Blitzer Promised Not To ‘Utter’ The Words ‘Paris Hilton,’ Then Devoted Whole Segment To Her
Blitzer Promised Not To ‘Utter’ The Words ‘Paris Hilton,’ Then Devoted Whole Segment To Her
According to the Washington Times, CNN host Wolf Blitzer “vowed” on Friday “that during that afternoon’s entire news program, he would not bring himself to utter two words: Paris Hilton.”
As ThinkProgress noted earlier, The Times quoted a CNN producer promising that Blitzer had kept his promise. But while it’s true that Blitzer didn’t “utter” the words “Paris Hilton” on Friday, he did host a whole segment about Hilton and the issue of drunk driving. Watch it:
On Friday, CNN referenced Paris Hilton at least 135 times. Lou Dobbs was the only other anchor who refused to mention Hilton. As TVNewser notes, “He read an e-mail from a viewer who wrote, ‘Please do not give that woman air time on your show.’ He responded: ‘I assure you, your reference to her is the only mention of her name on this broadcast.’”
Transcript:
BLITZER: There’s a case out in Hollywood that’s spawning a media frenzy, and it’s drawing national attention to the issue of drunken driving.
Let’s go back to Carol Costello.
Carol, tell our viewers what you’re working on.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this should draw attention to drunk driving. Of course it is the case of Paris Hilton. And I know, but hear me out. Hidden in the extraordinary media circus is actual news.
The developments today, Hilton was taken from a California courtroom crying, “It’s not right!” and screaming for her mouth. A judge had ordered her back to jail, rejecting the sheriff’s decision to allow Hilton to serve her sentence at home with an electronic bracelet because of unspecified medical problems.
So, if Hilton had gotten special treatment, it ended right there.
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Blow me, that’s not news and neither is Wolfie
June 11th, 2007 at 4:52 pmLOOK!
SHINY THINGS!
LOOK!
Time to restore the fairness doctrine. We’re not being served by our media.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:54 pmTP needs to just put up her sects vhideo and get it over with.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pmWolfy: But it’s not about Paris, it’s about her crime….
Oy…
June 11th, 2007 at 4:56 pmit’s really quite funny when she answers her cell phone-I swear it sounds like she says” I’m not busy right now”, or “I’m not doing anything right now”, or SOMETHING ashlong those lines..
June 11th, 2007 at 4:57 pm:)
TP can talk ?????????????????
June 11th, 2007 at 4:57 pmLou Dobbs may be a Mexican-hating racist pig, but at least he still has some journalistic skill. He did the right thing to ignore that bitch.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:58 pmtime to put the TP pot kettle black on for a tea break
June 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pmI’m sorry… This is a schmucky article. Wolf Blitzer is not the producer of CNN’s news coverage. If someone off-camera wants Paris on their network, it happens. Kudos to Wolf for doing what he could to not involve himself. 95% of CNN’s viewers Friday night were watching for that reason. Don’t take it up with Wolf, take it up with capitalism.
Why would TP rail a guy who took as principled a stand as he could be reasonably asked while the rest of the world covered EVERY second of the retarded sheriff’s press conference live?? Shame on y’all.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pmhave they not invented the electronic noose yet
June 11th, 2007 at 5:00 pmI’m glad that cop gave her a breathalizer and busted her. Now Paris Hilton understands how much trouble a drinking drive charge is: and now, maybe the next cop who pulls her over can get a hot bj out of her. ’cause she certainly doesn’t want to go through this again.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:02 pmComment by John — June 11, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
Soooo, you’re a cop in the LA area…?
June 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pmWhy does anyone continue to watch our pathetic mainstream news channels any longer? We know it’s one huge propaganda machine with it’s contcomittant distraction techniques from the serious dialogue which should be occurring in this country right now.
So, who cares what “The Blitzed-Out Wolfie” says or doesn’t say?? Only fools continue to spend their precious time watching this group of white house operatives.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:11 pmTP needs to just put up her sects vhideo and get it over with.
Comment by ForTruth — June 11, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
Fo’ Real, Fo’Truff.
.
.
.
Well I’ll be…
TP has another thread about America’s annoying little brat in the news.
Who’da thunk it?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
June 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pmWolfie, you tease, you…
June 11th, 2007 at 5:22 pmMiss Paris Hilton, her drunk driving conviction and the two subsequent stops for driving with a suspended license are certainly fair game for CNN, TP and any other “news” organization. Maybe Paris will actually learn something from her time spent in jail. She may not come out as another Mother Teresa, but she may finally have something thoughtful to say about our present corporate state and the oil-nazi Bush crime family regime. Who knows? All we’re asking is that you give Paris a chance…
June 11th, 2007 at 5:26 pmTP…
So you start a whole post on how ridiculous the amount of media attention being paid to PH?
Sounds like you just became part of the problem
Give it a rest. Seriously… you have come up with some really trivial posts (LeBron James not condeming Darfur for instance) in the last few months, making “news” out of nothing.
You are beginning to look like those GOP’ers that we don’t like because they cry foul on every DEM action from their moral soap boxes.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:32 pmDear God, what’s happened to mainstream news and what once was sort of journalism to help inform people? Maybe its always been a mess but it seems that the distractions are almost becoming an enemy of the nation.
Maybe it is time to start challenging the license renewals based on non-provision of real news. It is harder to do today after the RayGun administration tricked up the FCC license process against people and for the big ownership crowd….but maybe it could be done.
I’ve thought of a license challenge to the stations that carried the, I think, Robertson…maybe Falwell…call to shoot the elected head of state in Venesuela. Calling for this is actually a violation of FCC rules…probably far more serious than saying fuck ever was/is.
Enough…
June 11th, 2007 at 5:35 pmyes please TP do an Ed and Elaine Brown cover
June 11th, 2007 at 5:37 pmOn Dasher and Dancer and Blitzer!
-GSD
June 11th, 2007 at 5:39 pmJust more proof that the media has absolutely no insight or self-awareness at all. When Hilton was sentenced, all MSNBC shows acted glad because finally they could stop talking about her and covering her…although they could have done that regardless if they were smart. But then I woke up the next day and MSNBC was doing a countdown with graphics and everything and doing daily updates on what Paris was doing in jail. Of course, they had no idea and no story but they kept doing it.
I also used to love Olberman’s show. But he’s also starting to do more and more regular segments devoted to entertainment news. He dis regular American Idol and Sanjaya coverage, regular Brittany Spears coverage and now regular Hilton coverage. I used to agree with people who referred to Olberman as a modern Murrows. Now I have major doubts he’s man enough to fill the sadly lacking role.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:40 pmOh, pullleeeezzz. TP remove this entire stuff on Blitzer. Its inappropriate.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:41 pmThere’s a media blackout on those tax rebels.
The corporate media will not permit coverage of anybody rebelling against the government. Unless they get shot and die in a bloody manner.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:43 pmI don’t know about the rest of you, but I consider any thread having to do with Paris Hilton to be begging for a hijacking.
Just sayin’….
June 11th, 2007 at 5:49 pmsploot test
June 11th, 2007 at 5:51 pmim having a page refresh problem
I even changed settings in internet explorer
to check for newer version of page
Every visit
and still I dont see the new posts until I actually post something
June 11th, 2007 at 5:53 pmAny news on the no-confidence vote?
Looks like the Repukes don’t want it to get an up-or-down vote.
I guess that’s only for votes the Repukes want.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:54 pmlets change the page to an Ed and Elaine Brown thread
does anybody know who I mean ??? Ive tried this a few times and no repsonse
June 11th, 2007 at 5:54 pmMy e-mail to CNN : I advised them I will no longer view CNN and your choice to give Hilton time over the needs of information that would help me be more informed has been denied me and therefore I have block CNN form my TV. I know I just one viewer but hope others will do the same.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:57 pmrefresh problem is even if I delete temp ineteret files
So I presume its a TP problem
maybe the cookies your giving us or some sort of tracking page ????
whatever it is I never see new posts until i actually post something ????
very strange ………. I never come across this before , ever
June 11th, 2007 at 5:58 pmtobey, aren’t they the idiots who didnt pay their taxes and now refuse to go to jail?
June 11th, 2007 at 6:01 pmHow about TP promising not to run any more threads that have ANYTHING to do with the not to be named celebrity no talent sl*t?
June 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pmTom3 / There’s a media blackout on those tax rebels.
at last – But there is no law saying individuals must pay there tax ??? and they have the money to pay BUt need proof of the law saying they must pay their tax……. and their willing to shoot it out and die for everybodies freedom
and they have massive support , of course except the media , and even the media are lying thorugh their teeth
June 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pmGreat… Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart are the top incarcerated criminals during the Bush Presidency. How about an Osama in jail or something impressive?
June 11th, 2007 at 6:09 pmStupid bitch can afford a limo or a taxi.
Jeez, this is a non-story. A distraction.
Our corporate media are crap.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:10 pmThe fact is CNN and other news stations are just catering to what the people want. The celebrity obsessed in this country tune in over and over to see celebrity gossip. The loved the Anna Nicole story and they love the Paris story.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:15 pmvery strange ………. I never come across this before , ever
Comment by Tobey Tall
Tobey,
The problem is with TP. They migrated their servers over the weekend, and are still having problems getting their shit together.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:21 pmI don’t buy the BS about CNN just catering to what people want. People WANT news…it’s not their fault that everytime they turn on ANY news broadcast they have to sit through crap in hopes of a nugget of real information slipping through. How can these people be informed AT ALL if they all just stop watching news programming altogether? Not everyone gets their news off the internet…nor should they.
The news channels have a responsibility to inform the public. It’s their duty as the 4th estate. Anything else is nothing more than filler to cut costs. Nobody cared about Anna Nichole, nobody cares about OJ and nobody cares about Paris Hilton. We just have no choice BUT to watch if we want to get other information.
Rest assured, this isn’t giving the people what they want. It’s giving the people crap, and when the people don’t complain, the media assumes it’s because they like it and uses that as an excuse to create more crap. In the end, all they care about is their bottom line and garbage like Paris HIlton and similar items are not only free, there are plenty of PR firms willing to write good-news articles and send them in for free for somebody to just read. Bush’s video news releases? Who wore what at the oscars? It’s all a symptom of the same disease.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:49 pm37. I don’t buy the BS about CNN just catering to what people want. Dead on.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:00 pmBig deal.
If TP hired Paris as a blogger, now that would be interesting.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:07 pmREFRESHMENT
June 11th, 2007 at 7:24 pmWhy aren’t Wolf and the msm minions reporting…
…on the case of the Repulsivescum state “law”maker…
…in al Ceeracka Alabammy…
…who physically assaulted the Democrat…
…hitting him in the neck?
…Is that conservative Ceeracka been incarcerated?
…If not, WHY NOT?
..inquiring minds wanna know…
June 11th, 2007 at 7:42 pmSomeone above mentioned bringing back the fairness doctrine.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:51 pmIf it were, it would have nothing to do with CNN or the cable networks – it was used for federally-licenced television stations, not cable (same thing with content issues, which of course the broadcast stations/networks are also regulated by the government.)
TP,
Another sterling choice of topic. You are spitting into the wind. The topic of corporate malfeasance via the MSM is so well known to progressives it needs no exposure here. It has no value, other than to offer a forum to bitch and gripe. I have read nothing constructive in the comments sections of both Hilton articles here, other than that. I suggest you go back to the “blog drawing board,” or whatever you call your planning meetings, and seriously look at what you are doing. Is this a serious forum to explore, discuss and learn what is really going on in our dangerous world? Or is this just a blog to come to, where I can air my rants and build your “hit” totals?
Every day, there are so many thought provoking topics you could raise. And you don’t! For instance here are just three ideas:
1. The under reported air war in Iraq by the MSM. How reducing our forces will bring about a larger response of bombardment from the air. The ethical and moral issue of waging a war “from 30,000 feet up”, so to speak.
2. The hardly ever mentioned private security force (Blackwater) in Iraq totaling over 100 thousand people. What it does, and the effect it will have on our withdrawal. Who controls this private army of mercenaries and what will they be doing after the troops are gone?
3. The tragedy of Iraqi refugees totaling some 4 million people going to Jordan and Syria. What it means to the Iraqi nation to lose a huge percentage of its educated and professional classes.
There are so many critical issues that need exposure and discussion so we Progressives can become truly informed. Look further than CNN, AP, Faux NonNews and statements from the administration spokesmen and their toadys (i.e. Generals, Lieberman, Kristol etc.) Look deeper and give us real meat.
Serving us pablum, like this Paris hilton article, does Progressives real disservice.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:23 pmAnybody been through a supermarket checkout aisle lately?
Seems that both sides of every aisle are plastered wall-to-wall celebrity gossip rags.
When the hell’d that happen?
Rarely even a Time or Newsweek in sight, so yeah, celebrity fixation is one of the juiciest targets around as far as I’m concerned. They should be pummeled (fixated, fixators, fixatees) frequently and without mercy.
Put Paris screaming and crying on a masthead.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:26 pm#37 Comment by Rosencrantz — June 11, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
The news channels have a responsibility to inform the public. It’s their duty as the 4th estate.
So one would wish. Their devotion is to the corporate share holders and the bottom line. Like Bush who gives the finger, daily, to the American public and our Republic, the media corporations believe they can do the same. They are, and they are getting away with it.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:05 pmI am stunned, in a seemingly hopeless, helpless horror, as our dumbed-down TV nation simultaneously fawns over how wonderful and lovable ‘The Soprano’s’ crime family was for breaking new ground, blithely accepts the obvious double standard of a “Blonde” justice for our Paris Hilton’s, and proclaims “No Confidence” in an Attorney General we cannot remove on the same day a legal resident is released from four years in prison without ever being charged with any crime.
Our sickness is still as deeply entrenched as ever when we still prefer career gangland criminals to be white Italians, rather than Black, Hispanic, or Muslim. They have dysfunctional families too, don’t they?
What would it take for some brave new executive to make his bones by producing a series that shows a similarly “lovable” crime family of a darker complexion?
June 11th, 2007 at 11:16 pmWhy utter the name Paris Hilton when you can cleverly get others to say it for you? Wow, that was deceptive.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:54 pm????
June 11th, 2007 at 11:54 pmWolf already proved he’s a sham, not a journalist. He gave the republican presidential candidates a free pass on untold number of lies during their debate and never called them on those lies. .
June 12th, 2007 at 11:10 amgotta go w/blue healer and immorgan and others on this one.
i find it ironic that you make fun of wolf “how’s my beard” blitzer for showing a segment on drunk driving featuring paris hilton, then give a screen capture of that very segment.
it’s rather like a prude keeping pornography to disapprove of it.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:58 pmlklkl
June 12th, 2007 at 1:45 pmyep
June 12th, 2007 at 1:50 pmI don’t buy the BS about CNN just catering to what people want. People WANT news…it’s not their fault that everytime they turn on ANY news broadcast they have to sit through crap in hopes of a nugget of real information slipping through. How can these people be informed AT ALL if they all just stop watching news programming altogether? Not everyone gets their news off the internet…nor should they.
The news channels have a responsibility to inform the public. It’s their duty as the 4th estate. Anything else is nothing more than filler to cut costs. Nobody cared about Anna Nichole, nobody cares about OJ and nobody cares about Paris Hilton. We just have no choice BUT to watch if we want to get other information.
Rest assured, this isn’t giving the people what they want. It’s giving the people crap, and when the people don’t complain, the media assumes it’s because they like it and uses that as an excuse to create more crap. In the end, all they care about is their bottom line and garbage like Paris HIlton and similar items are not only free, there are plenty of PR firms willing to write good-news articles and send them in for free for somebody to just read. Bush’s video news releases? Who wore what at the oscars? It’s all a symptom of the same disease.
Comment by Rosencrantz
Wait until the ratings come out for last week on cable news shows you will see that they will be well above the numbers from the week prior. I hate it, but celebrity gossip sells.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:55 pm