPhone will officially launch June 29… Better get your number ready to port.
AP Wire