SAG stars come out against strike authorization vote
The party line for unions is always that they represent the little guys. But where the A-list stars are lining up in the Screen Actors Guild’s strike authorization vote is being closely watched, and yesterday a number of them came out against. George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Sally Field and former union president Richard Masur all signed a petition urging the guild to cancel its plans for the vote, which is set for early next month. “We support our union and we support the issues we’re fighting for, but we do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work,” said the petition in part. SAG’s New York leadership has also come out against the strike, which needs a 75 percent approval vote to be authorized. Among the A-listers who are for a strike are Mel Gibson, Martin Sheen and Holly Hunter.
Gallup: More people getting news from web and cable
It’s not easy out there for traditional news media. And it doesn’t look like things are likely to turn around any time soon. A new survey from Gallup found that among daily news sources only cable and internet are managing to improve their popularity with the American public. The survey, which involved interviews with 1,009 adults between Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, found that the most popular source of daily news remains local television. However, it is losing favor. Some 51 percent of those surveyed said they watch local TV news every day, compared to the 55 percent who answered the same way two years ago. Meanwhile, the percentage watching cable news networks daily has risen to 40 percent from 34 percent. Likewise the percentage who surf the internet for their news has also risen to 31 percent from 22 percent previously. Local newspapers are still losing readers, with just 40 percent saying they read them daily versus 44 percent two years ago. However, there may be some good news in the fact that several traditional media have managed to remain roughly flat or make very minor gains. Network TV news fell just one percentage point to 34 percent, while national newspapers actually rose marginally to 9 percent from 7 percent two years ago.
Programming notes: Fox sings a new tune with 'Glee'
Fox’s midseason lineup will be filled with both “Hell” and “Glee.” On Jan. 29 he network is set to launch the fifth season of “Hell’s Kitchen,” the reality competition hosted by chef Gordon Ramsay. It has also ordered 13 episodes of “Glee,” an hour-long musical comedy about a Spanish teacher who takes over a glee club filled with misfits. There’s no word yet on when “Glee” will premiere, although it reportedly is being considered for the coveted post-“American Idol” timeslot. Meanwhile, in other programming, Animal Planet will premiere the dog-centric show “Underdog to Wonderdog” on Jan. 3, a makeover show for shelter dogs looking for homes. On Jan. 29 Spike TV will launch “Toughest Cowboy,” a reality competition between rodeo cowboys in which the winner is awarded the deed to a ranch. BBC America has picked up the rights to “Ashes to Ashes,” the sequel to the limited-run series “Life on Mars.” The show will premiere in March 2009. And Bravo has ordered a second season of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” after season one average 1.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. No premiere date for “Atlanta” has been set yet.
NY's Paterson: 'SNL' blind jokes in very poor taste
“Saturday Night Live” jabs all manner of politicians in its late-night sketches, but it’s not often that a politician jabs back. That’s what New York Gov. David Paterson is doing after a bit over the weekend that played on the legally blind man’s disability. Paterson denounced the show’s “third-grade humor” and said, “I don't mind that they make fun of me, but I thought it was important of me to stand up for people who don't have a voice and don't have a job.” In the skit, actor Fred Armisen was trying to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton. He said he had three criteria for the replacement, including someone with a disability who was unprepared for the job, like him. Armisen also showed a chart illustrating a point upside down. Paterson succeeded former Gov. Eliot Spitzer earlier this year after the later resigned amid a call girl scandal. The National Federation for the Blind also upbraided NBC’s “SNL,” calling the skit an attack on blind Americans.
Scarlett letter: Starlet threatens UK Cosmo with suit
Talk about some juicy scoop – the latest edition of the UK Cosmopolitan includes an interview with actress Scarlett Johansson in which the usually press-shy U.S. starlet opens up about her recent marriage to actor Ryan Reynolds. “We're like any other couple – we feel so fortunate to be together,” she gushes. No matter that the quotes are essentially fluff; they’re also not true, according to Johansson’s representatives, and she’s threatening to sue the magazine if the story is not retracted. According to London’s Guardian, the UK Cosmo got the story by splicing parts of a U.S. Cosmo article with quotes purchased from the agency Hot Features. “We ran these quotes in good faith with the understanding that the interview was carried out with the approval of Ms. Johansson and her publicist,” said the magazine in a statement.
Nielsen: Google tops all U.S. web sites during 2008
Move over, David Letterman. Nielsen has come up with its top 10 lists for 2008, and Google is the No. 1 web site in the U.S. It’s followed by Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, Microsoft and AOL Media Network. Rounding out the top 10 are YouTube, Fox Interactive Media, eBay, Wikipedia and Apple. But when it comes to web sites accessed over mobile phones, Yahoo Mail is tops, according to Nielsen, followed by Google Search, Gmail, the Weather Channel and ESPN. MSN Hotmail, Google Maps, AOL Email, CNN News and Facebook are the other sites most accessed by Americans on the go. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose topped the U.S. markets for content downloaders with 32 percent, meaning adults who downloaded any of the following online during the past 30 days: podcasts, video games, music/other audio clips, movies, other video or TV programs. Another California market, San Diego, came in at No. 2, followed by Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Salt Lake City; Syracuse, N.Y.; Phoenix; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle/Tacoma, Wash.; and Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News, Va.
But search giant falls off list of most-trusted brands
Google may be at the top of one list, but it has fallen off another. The internet search giant is no longer among the top 20 most-trusted U.S. companies for privacy. In a survey by the Ponemon Institute co-sponsored by TRUSTe, Google didn’t show up despite its No. 10 ranking last year. Other internet companies, however, improved their ranking in the fifth annual survey, including Facebook, which made its top 20 debut, Yahoo, eBay, Apple, Microsoft and HP. American Express remained at No. 1. TRUSTe identifies which web sites are do the best job safeguarding personal information and which are the most trustworthy through its web privacy seal and email privacy seal, among others.
Cisco: 90 percent of worldwide email is actually spam
It doesn’t just feel like the majority of email you receive is junk. According to a new report released by Cisco, roughly 90 percent of the 200 billion emails sent worldwide is actually spam, and the U.S. is the biggest offender. The country accounts for 17.2 percent of spam messages sent, well ahead of second-place Turkey at 9.2 percent and third-place Russia at 8 percent. The report claims that hackers have come up with new ways to send spam, including using hijacked computers as part of larger botnets that send out the annoying emails. Botnets are also being used to attack web-based email accounts and puzzle out so-called weak passwords, allowing hijackers to send mail from a third-party account.
Man who posted illegal GN'R tracks faces prison time
Guns N’ Roses first new album in more than a decade is finally available online, but a man accused of posting songs from “Chinese Democracy” on the internet prior to its official release is facing up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Kevin Cogill pleaded guilty yesterday to a copyright violation for posting tracks on www.antiquiet.com. The 28-year-old Los Angeles resident was arrested in August. Cogill was originally charged with a felony, but a U.S. attorney says the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor because Cogill is working with authorities to help find the original leak of the material. Cogill, who posted the previously unreleased tracks because he wanted to make a little money and to hear the new album, is currently free on bail. While an investigation continues, no one has been arrested for leaking the songs.
