Here's some of the exciting stuff that happened last week on Nightly News:

Sat. 11/12--Nightly News spent an astounding 10:35--nearly half the broadcast--on stories related to the Penn State sex abuse scandal. By contrast, they spent 15 seconds reporting on the situation in Syria. Great job, Nightly News producers! You really have your priorities straight.
Sun. 11/13--A story about the previous night's Republican Presidential debate included a clip from "Saturday Night Live" because one of the main functions of Nightly News is to promote NBC sports and entertainment programs. A story about how sugar affects heart disease in women spelled "triglycerides" as "tryiglycerides" because no one at Nightly News cares the slightest bit about getting things right. The final story of the night was a ridiculous 3:15 puff piece about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Of course, this was just a shameless and unethical way to promote that night's Patriots-Jets game, which was airing on NBC immediately after Nightly News. Did I mention that the main function of Nightly News is to promote NBC sports and entertainment programs? The producers can't spell "triglycerides", but they sure know how to promote Sunday Night Football.
Mon. 11/14--For the second time in a week, we saw a story about the Yale quarterback who has to choose between his Rhodes Scholarship interview and playing in the Harvard-Yale game (both of which take place on Nov. 19). The Harvard-Yale game will be televised by Versus, which is owned by NBC Universal. So the only reason Brian Williams and his producers are reporting this story (twice) is to promote a college football game on an NBC network. Slick. Brian then took 30 seconds to boast about how Chelsea Clinton is joining NBC News: "She's anxious to report stories of volunteerism and highlight the great works of ordinary humanity that we encounter every day." What a load of junk. Chelsea is joining NBC News because she wants to raise her profile and get her face on television. And NBC hired her to add to their collection of kids from famous parents. Chelsea, say hello to Jenna Bush Hager and Luke Russert. Of course, the truth is that Clinton, Bush Hager and Russert combined don't add up to one competent news correspondent. It's like a reality show at NBC News. If you have a famous last name, you can have a job at NBC News. Prediction: In about 20 years, NBC News will have at least five correspondents with the last name of Jolie-Pitt. The broadcast ended with a pointless "Making A Difference" piece (that's an oxymoron) about a 12-year-old girl who raises money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. As is the case with every MAD piece, this one did not contain a shred of actual news. Rather, it's designed to generate high ratings by appealing to the viewers' emotions. These silly MAD pieces don't belong on a news broadcast, but seriously--when have Brian and his producers ever cared about that?
Tues. 11/15--Nightly News began with eight-and-a-half minutes of Penn State stories--including a rehashing of Bob Costas' interview with Jerry Sandusky from the previous night's "Rock Center". Is it ethical for a news anchor to use his broadcast to promote his prime-time show? But then again, when has Brian Williams ever been concerned with ethics? By contrast, Nightly News spent 35 seconds reporting on the situation in Syria. All together now: Great job guys! During one of the Penn State stories, a man (who was clearly not Nightly News correspondent Michael Isikoff) was identified in an on-screen graphic as Isikoff. So for the second time in a week, the Nightly News producers failed to correctly identify their own correspondent (on Nov. 10, Nightly News correspondent Ron Mott was identified as "Ron Allen"). After that, Robert Bazell reported a story about the soon-to-expire patent on Lipitor. Other than Brian Williams, Bazell is the biggest shill at NBC News. So whenever Bazell reports a "news story" we should immediately start wondering what exactly he is promoting. In this case, Bazell was promoting Pfizer (a big Nightly News advertiser) as an all-around great company who will soon be doing us a huge favor by graciously allowing their cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor to be sold as a generic. What a joke. Of course, Bazell never mentioned the lawsuit against Pfizer that accuses them of delaying the patent expiration on Lipitor and illegally keeping a generic version of the drug off the market. According to CourthouseNews.com, "Lead plaintiff Chimes Pharmacy claims that after a patent dispute, Pfizer and [Indian drug company] Ranbaxy agreed to artificially extend Pfizer's Lipitor patents, previously set to expire in March 2010, until Nov. 30 this year, when Ranbaxy will get a 'risk-free' 180-day monopoly on the generic version. The pharmacies say Ranbaxy and Pfizer also made a deal to fix the price of the generic version at just slightly less than Pfizer's price." The website estimates that this delay earned Pfizer "approximately $18 billion dollars, which they would not have sold in the absence of the unlawful agreement with Ranbaxy." But Bazell isn't interested in those details. He just wants us to believe that Pfizer is eager to do us the big favor of allowing their Lipitor drug to be sold as a generic. Wow, what a great company! Later, Brian spent 45 seconds reporting on Gabby Giffords' video message to her constituents--without ever once mentioning that Diane Sawyer interviewed Giffords on the previous night's "20/20"! I guess that's not surprising. Sawyer's "20/20" crushed Brian's "Rock Center" in the ratings so he was understandably ticked off. Promote "Rock Center" and ignore "20/20"--that's Brian's philosophy. Then, Brian wasted sixty seconds of valuable news time telling us about Annie Leibovitz's photographic technique--excerpted from his interview with Leibovitz on the previous night's "Rock Center". That's the second time that night that Brian has shown excerpts from "Rock Center" on Nightly News. Brian Williams is without a doubt the biggest self-promoter on NBC, and that's saying a lot for a network that also includes Donald Trump. Brian continued the broadcast with a 40-second obituary for Irving Franklin, who made his fortune manufacturing baseball batting gloves. This is news? Does Irving Franklin really deserve an obituary on an evening newscast? And even more alarming--Franklin's obit got more time than the Syria situation! The broadcast ended with a "Making A Difference" piece about a woman on Block Island who helps needy people pay for things like heating bills or medical expenses. Fascinating...not. In the interview with Jerry Sandusky that aired earlier, Sandusky told Bob Costas that he "is trying to make a difference in the lives of young people." Hey--that sounds like a great idea for a "Making A Difference" piece. Maybe it could be Chelsea's first Nightly News story.
Wed. 11/16--Yet again, Brian told us that a Nightly News correspondent is reporting from "State College P-A", rather than actually saying "Pennsylvania". Is it really too much trouble for Brian to say the state's name in full? He doesn't verbally abbreviate the names of any other states, so why does he do it with Pennsylvania? Brian then spent 40 seconds on an obituary for Karl Stover, the last surviving munchkin from "The Wizard of Oz". Because Brian is first and foremost about reporting hard news. And speaking of hard news, the "Making A Difference" story this night was about two guys who walked across the country picking up garbage. We're all richer for having seen that story.
Thurs. 11/17--In a story about congress's decision to allow pizza to be classified as a vegetable, Anne Thompson took ten seconds to plug McDonald's, telling us that, "McDonald's got the message--reducing french fries and adding

Good Evening Mr.Williams, A great broadcast this evening as always. Always wonderful to see Richard on the broadcast. So much chaos and violence in the streets of Cairo with the protests against the military rule of the country. Richard was brave to stand right in the middle of the crowd as they shouted in defiance of the military rule. One hopes for a peaceful resolution, yet it will take some time.

Richard's report from Cairo showed how violent protests have erupted again in a stong revolutionary revolt. The Egyptian people wanted more from the Military in terms of the transition from the toppling of Mubarek to a democracy of government rule. The promises made by the military were not kept and the people are angry at the successor to Mubarek. The successor stating there will be early elections to concede to the people was not enough and they wanted more concessions. Six decades of military rule and the people see no changes for the better now that Mubarek is gone from power. Seeing the intense fighting in the streets showed how angry the people and it will be a tough fight to rid the military from rule. One also hopes the three American college students who are detained can be released soon. One hopes for positive change for the country after so much chaos and violence.

Excellent Reporting Richard! And even amidst the crowd you managed to report! Always Excellent! Please Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well!

The report by Mr.Cantore about the heavy rain up the I-95 corridor will cause some travel problems for people trying to get somewhere for Thanksgiving. Alot of rain heading up the Eastcoast along with some snow for Northern New England. Great for skiers!

The report by Mr.Bazell about the chemical BPA being in canned foods was disturbing since so many people eat alot of canned foods especially soups. The study of high levels of BPA found in people eating canned foods as opposed to fresh was staggering. It does make it difficult for families, but one always has to be cautious.

The piece by Anne Thompson about the video of the two little boys who emptied a 5lb bag of flour all over the house was incredible. The mother did seem calm , but she certainly had a mess to clean up.

Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to You and to All!

Be Well Everyone!

Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard! Excellent Reporting All Day!

Take Extra,Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!

Lisa

I think that mom in the video must've double dosed on her anti-depressants are something, no woman in her right mind looking at all that mess and knows she going to probably be the only one to clean it up would grab their camera and treat the kids as if the flour was just smeared on their faces and clothes. It does look a bit contrived, the flour in front of the windows looks like it was poured just a bit too perfectly, not like something a one and a three year old would do.

Many choose to believe the Mother isn't telling the truth about her two sons and the flour. Well when your a Mom of three little kids and just let the kids watch TV cartoons but learn one is missing. You call out with no answer and your scared to death, only to rush up stairs to open your daughters room and see her teenage make up all over everything and even the walls, floor, bed, phone and laundry basket. With a mirror with lip stick all over it and the door. As you open the closet door your young son comes out with yes make up/lip stick on his body, clothes, hair and teeth. You asked why did you do this and he answers I didn't. Well who did it as he says I Don't Know. I just met Mr. I Don't Know. The stories that parents have with kids are all wonderful memories as you get older and they grow up. I often remind them just to make sure they know I remember.

Egypt is struggling with their new nation without a Dictator and it will take time. The US history showed the struggle and even today we see Americans demanding pretty much what was asked for over 200 years ago. It's said if you don't learn from your mistakes you will repeat them. The USA is showing that phase is true as we watch Americans protesting for the country back from corporations/banks. An example of how bad we're doing is the elected officials not working for the people who elected them and those asking for votes when it's clear they aren't qualified. We are watching countries like Egypt/Libya try to form a Democracy and they are watching the US Democracy crumble.

have a great evening all

Are they serious? Even by Nightly News's abysmally low standards it's mind-boggling that they would devote more than two minutes to a story about a couple of kids who make a mess with a bag of flour. This is a story with absolutely no news value whose only purpose is to promote the family's appearance on Wednesday's "Today" show! Why aren't thousands of irate viewers marching on 30 Rock with pitchforks and torches, demanding that Brian Williams and Steve Capus be replaced? Am I the only one outraged by this shameful betrayal of the viewers' trust? Brian Williams did not even mention Syria, but he has two minutes to devote to this idiotic story. It's just so sad to see what has happened to NBC News.