video Well, this was an interesting meeting of the minds, one we'd do well to see more often. Last night Dick Armey was a guest on Charlie Rose. Lately the mainstream media has been giving the Tea Party movement its due process and Armey was ostensibly on Rose to explain the movement, which he has been strongly supporting (appropriating?) through his FreedomWorks organization. (more...)

It appears the mainstream media is slowly catching up to the Glenn Beck phenomenon. This past September Time put him on the cover, last month Barbara Walters included him in her most fascinating people of 2009, today the Wall St. Journal's online op-ed editor James Taranto has pubbed a longish interview with him. Seems like Beck may not merely be a (fascinating) side show much longer. (more...)

video Love him or hate him it would be hard to argue that Glenn Beck was not one of this year's more fascinating people (you can find interviews with all of Barbara Walters choices on our video page, by the way). Said Barbara Walters in her introduction: "Let's meet a man who's been accused of turning politics into a circus...it's hard to tell sometimes whether Glenn Beck is being serious." And then later on "Is Beck a leader, a demagogue, or just a media savvy clown?" Alas, Walters doesn't manage to answer any of these questions, or get much out of Beck beyond one word answers. Not even any tears! (Beck, by his own admission, is a weeping willow.) Maybe Barbara is losing her edge. Which is too bad, though I suppose you can't expect much more from such a short segment. (more...)

It's very easy to dismiss today's journalists as high maintenance and pampered celebrity pundits, unworthy descendants of their beloved and revered Walter Cronkite. And you'd be right in most enough cases. You can blame it on their network bosses and corporate owners, who have reduced much of the "news" to easily digestible distraction nuggets for a woefully uninformed public.

But as much energy as I spend turning off my TV in disgust these days, I'm equally in awe of those who use the airwaves for good, building our understanding of a topic and sometimes even, sorry, advocacy. Good TV, as rare and oxymoronic as that may sound, can produce some of the best narrative to our world. And no matter how much more I consume online, in magazines or books, I'm still a boob tube kid.

So with the holiday festivities bringing us all around TV sets (sorry, Hulu and video streaming) in the coming weeks, this is a good time to celebrate some of the best and brightest we have at camera one. In no particular order, my 2009 media heroes: (more...)

exclusive The news last night that Bloomberg had purchased BusinessWeek magazine has put the gigantic media company back in the spotlight. The impact may be seen on Bloomberg TV as well, which competes now with industry leader CNBC and two-year-old Fox Business Network. But while Fox Business Network is adding new, and controversial, faces to the channel, Bloomberg TV is beefing up as it prepares for Fall as well, on-air and beyond. “I think we’re moving on a number of fronts,” U.S. head of Bloomberg TV operations David Rhodes told Mediaite earlier this week. “We have a number of new people in here on and off the air. We’re building a team, and I think we’re going to continue building it.” The newest member of the larger team is BusinessWeek. “We're very excited about the possibilities from having such a great brand within Bloomberg,” he said The young exec knows about great brands – before joining Bloomberg TV late last year he was a high level executive at Fox News. Since he’s come over, the network has added on-air talent, like former CNBC anchor Margaret Brennan, off-air talent, and the network debuted a modernized look last week. Also new is the channel's prime time, which features repeats of Charlie Rose’s show at 8pm and 10pmET. >>> NEXT: Which big interview does Bloomberg TV have tomorrow?

"I'm so heartbroken that the Internet, for the first time, was wrong about something. How are we ever going to trust the Internet again?" Who said it? (more...)

Could radio host Don Imus be joining the Fox family?

Reports indicate he is in negotiations for his radio show to be simulcast on the Fox Business Network, possibly beginning as early as September. And Sean Hannity just aired a very glowing "behind-the-scenes" at the Imus Ranch. So how would this move benefit Imus, or FBN? (more...)

Last night on the Daily Show, Funny People director Judd Apatow revealed that he'd been thisclose to making the cover of Time, but got knocked off at the last minute by Dr. Obama. Ah well, Obama tends to do that sometimes. Luckily, Apatow had a version of "his" cover on hand, with the headline: Funny Person. Personally, I find this cover much more appealing than stern-looking Dr. Obama, but that's just me. I wonder if either of the covers cost more than $30. (more...)