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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (3013)	7/1/2003 10:57:05 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793840

Isn't this the news show you watch, John? I used to never miss CBS, but that was back in the 60s.I don't watch any of the shows listed here. Guess poor old Dan has lost his frequency. 'CBS Evening News' Hits Ratings Low By DAVID BAUDER The Associated Press Tuesday, July 1, 2003; 5:34 PM NEW YORK - "CBS Evening News" marked a low point in a storied history last week - its smallest average audience in at least 10 years, perhaps ever. The evening newscast with Dan Rather, for several years third in the ratings behind NBC and ABC, has lately been losing even more ground to its rivals. It was watched last week by an average of 6.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.9 million viewers and ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.2 million. The weeks around July 4 are generally the least-watched TV weeks of the year. Discounting holidays and weeks when the news was pre-empted, researchers going back to 1993 could not find a worse week for the "CBS Evening News." Ratings for these flagship newscasts have been steadily eroding, so you would probably have to go back to the early days of television to find a lesser-watched week. "Clearly, we want to reverse that trend," CBS News President Andrew Heyward said Tuesday. "I don't think it's something to be overly concerned about ... It's an issue but not something I want to overreact to. I think the program itself journalistically is as good as it has ever been." Rather, 71, has anchored the CBS evening newscast since taking over for Walter Cronkite in March 1981. Cronkite was dominant for years, and Rather spent much of the 1980s atop the ratings, before being passed, first by ABC's Peter Jennings and then NBC's Tom Brokaw. His job is not in any danger, according to his boss, who praised Rather as "full of energy and enthusiasm for the program." "He's one of the best broadcast journalists ever," Heyward said. "I don't think he's the issue." For the first six months of this year, CBS' average evening news audience has dropped 5 percent, from 8.5 million to 8.1 million, compared to the first six months of 2002. This comes despite the war in Iraq, which helped cable news ratings shoot up during the same period. NBC's "Nightly News" went up 4 percent, from 10.2 million to 10.6 million, from the first half of last year to this year. ABC's "World News Tonight" rose slightly, from 9.76 million to 9.79 million. "I think we've got a consistency that America recognizes," said Steve Capus, executive producer of NBC's "Nightly News." The serious news of the Bush administration - the terrorist attacks, subsequent wars and economic troubles - have demanded a toughness from the evening newscasts and NBC has responded, he said. ABC also pronounced itself pleased with its ratings. Some analysts suggested an emphasis on hard news by NBC and ABC has outflanked CBS, which always considered hard news a point of pride. Heyward said not every ratings fluctuation can be explained by looking at the content. He said he'll look for tactical improvements, such as promoting the show more aggressively in certain markets, to boost viewership. The ratings for last week were particularly heartening for NBC, since Brian Williams subbed for Brokaw as anchor against Jennings and Rather. (Linda Vargas sat in for Jennings on Friday.) That will be the evening match-up starting in December 2004, when Brokaw retires from "Nightly News." His competitors have looked forward to that as a time to make ratings inroads, but the lengthening of NBC's lead makes that job tougher. A slow week in prime-time was dominated by producers Jerry Bruckheimer (with the "CSI" shows and "Without a Trace") and Dick Wolf (with his "Law & Order" shows). The two creators were responsible for seven of the top eight most-watched shows last week. NBC won the week, averaging 7.8 million viewers (5.5 rating, 10 share). CBS had 7.7 million (5.4, 10), Fox had 5.8 million (3.8, 7), ABC had 5.6 million (3.9, 7), UPN had 2.9 million (1.9, 4), the WB had 2.3 million (1.7, 3) and Pax TV had 860,000 (0.6, 1). A ratings point represents 1,067,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 106.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of June 23-29, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 13.8 million; "Without a Trace," CBS, 12.4 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 12 million; "Law & Order," NBC, 11.5 million; "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 10.5 million; "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 10.4 million; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 10.4 million; "Law & Order-Wednesday 9 p.m.," NBC, 10 million; "King of Queens," CBS, 10 million; "Friends," NBC, 9.1 million. --- washingtonpost.com

To: JohnM who wrote (3013)	7/2/2003 12:09:25 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793840

I thought the little guys gave to the Democrats, and the Fat Cats gave to the Republicans. Live and learn! The Scramble for Hard Money New York Times Editorial As President Bush's drive for re-election cash jangles across the land like a platinum-plated juggernaut, the Democrats can only envy the Republicans' longstanding edge in organizing donors. For years, the G.O.P. invested more heavily than the Democrats in the direct-mail, small-donor techniques of raising cash. The latest tallies from last year's Congressional elections show this Republican advantage paying off handsomely, perchance temporarily, now that the era of unlimited "soft money" donations from corporations, unions and individuals has been ended by the McCain-Feingold law. With its superior donor base, the G.O.P. attracted almost 50 percent more contributors than the Democrats and showed a commanding edge among lower-budget donors who gave less than $200 apiece. Sixty-four percent of them gave to the Republicans, versus 35 percent for the supposed party of the people, according to a detailed study by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group. The public may be surprised to learn these results, but Democratic Party leaders are not. In getting behind the badly needed drive to end soft money as a device for buying candidates and favors, the Democrats knew they would have considerable catching up to do to broaden their base for the new campaign world of limited hard money. The one category the Democrats led in was among fat-cat donors, with the party garnering 92 percent of the contributions of $1 million or more in 2002, the last year soft money was permitted. No wonder Terry McAuliffe, the Democrats' soft-money maestro, is emphasizing an urgent new direct-mail effort to enlist many more smaller donors. Clearly, Democratic leaders face a challenging period of adjustment. Donor bases are not built overnight. And in hard-cash politics, virtue is rarely its own reward. But the new money tallies show that the Democrats have no choice but to labor back from their disadvantage. The sad reality is that election costs jumped by nearly a third in just four years, to $2.2 billion. And Congressional candidates who outspent opponents won a stunning 94 percent of the time, usually via 10-to-1 edges in financing. nytimes.com

To: JohnM who wrote (3013)	7/2/2003 1:25:41 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793840

Here is one Court decision we both agree on, John. Court Orders Removal of Monument to Ten Commandments By ADAM LIPTAK - NEW YORK TIMES A federal appeals court ordered the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court yesterday to remove a monument engraved with the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of his courthouse. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, concluded that the monument violates the First Amendment's prohibition on government establishment of religion. The court was also unusually blunt in responding to the assertion by Chief Justice Roy S. Moore in court papers in the case that he does not recognize the authority of the federal court in this matter. The appeals court compared Chief Justice Moore to "those Southern governors who attempted to defy federal court orders during an earlier era," likening him to such state's rights proponents of segregation as Govs. George C. Wallace of Alabama and Ross Barnett of Mississippi. In the 1950's and 1960's, federal courts ordered them and other Southern officials not to interfere with school desegregation and protest marches. "Any notion of high government officials being above the law did not save those governors from having to obey federal court orders," Judge Ed Carnes wrote for the appeals court, "and it will not save this chief justice from having to comply with the court order in this case." The appeals court did not set a timetable for the removal of the monument. Chief Justice Moore's lawyer, Herbert W. Titus, said the case was not over. "We're not giving up," Mr. Titus said. "We are going to file a petition for review in the United States Supreme Court." Mr. Titus declined to say whether Chief Justice Moore would comply with the order to remove the monument if the Supreme Court declines to hear the case or affirms the order. "We're not making predictions or forecasts," Mr. Titus said, adding that the chief justice "believes that what he is doing is not only constitutional but required by his oath of office." The appeals court's decision was unanimous, but Chief Judge J. L. Edmondson concurred only in the result, not the decision's reasoning. He did not explain why. Richard W. Story, a visiting district court judge from Atlanta, was the third member of the panel. The 5,280-pound granite monument setting out the Ten Commandments was erected in August 2001 as the centerpiece of the rotunda of the Alabama State Judicial Building, which houses several state courts, the state's law library and the court system's administrative office. Three lawyers who found the monument offensive sued to have it removed. In November, Judge Myron H. Thompson of Federal District Court in Montgomery ruled in their favor. One of the plaintiffs, Stephen R. Glassroth, a criminal defense lawyer in Montgomery, called yesterday's decision a vindication. Chief Justice Moore has been closely associated with the Ten Commandments through his career on the Alabama bench. He hung a hand-carved plaque depicting the commandments in his courtroom when he was a circuit court judge in Gadsden, generating controversy and lawsuits. In 2000, he successfully campaigned for chief justice as the "Ten Commandments judge." The appeals court noted that the excerpts from Exodus chiseled into the tablets are a Protestant version of the commandments. "Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox faiths use different parts of their holy texts as the authoritative Ten Commandments," the court said. "The point is that choosing which version of the Ten Commandments to display can have religious endorsement implications." The appeals court made clear that it will not brook disobedience from Chief Justice Moore if its order is upheld. "We do expect that if he is unable to have the district court's order overturned through the usual appellate processes," Judge Carnes wrote, "when the time comes Chief Justice Moore will obey that order. If necessary, the court order will be enforced. The rule of law will prevail." nytimes.com