Dateline NBC sued over ‘To Catch a Predator’

The sister of a veteran Texas prosecutor who committed suicide as police and Dateline cameras came to his door is suing NBC for $100 million.

31 comments July 18th, 2007

NFL to require photojournalists to wear logoed vests

Hoooo boy. The National Press Photographer’s Association says the NFL just passed another one of its famous rules: independent press photogs will be required to wear vests adorned with Reebok and Canon logos. Oh… and the vests will be red. “I think it’s extremely unfortunate that the NFL, after limiting the number of local video photojournalists on the sidelines, is now attempting to turn them into roving billboards,” attorney and former photojournalist Mickey Osterreicher told the NPPA’s News Photographer Magazine.

The presence of corporate logos on game vests could be construed by some editors to be a violation of journalistic independence. As an example, many newspapers do not allow their employees to have political bumper stickers on their cars supporting candidates or political parties, or to donate to charities, or to participate in events that could be misunderstood or bring into question the organization’s neutral or independent stance.

18 comments July 18th, 2007

Did ESPN cut jokes from ESPY broadcast?

Sports blog Deadspin reports ESPN sliced a bunch of material from host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue at the ESPY awards. The show taped last Thursday, and aired Sunday - standard practice for this event - but it gives the network several days to edit and repackage. Most of the jokes the site says producers cut make fun of athletes — including this:

Michael Vick, as you’ve probably heard, is picking up where Bob Barker left off, to try to help control the pet population.

I think that’s great.

He’s also been doing some wonderful things for people in his local community - just this last weekend, he let the police have a treasure hunt in his backyard.

3 comments July 18th, 2007

A sneak peak at the Verizon FiOS 2.0 guide

OK, so hearing “new version of onscreen TV guide” probably doesn’t scream “I must read this blog entry!” at you. But bear with me, because the pics at Zatz Not Funny of the upcoming version of the Verizon FiOS 2.0 version of their onscreen guide are something to see. The interface itself is gorgeous, but it’s what Verizon’s doing with it that is worth noting. With the permission of Dave Zatz, who got a behind-the-scenes tour, a couple of illustrations:

OK, this alone is a huge improvement over any TV interface I’ve seen. All of your choices are there on the left, and the opaque guide still lets you see what’s happening on the show. But here’s what’s really thinking different…

They’re playing around with widgets. Right now they have widgets for local weather, traffic and other local info. The show you’re watching continues to play as you pick your widget. Looks a little like a computer experience, no? Dave writes that Verizon will roll out this 2.0 interface in all its markets by September. Check out the Zatz report, where there are several more pictures including a very cool VOD interface.

33 comments July 18th, 2007

Jupitermedia buys mediabistro.com for $23 million

If you ask mediabistro’s founder and cyberhostess Laurel Touby how she’s sleeping at night, her answer today may be “On a large pile of money.” Jupitermedia just laid down $20 million in cash and some change over the next couple of years to buy her out (NYT). The fabulous Ms. Touby will stay on board as Senior VP. Congratulations to a true Internet success story with a very happy ending and a promising new beginning.

2 comments July 18th, 2007