ESPN Hires Bikini Model Jenn Brown To Spice Up Sports

Jenn Brown picture

“An ESPN employee approached Brown and said the network was looking for a new face and not ‘another 30-year-old white guy.’ A self-proclaimed tomboy, Brown admits her job in sports takes her to new levels in a career usually reserved for men. ‘I remember being on the playground as a little kid racing the boys. I was always the first picked for kickball,’ Brown said.” Link

Charlie Gibson To Quit ABC World News

Charlie Gibson picture

“TVNewser has learned ABC News will announce today that Charlie Gibson will leave “World News” in January and that Diane Sawyer will be named the new anchor of the network’s evening newscast.” Link

Press Paying For Info On Jaycee Lee Dugard Case

“In the days since, locals who knew the Garridos said they have repeatedly been approached by reporters — American and foreign, print and television — who have offered thousands of dollars for information and photographs of the Garridos, Dugard, now 29, and the two daughters she bore Phillip Garrido, ages 15 and 11. ” Link

Jasmine Fiore Death Photo Pulled By TMZ

Jasmine Fiore picture

“TMZ posted a Jasmine Fiore death photo yesterday but has since taken it down (were they threatened with a lawsuit?). Mind you, it wasn’t much of a photo; the Jasmine Fiore death photo posted by TMZ was a grainy image taken from a video screenshot that scarcely reveals the contours of what could be Jasmine Fiore’s body stuffed in a suitcase.” Link

Walter Cronkite Dead At 92

NY Times reports that per his family, CBS legend Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92.

Video: Walter Cronkite Announces Death Of JFK

Video: Walter Cronkite On Assassination of Martin Luther King

Video: Walter Cronkite anchors the landing on the moon

ABC News Paid $200,000, Got Joe Jackson Interview

“TVNewser has learned ABC News paid upwards of $200,000 for rights to video featuring Joe and Katherine Jackson – and with it, the interview with Joe Jackson. A source close to the situation tells us the video was shot more than a year ago, ‘for some kind of reality show project.’ ABC licensed that footage from the production company and then approached Joe Jackson about getting a current interview ‘to address everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks,’ says the source.” Link

Charles Schwab Pulls Out Of Sponsoring CNBC Porn Documentary

“According to multiple sources, Charles Schwab, a regular sponsor of the 5pmET Fast Money program (as well as others) pulled its sponsorship from the program after a preview segment made it seem like Schwab was associated with the sex doc. Melissa Lee, anchor of Fast Money, also hosts the ‘Porn’ special. One source tells Mediaite that Schwab did not pull its sponsorships from CNBC as a whole, just chose to move its sponsored segments to other programs.” Link

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31 Million Watched Michael Jackson Memorial On TV

“The memorial service held for Michael Jackson drew nearly 31 million television viewers in the U.S. yesterday. The event was carried live from approximately 1pmET to 4pmET on 19 networks: including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and Headline News.” Link

800,000 Drop Perez Hilton From Twitter After Michael Jackson Comments

“Perez Hilton was dropped by 800,000 Twitter fans after they read his controversial remarks about Michael Jackson death. Nearly 1 million of the celebs 1.8 million fans found Perez’s sly remarks a little too intolerable and inappropriate and hit the road.” Link

Vibe Magazine Shutting Down

“Music mag Vibe is folding, according to internal memos issued to the staff on Tuesday by editor in chief Danyel Smith and Steve Aaron, former CEO of the Vibe Media Group. ‘It is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today,’ wrote Smith. ‘We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It’s a tragic week overall, but as the doors of the Vibe Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine’s 16th anniversary, it’s a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and continue to love the Vibe brand.’” Link