Don Irvine

HuffPo Blogonomics

It was just a week ago when AOL stunned the media world by announcing a deal to purchase the left leaning website The Huffington Post for $315 million. Since that time, many of the unpaid bloggers have risen up in protest complaining that Arianna Huffington will profit from their work and that they deserve a share of the sale price.

Gibbs’ Greatest Misses

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is leaving his post this week to work on Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

The Left Rises Up Against HuffPo

It didn’t take long for the left to react to the $315 million AOL-Huffington Post merger that was announced on Monday. And the reaction was mostly negative.

Andrea Mitchell: “Republicans Trying to Appropriate Reagan”

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell raised the ire of former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan on Meet the Press when she said that Republicans were “trying to appropriate Ronald Reagan for their own political purposes now.” during a discussion of his legacy. Noonan was quick to fire back at Mitchell, telling her that “Republicans are not, I think, trying to appropriate Ronald Reagan – Ronald Reagan was a Republican. Conservatives aren’t trying to appropriate him – he was a conservative.” Mitchell then backtracked by saying that she was referring to “some of candidates and the Sarah Palin quotes-one wing of the party” that she feels are constantly invoking Reagan’s name.

Newsweek Cuts Web Ties with MSNBC

In a rather surprising move Newsweek.com has severed its web traffic ties with MSNBC.

Fox Top Cable News Network for 9th Straight Year, Beck Falters

January marked the 9th anniversary for Fox News as the number one rated cable news network; but it came along with some sobering news about overall audience declines. Fox, which overtook CNN in January 2002, saw its overall audience drop 21 percent from January 2010, and an even larger 31 percent loss in the key A25-54 demographic from a year ago. Keep in mind that last January cable news saw a large boost due to the earthquake in Haiti, but Fox still had trouble hanging on to those viewers nevertheless.

White House Shuts the Press Out on Egypt, START

The White House press corps complained on Wednesday that they have been given very little information and access on the crisis in Egypt from the administration. In a letter from the White House Correspondents Association to Robert Gibbs they said that the administration hasn’t been very forthcoming recently on this issue:

Matthews Compares Tea Party to Muslim Brotherhood, Calls Them War-Hooping Nut Bags

In a discussion with Republican strategist John Feehery and Democratic consultant Mark Penn about the Tea Party’s potential challenge to senators who don’t fit their mold Matthews once again took the opportunity to go after the Tea Party and Michele Bachmann.

Poll: Just 9% Think WikiLeaks Is A Good Thing

CNN Issues Retraction on Manning Story

CNN has issued a retraction for a story questioning the treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning who has been charged with leaking classified information to WikiLeaks at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia

CNN’s Conservative Bias

Third place cable news network CNN which has been struggling to find a niche between the conservative Fox News and liberal MSNBC will be the only network carrying the alternate Republican response tonight from Michele Bachmann.

Olbermann Goes Down for the Count

In a move that caught almost everybody by surprise Keith Olbermann announced last night that that would be his last show on MSNBC. Olbermann one of MSNBC’s unabashed liberals was suspended back in November for violating the network’s ethics policy after it was revealed he had made political contributions to three Democrats seeking federal office.

GLAAD Wants CNN to Stay Away From “Anti-Gay Industry”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is urging its supporters to sign an online petition to CNN to keep away from what it refers to as the “anti gay industry”.

NPR Accused of Capitulating to Conservatives

Insiders at NPR and at other public radio stations are upset with the resignation of NPR senior vice-president Ellen Weiss for her role in the firing of commentator Juan Williams last year.

Black Conservative Criticizes Fox News for Their Lack of Black Conservatives

Apostle Claver who runs the website RagingElephants called out Fox News yesterday during an interview with me for featuring more buxom blondes and liberal blacks than black conservatives on its shows and said that the network isn’t helping the cause.

Internet Now Top News Source for Under 30 Crowd

We knew it was bound to happen sooner or later and in the latest Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey, conducted Dec. 1-5 with 1500 people reveals for the first time ever that a majority of those 18-29 years old now get their news primarily from the internet.

CNN Tops Cable Channels in Lost Viewers

CNN’s poor ratings in 2010 when they finished behind MSNBC in the A25-54 prime time demographic for the second year in a row in 2010 and total viewers for the first time ever can be easily explained by the latest release of cable viewership loss numbers for the past year.

Matthews: ‘Democrats Don’t Want to Stop Illegal Immigration’

Dyed-in-the-wool liberal Chris Matthews who thinks the Republicans are BS’ing the country about deporting illegals a plan he says will never happen is also skeptical that Democrats really want to address the problem.

NPR’s Totenberg Apologizes for Christmas

National Public Radio which came under fire in October for firing commentator Juan Williams has stepped into it again with reporter Nina Totenberg's apology for having to use the word Christmas. From Newsbusters

Matthews Thrilled That Obama Looks Happy

Chris Matthews is feeling upbeat about Obama again. From Mediaite You have to admire one thing about Chris Matthews, when he’s got a feeling he just can’t fight it and wants to share it with everyone. Despite the criticism he received for infamously feeling a “thrill going up [his] leg” during a speech by President Obama and Matthews thinking he needed to defend that statement, he is at again, confessing that deep down he really, really likes so many characteristics of Obama.