12 Comments Add your own

• 1. zani  |  June 28th, 2007 at 1:50 am

  Mika’s fun looked rather overshadowed by the two guys’ epitome of bullying. Besides shredding the Paris story, Mika demonstrated her cool by keeping her cool with the boys.

• 2. Steve Boriss  |  June 28th, 2007 at 5:22 am

  It’s a funny clip, but there’s something serious going on here, too. If the public thinks that Paris Hilton is news or sufficiently entertaining that they want to keep up with the story, then it is now news. The people will decide, and in my view there is nothing wrong with that. No one appointed snobs like Mika to be our arbiters of news, and what she was trying to do strangely resembled a “book burning.” (Steve Boriss, TheFutureOfNews.com)

• 3. Hussman  |  June 28th, 2007 at 5:55 am

  It is interesting to note that refusing to talk about Paris Hilton is generating a “talking about Paris Hilton” worthy buzz.

  What strange power is it this Hilton woman has?

  I will admit that I went and watched the clip solely to see someone stand up to such crap as reporting on Hilton. While I watched, I found myself hoping for the future.

• 4. Jason  |  June 28th, 2007 at 5:59 am

  We were talking about this at work yesterday. The first episode by Mika appeared to be unplanned… but afterwards– why was there a shredder by the news desk? The director got a cutaway of the shredder, too. Same deal with the lighter.

  Nothing wrong with a little planned fun, of course.

  I do find it funny that anchors around the country are expressing their outrage on the story on the air. Don’t they see the scripts prior to air? Can’t they make their case to the producers prior to the newscast? Or is there a little showboating going on?

• 5. Tim  |  June 28th, 2007 at 6:59 am

  It may be “news” in one sense, but I personally feel we ought to segregate celebrity “news” somehow. Why is one person’s DUI problem national news? If her name were not “Paris Hilton” but she was instead “Sheila Slobotnick” of “East Bumrap, New Jersey” we wouldn’t hear about it on the national news!

• 6. Emily  |  June 28th, 2007 at 7:49 am

  It’s good to see someone standing up against all the celeb “news” that seems to continue finding its way onto “real” news shows. I don’t think that these celeb stories should even be mentioned on the cable news networks, not unless they do something truly newsworthy. E Network exists for a reason. Yes, there is a demand for celeb stories, we saw that during the whole Anna Nicole Smith fiasco, but if someone doesn’t stand up for the serious issues that need to be covered one day all the cables news may be about how Paris slept with so and so.

• 7. David Johnson  |  June 28th, 2007 at 9:11 am

  re: steve boriss — what are you going by to gauge that the public really does want wall-to-wall paris hilton news?

  i’m not saying you are right or wrong with your point.

  we’re dishing it out like crazy, and there will always be people who eat what we dish. but what are we going by as an industry to say for certain that we’re just giving them what they want? in just this example, it is pretty clear that the dignation is speaking and saying they’ve had enough and don’t want to take it anymore.

  we do have web stats to show what stories people are looking at, but in general it is not an exact science - and although we do have overnights - we don’t know right away what’s what.

  so editors have to go with a mix of gut instinct, headsmarts and a sometimes not so healthy dose of pack mentality in allocating budget and rundown. how paris hilton becomes a beat unto herself is something worth giving serious consideration.

• 8. Mary Edington  |  June 28th, 2007 at 9:17 am

  It was totally refreshing to see Mika Brzezinski have the spine to do what most newscaster REALLY want to do with that PH story. Unfortunately most of the news producers don’t really have a clue that their viewers are not all teen-agers reading tabloids.

• 9. Richard  |  June 28th, 2007 at 2:39 pm

  “Journalist” claims outrage and attempts to burn copy on-air.

  that is so lame. If it was a true spontaneous outburst she should be fired for her lack of professionalism. If she has a problem with the producer she should take it up off-air.

  If it was a little skit to give the story a new angle then Ms Brzezinski can turn in her journalist badge.

  Show business, and not especially well done.

• 10. Brink  |  June 28th, 2007 at 2:53 pm

  This individual needs to be disciplined. It’s not her job to line up the newscast nor to belittle the paid producer of the newscast on the air. Her ego is out of control, and if she would like to produce instead of anchor–or perhaps do both–I’d bet that can be arranged. (I’d also bet that she believes either of those are beneathe her.)

• 11. Safran  |  June 29th, 2007 at 6:22 am

  ACTING! GENIUS! THANK YOU!

  As a longtime producer, I would absolutely flip out at the anchor if they had the nerve to show me up on the air like that. Richard is right. You don’t get to bag a story like that. I have had plenty of anchors discuss stories with me before the news, and we have made changes. We have even had calls between breaks when we have changed stories. You work together as a team. You do not, not, not show up the person who worked overnight to make you look good. It doesn’t happen, and it especially doesn’t happen repeatedly like this.

  (As an aside - a lighter in a studio? Fire code?)

  If it were any other story, she would be fired. Suppose she had decided she didn’t like the Iraq coverage?

  I’m with Richard. Fake, insincere and not terribly funny either. I’ve really had it with anchors pretending they don’t want to report on Paris, and yet they report on not wanting to report on Paris.

• 12. Diane Szpak  |  May 5th, 2008 at 5:28 am

  Mika ; You sound ugly . You think you are better then person that lives on $20.000.00 a year, and $2.00 is a lot. You are snob Mika Brzezinski. I ‘am from Poland like you Father and same Polaks are ogly and fake when they become little better of.

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