Any parliamentary move to regulate newspapers would “open a Pandora’s box” which could stifle freedom of speech, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission says.

Read the rest here:
Press body keen for ‘fresh start’

PASADENA, Calif. — Picking up a series starring an apparently reformed hard-living warlock Vatican assassin without having seen a single script, much less a pilot, is not a “cynical publicity stunt” — it’s a “roll of the dice,” FX president John Landgraf insisted Sunday at Winter TV Press Tour 2012. Read full article > >

More here:
The TV Column: FX rolls dice on Sheen’s new sitcom, ‘Anger Management’

Boy, three- and-a- half hours of debates to check this weekend! The candidates were up to their usual tricks and so the list of suspect statements is long and varied. We will go through them quickly, in the order the statements were made, beginning with the ABC News/Yahoo debate on Saturday night. After that, we tackle the Meet the Press/Facebook debate from Sunday morning. As always, we may take a deeper look at some assertions later in the week, such as the strange case of the dump in Nashville. Read full article > >

See original here:
Fact checking the ABC News and ‘Meet the Press’ debates

In the past twelve hours the six men running for the Republican presidential nomination have debated not once but twice. We live-blogged both debates — the Saturday night set-to sponsored by ABC/WMUR and the “Meet the Press” debate this morning. Read full article > >

Link:
New Hampshire GOP debate(s): Winners and losers

After the first day of Winter TV Press Tour 2012, PBS released a behind-the-scenes video of the cast of “Downton Abbey,” which returns for its second season in the U.S. on Sunday: Read full article > >

View post:
‘Downton Abbey’ cast talks U.S. reaction to the series (Video)

After the first day of Winter TV Press Tour 2012, PBS released a behind-the-scenes video of the cast of “Downton Abbey,” which returns for its second season in the U.S. on Sunday: Read full article > >

Read the original:
‘Downton Abbey’ cast talks U.S. reaction to the series (Video)

A morning mix of entertainment headlines… Aretha Franklin is planning a wedding. The Queen of Soul confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday that she and William “Willie” Wilkerson got engaged over the holidays and are planning a summer wedding, possibly in Miami Beach. It will be the music icon’s third marriage. In her statement, the 69-year-old mother of four jokingly confirmed that she is not pregnant. ( Associated Press ) Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Aretha Franklin engaged; Beyonce has not given birth yet

The Reporters Who Cover Television — settling in for the long winter’s nap that starts shortly after the November sweeps and generally lasts until the start of Winter TV Press Tour in January — were rudely jolted out of their slumber and into action Thursday when actual news erupted: NBC News suits had been seen dining with Ryan Seacrest. In Los Angeles. Read full article > >

See the original post:
Spotted: Ryan Seacrest with NBC News execs: Is ‘Today’ in his future?

Carrier IQ, the company that has been accused of installing surveillance software on smartphones, clarified what its program does in an updated statement to the press late Thursday. “We measure and summarize performance of the device to assist Operators in delivering better service,” the statement read. “While a few individuals have identified that there is a great deal of information available to the Carrier IQ software inside the handset, our software does not record, store or transmit the contents of SMS messages, email, photographs, audio or video.” Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Carrier IQ clarifies its functions

In case you missed it, the Victoria’s Secret annual “Fashion” Show strutted into American homes last night. What qualified as a progressive element to this year’s CBS telecast was the number of featured models who are new mothers. Some tidbits from an unintentionally hilarious Associated Press story on mothers who joined the underwear extravaganza: Read full article > >

See the original post:
Victoria’s Secret revealed: Mothers apparently wear bras better

I am pleased to present to our readers yet another book of translations of an Iranian poet, hot off the press. The Art of Stepping Through Time, by H.E. Sayeh, is the fruit of eight years collaboration between Mojdeh Marahsi, an Iranian poet and artist, and Chad Sweeney, an American poet.

Original post:
"The Art of Stepping Through Time"

A weird but wonderful feature of Israeli democracy is that even fateful decisions about national security — like whether to carry out a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — are publicly debated and covered in the press as if they were questions about road building or water rates, complete with vote counts in the cabinet and speculation about political motives. Read full article > >

The rest is here:
For Israel, a tough call on attacking Iran

Statutory regulation of the press would “pose a real danger,” BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten tells the Society of Editors conference.

Originally posted here:
Press regulation ‘wrong-headed’

As the fourth quarter started Sunday at FedEx Field, with the Washington Redskins ’ offense and the third quarterback of the Mike Shanahan era struggling mightily, the burgundy and gold clad crowd started to boo, and one fan in earshot of the press box yelled: “We want Norv Turner back!” On the same day that the Redskins celebrated their annual “Homecoming Game,” and introduced stars of years past during the pre-game celebration, the announced crowd of 78,032 found itself left wanting again. There was nothing even close to the glory Joe Gibbs directed in his initial reign as head coach, or the mediocre results Turner oversaw. Sunday’s 19-11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers featured a performance much uglier than the score indicated. Read full article > >

See the original post:
Redskins vs. 49ers: Offense struggles again as Washington loses, 19-11

THE WOODLANDS, Tex. — Herman Cain had survived 90 minutes of debating Newt Gingrich here , and seven minutes fielding softballs from the press afterwards, without anybody uttering the words “sexual harassment.” He might have concluded that his tumultuous week finally was over. But then he was asked at a post-debate news conference about the complaints of sexual harassment filed by two former subordinates at the National Restaurant Association. Before this Washington Post reporter could state his question, Cain cut him off. Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Herman Cain, asked about harassment charges: ‘Don’t even go there’