SHE'S BACK, AND THAT'S GOOD – AT 8:58 A.M. ET: Sharyl Attkisson is one of the best investigative reporters around. She left, or was forced out of, CBS, and made it clear she didn't think the network was playing it straight. She has been very fair to our side, and so we've always wished her well. Now she's landed a good situation. She can, as they say, "make a difference." From Variety:
Some viewers who tune into their local CBS affiliate this Sunday may think they are seeing a familiar person return to the network’s air: Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who left CBS News in 2014 after working there more than two decades, will show up this Sunday morning in proximity to John Dickerson on “Face The Nation.”
Upon closer examination, something else will be taking place. Attkisson won’t appear alongside Dickerson, nor will she banter with Charles Osgood on “CBS Sunday Morning.” She will instead be seen on 162 TV stations operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation’s largest TV station operator, as host of a new half-hour Sunday-news program, “Full Measure.” The show will be available on Sinclair-owned affiliates of ABC, NBC, Fox and the CW as well – in 38% of the country in total – in the morning block inhabited by those popular public-affairs programs.
Her debut will sport two in-depth features looking at the effects streams of refugees have in the U.S. and abroad, as well as an interview segment with Donald Trump, who will hold forth on immigration, refugees and whether or not he would redecorate the White House. Network-TV news “is not in its heyday,” Attkisson said in an interview. “This is an unexpected model, something I never would have conceived of, but it’s going to be a great platform with a huge distribution.”
COMMENT: First, we'll have to see what kind of an audience she gets. I hope it will be large. Then we'll see if her presence can nudge some of the others to change their perspective and stop being mouthpieces for the greater glory of Barack (come to save us).
Could be an important moment in a profession that needs some important moments.
October 2, 2015 |