NBC's Nightly News repeatedly noted Huckabee's upcoming appearance on Tonight Show without reporting he crossed picket line
SUMMARY: On January 2, despite numerous references on NBC's Nightly News to Mike Huckabee's appearance later that night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, no one noted that Huckabee would be crossing a picket line in making the appearance.
On the January 2 edition of NBC's Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams, NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory, chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, and correspondent Mike Taibbi all noted that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee would appear later that night on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, without reporting that Huckabee would be crossing a picket line in making the appearance. Taibbi was the only NBC reporter to refer to "a picket line," but only later mentioned Huckabee's appearance and did not report that he would be crossing the picket line. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) began striking on November 5, 2007, over residual payments for, as the Los Angeles Times reported, "TV series and movies shown on computers and new-media devices, such as cell phones and video iPods." On January 2, The Tonight Show, among other late-night talk shows, returned to the airwaves despite the strike. Huckabee, who has garnered at least two union endorsements in the Republican primaries, had earlier expressed support for the writers, but nevertheless crossed the picket line to appear on The Tonight Show. By contrast, on January 2, the CBS Evening News noted that Huckabee would be crossing a picket line to make his appearance on the late-night program and discussed the potential fallout from his decision.
The Associated Press reported that, prior to his appearance on The Tonight Show, "Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late night shows back on the air." The AP then challenged that claim, reporting that it was "true only of David Letterman, who has a separate agreement with writers for his 'Late Show' " on CBS. From the AP:
Earlier Wednesday, Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late night shows back on the air.
"My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows, and the writers have made this agreement to let the late night shows to come back on, so I don't anticipate that it's crossing a picket line," Huckabee told reporters traveling with him Wednesday from Fort Dodge to Mason City.
In fact, that is true only of David Letterman, who has a separate agreement with writers for his "Late Show."
[...]
The former Arkansas governor faced an unfriendly reception.
A picketer outside the Burbank, Calif., studio where Leno tapes his show held a sign saying, "Huckabee is a scab." Another picketer carried a sign saying, "Huckabee, what would Jesus do?"
"I think it's just another reason not to vote for him," said Allan Katz, a veteran TV writer who was picketing.
Huckabee said he stood with the writers.
"I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely," he said. "They're dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts."
"I don't think anybody supports the producers on this one," he added. "Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers."
Huckabee has been endorsed by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the New Hampshire affiliate of the National Education Association, a teacher's union.
In response to Huckabee's appearance, the Writers Guild of America, West issued the following statement:
The Writers Guild is disappointed that Mike Huckabee crossed the WGA picket line today at NBC. We welcome the statements of support he has made for striking writers, but we ask him to respect our picket lines in the future and urge the media conglomerates to return to the bargaining table to make a fair deal that will put writers and the entertainment industry back to work.
On the CBS Evening News, correspondent Nancy Cordes reported: "Mike Huckabee enjoys far more union support than any of his Republican rivals, and yet, this afternoon, he snuck past a picket line at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, its first night back on the air, so he could appear on the show. It's a controversy he doesn't need one day before the caucuses."
Yet, on NBC's Nightly News, the controversy surrounding Huckabee's crossing the picket line to appear on The Tonight Show was never mentioned, despite the numerous references to his appearance. For instance, leading the January 2 broadcast, referring to Huckabee, Williams noted that "[o]ne leading candidate left here [Iowa] today to tape The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." While reporting on the candidates' "final pitch" in Iowa, Gregory noted that "Huckabee left the trail today for Hollywood, an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Mitchell reported that Huckabee was "taking time out to go on the Jay Leno show, The Tonight Show." Also, in his report on the late-night talk shows' return to the airwaves without their writers, Taibbi noted that "most A-list stars won't cross a picket line," but it was only after interviewing a comedy writer that Taibbi mentioned Huckabee's appearance. He never explicitly noted that Huckabee would be crossing a picket line, much less that Huckabee's actions sparked controversy.
From the January 2 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams:
WILLIAMS: Tomorrow night, it will get under way; Iowans from all 99 counties in this state will begin to gather over coffee. They will caucus, and their choices may change this nation's political path. In plain English, the political situation here in Iowa is all over the place -- and so are the candidates, for that matter. The polls show different leaders both here and nationally.
One leading candidate left here today to tape The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; yet another is on Letterman tonight. This is the all-out sprint to the finish now. The time to close the deal, fire up the rallies, get out the caucus-goers and hope for a boost leading into New Hampshire in just a few day's time.
Our NBC News political team is here with us on the ground tonight. We begin just behind us here in the convention center with NBC's David Gregory. He is covering the Republican race.
[...]
[begin video clip]
GREGORY: Barnstorming the state, the candidates are making a final pitch. The message: show up.
HUCKABEE: And if you've got friends or neighbors that won't vote for me, put all your snow in their driveway and don't let them out tomorrow night.
GREGORY: You're not running as the average Republican. You've got a slightly different appeal.
HUCKABEE: I want to help change our party. I want us to be the -- the party of small business. I want us to be party that really understands middle-class Americans and the struggle that they're going through. That's who I came from.
GREGORY: Huckabee left the trail today for Hollywood, an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
MITT ROMNEY: Frankly my focus is on the caucuses here in Iowa. I think Mike is more concerned about the caucus in Los Angeles.
GREGORY: As Mitt Romney crisscrossed the state today, NBC's Ron Allen was with him.
[end video clip]
[...]
MITCHELL: And with Huckabee taking time out to go on the Jay Leno show, The Tonight Show, Hillary Clinton took time today to tape a cameo on David Letterman's show, reaching out to voters beyond Iowa -- Brian.
WILLIAMS: All right. Andrea Mitchell, on the Democratic side of this race -- Andrea, thanks. All of this brings us right back to our Washington bureau chief, moderator of Meet the Press, Tim Russert, with us here on our set here in the convention center in Des Moines.
Tim, you've been going to several events; you've been on the ground for a few days. You've met with just about every camp in this race, today. You told me earlier two qualities stand out.
RUSSERT: Intensity and uncertainty. Intensity: Brian, the amount of money that's been spent. And you see in those pieces from David and Andrea -- the husbands are here, the wives are here, the children are here, the parents here. People are poring so much into this.
Uncertainty: I've asked every campaign, "All right, totally off the record, gut check, deep down: What's going to happen?" They put their heads down, look up, and say, "I don't have a clue."
WILLIAMS: How many ask you the same thing?
RUSSERT: They don't know. And that's what makes this so exciting.
[...]
[begin video clip]
TAIBBI: But he [Leno] now returns to the air minus his writers, as will stable mate Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel.
JOHN BOWMAN (WGA negotiating committee chairman): They were forced to go back on the air. They have to or their staffs were going to be fired.
TAIBBI: Without writers, they won't have their monologues or written skits, and most A-list stars won't cross a picket line. So what's left?
JACKIE CLARKE: If you're a writer on one of these shows --
TAIBBI: Comedy writer Jackie Clarke, who's done a lot of extemporaneous humor, says it'll be interviews and ad-libbed bits that can take even gifted comics only so far.
O'BRIEN: What the hell was that?
CLARKE: They're doing an hour a night, that's what, six hours a week? Five hours a week? I'm a woman. I do woman math.
TAIBBI: Any writing, even comedy writing, is hard labor. As one humorist put it to me some years ago, you just sit in front of a keyboard while beads of blood form on your forehead.
Now, there'll be a test of just how important writing is to late-night TV. Will Letterman generate more laughs and viewers than the rival who had this joke when the strike began.
LENO: The writers are on strike. Good night, everybody! Thank you!
TAIBBI: Or can Leno be competitive with non-show biz feature guests, like Governor Mike Huckabee?
Will Conan still be Conan? This was his return tonight with a new beard.
O'BRIEN: We have no writers and we have an hour show, a one-hour show to do every night.
From the January 2 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:
KATIE COURIC (anchor): Good evening, everyone, from the heart of America, where voters will soon have the first say in choosing the next president.
On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic contest is shaping up to be a real heart-stopper. Polls indicate any of the top three candidates could win.
There's a big surprise tonight in a new national poll: John McCain of Arizona has risen like a phoenix to the top, now edging ahead of Rudy Giuliani.
And the recent Republican front-runner here in Iowa -- Mike Huckabee -- has apparently stumbled again, tripping over his tongue as some polls now show him trailing Mitt Romney.
We have a team of correspondents deployed tonight to cover the final hours of the race here in Iowa. First, Nancy Cordes with the Huckabee campaign -- Nancy, many are saying this is another gaffe for the candidate.
CORDES: They are, Katie. Mike Huckabee enjoys far more union support than any of his Republican rivals, and yet, this afternoon, he snuck past a picket line at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, its first night back on the air, so he could appear on the show. It's a controversy he doesn't need one day before the caucuses.
[begin video clip]
CORDES: It's publicity with a price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's kind of stabbing some people in the back.
CORDES: Earlier today, Huckabee said he supported the striking writers, and mistakenly asserted that they had settled.
HUCKABEE: My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows.
CORDES: But there is no arrangement with The Tonight Show, and the flap may feed perceptions that the former Arkansas governor isn't ready for prime time, despite his strong support here in Iowa.
It's not like unions generally earn the support of republicans, nor do historically unions endorse republicans. That, and being from the South, it's not as if Huckabee has any experiences with strong unions, as down here in the South, they are generally non-existent for the most part. I'm not making excuses for the man, don't get me wrong, and it was probably pretty bad of him to cross over the picket lines and all, as that tends to not show support for the workers and of course shows more support for the corporations and all. But I think generally people only really "care" about the writer's strike because their favorite TV shows are in re-runs, I don't think they really care about the concerns, and issues that the striking writers have with their corporate masters, and that's too bad.
Mag, I couldn't agree more. Republicans could care less about unions. Huckabee pretended (surprise) that he supported the Unions.
"I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely," he said. "They're dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts."
Even when told that Letterman was the only show to reach an agreement with the Union, Huckabee STILL crossed.
"My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows, and the writers have made this agreement to let the late night shows to come back on, so I don't anticipate that it's crossing a picket line," Huckabee told reporters.
Told he was mistaken and that writers had cleared only Letterman's show, Huckabee protested: "But my understanding is there's a sort of dispensation given to the late-night shows, is that right?"
Told again that he was wrong, Huckabee murmured, "Hmmm," and, "Oh," before answering another question.
But yet he crossed the picket line anyway.
Pathetic little man.
That's all well and good that Huckabee doesn't have to look good to unions. The issue here is whether NBC should have pointed out the fact that Huckabee crossed a picket line. (Of course, Leno and O'Brien are also crossing picket lines, but I guess they're in a pretty tough spot.)
Huckabee said something about how he only did it after being reassured that scab writers weren't being used to write the show. Clearly the guy is totally unfamiliar with unions and strikes.
Huckleberry is applying the same argument that Bungle perfected - the Ray-Gun response, in fact: "I didn't know, and now I can't recall."
That is a Repugnant for you.
More than anything else, this thread highlights the total loss of independent content control at TV news outlets. Clearly, Leno is on NBC, and the news is using its time to act as a free commercial for his guests on his first night back, and the management does not want anyone to point out that everyone, including Leno, has to cross a picket line to be on. So as a result, you have people who are supposed to be ethical, independent journalists acting as network employees first and foremost.
In that context, I think that this has nothing to do with conservative leaning. If a dem were on Leno (which they would not do), NBC would also ignore the line-crossing.
Not sure about that-- they'd probably hype it as "X angered many traditionally Democratic union members by crossing a Writer's Guild picket line."
In fact, that's exactly what they would do, because the whole mission of the MSM these days is to cast doubt upon Democrats, while giving the GOP a friendly, quizzical "gee whiz" approach.
If a dem were on Leno (which they would not do), NBC would also ignore the line-crossing.
I suspect you're right. It's more about the corporate ownership of NBC. (Let's see, what business does GE have with the US gubmint? I forget.)
Regardless, Huckabee had a choice to go on Leno or not, and chose to cross a picket line.
A GOP'er crossing a picket line.
Not news, I thought it was a right of passage for guys like Reagan, Bush, and their heir apparent Huckie.
Ufleirx, you may be right. I wonder if it's a requirement for a Republican merit badge, or if they celebrate it like sailors when they cross the equator for the first time.I'm picturing a secret ceremony by candlelight where Dick Cheney is pinning the "picket wings" on the initiate's hooded robe. heh.
Only a schmuck would cross a picket line. And the line between news and "entertainment" no longer exists-- the "NBC Nightly News" is little more than a flack job for their own economic interests.
He crossed a picket line?
I can't stand Huckleberry, but good on him for this.
Whoever you are and whatever you do for a living, you owe your standard of living to those who've been standing on picket lines for the last one hundred and fifty years.
As a union man myself crossing a picket line all by itself is reason enough to me to NEVER vote for anyone who did such a thing.
as a rat myself... i never had anything against a union- until i met union people. tell me if i were to join a union, how long would it take to develop that special 'union attitude' that i find so inviting. not all of them, but most have the most negative, degradative, and downright mean attitudes that i have ever seen... and that's saying something because i grew up going to church!!!
What you just doesn't really mean anything. It's far too broad a statement.
Mean attitudes regarding what?
Meant to write, "what you just wrote makes no sense." Sheesh, I'm makin' no sense.
Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.
Nevermind.
"What you just wrote doesn't really mean anything" is what I really wanted to write.
Sorry. Saturday.
Mean attitudes regarding what?
regarding rats (like me) at the job sites. it's only based on personal experiences with union people.... i'm sure that doesn't describe solon since all his posts are of the most amiable and warm-hearted nature.
So you cross a picket line or support those who do. Basically f***ing with another man's livlihood and you wonder why you're treated like a jerk? Stop being such a cry baby, you're a tough as nails, rock ribbed Republican and you sound like a damn sissy.
I thought you were talking about a general disposition on life or something with that 'attitude' tripe you wrote. But now I see you've just had your feelings hurt by someone trying to get by and show solidarity with their fellow unionists.
I thought you were one of those sunny Repubs, but it seems like all you can do is be sick, morose and negative.
He crossed a picket line? - I can't stand Huckleberry, but good on him for this. - THE STRANGER / Friday January 4, 2008 05:52:16 AM EST
WELL... I CAN'T STAND THE STRANGER! The stranger must be a self serving rich BITCH who supports Corporate America over Working America.
The Stranger can't stand Huckabee and calls him Huckleberry because Mike Huckabee supports America's working class, middle class and small business VS. big Corporations. Plus M.H. wants to make other big changes to the Republican Party.
The Stranger is at odds with Iowa Republicans. Iowan's chose Mike Huckabee over all the corporate supporting Republicans with their millions and their big political organizations.
Congratulations to Mike Huckabee and to Barack Obama for thier victories.
And it's on the New Hampshire.
The Stranger (to sanity) sounds like he thinks another Triangle Shirt-Waist fire would be just the thing to keep those union folks in line.
No suprise that you are scum stranger. Only scum would cross a picket line or applaud those who do.
"I can't stand Huckleberry, but good on him for this."
Hehe. Oh, ahem. Excuse me, I'm just being amused at the internal divisions among Republicans today. Y'all are groping in the dark. You really have become the factioned interest groups of the sort you took so much delight in mocking in the not too distant past.
What a difference a year makes.
Repug's are no friend of the worker and thats been that way for a long time. Huckster is just doing what comes naturally to repugs.
Unions were a good idea in the days of sweatshops and child labor. They have become greedy, overbearing blowhards. Because of their unrealistic demands of wages and benefits for their due payers, they are pricing themselves out of the market. How are Toyota and Walmart doing these days? I have no problem with anyone demanding more money, and in the case of the writers, I think they have a legit gripe. But the show must go on, and Huck crossing their picket line while neither a writer or employee for NBC, is no big deal. And I agree with the above post, a Dem would've been chastised for crossing the line, only because they have overwhelming support from just about every union known to man.
Dave,
Two things:
1) Do you know why the union is striking?
2) If a Dem had crossed their picket line, I would have been FURIOUS!
Where do you think Wal-mart gets most of their products?
Are you aware of the tactics used by Wal-Mart in getting their suppliers to cut prices?
Wal-Mart forces wages down in China and other nations which supply the company with products, not to mention in this country.
And why not? If they can get the same products for a lesser price by purchasing them in non union China, why not? That's Walmart's claim to Fame and its what makes them the number one retailer in the world. They buy for less and can sell for less. Toyota just overtook Ford in US sales too. Thank the UAW for that.
While you're at it Dave, you can thank The UAW and the rest of organized labor for every advantage you have as an employee working on any job in the country.
I do give the unions credit for what they've done 50-100 years ago. In 2008, they are simply a good idea who are pricing themselves right out of a globalized market.
Globalized market?
The market in which we compete for jobs and contracts for supplies globally?
If that's what we're up against, you can take the lowest wages now paid anywhere in thew world and average them against the highest wages paid and come up with the eventual wage paid the average American worker.
We've seen the collapse of the manufacturing industries in this country and the growth of the "Service Economy".
Today's "Service Economy" jobs are now being outsourced.
Third world countries are now losing the jobs that they took from us to other third world countries willing to work for less.
The Global economy means just that. Which nation's workforce is willing to work for the least amount of income?
Dave,
How do you suggest we compete with China in the manufacturing sector?
Again, do you know why the writers are striking?
I know the main issue for them striking is that they want a bigger cut of internet and DVD sales. Once again, like every union, its more money. IMO, they have a legitimate bitch about that unless it was already negotiated in their previous contract. Going on strike is their right. Same as anybody, but if their employer wants the show to go on without them, its his right, as well. If he hires scabs, so be it.
What about competing with sweatshops in the manufacturing sector? What do you propose the U.S. does to compete here?
Oh no. The UAW is NOT to blame for Ford stupidly sticking with selling schoolbusses disguised as family cars, nor of sticking with their age old tactic of assuring their car lasts just long enough to pay it off then falling apart. Toyota in Japan is UNION. You spout the hivemind talking points about unions but its just propaganda without merit. You know why I would NEVER buy a Ford? The pinto. Ford decided to sell it as is KNOWING it would kill hundreds of its buyers even though it was workers on the line that brought the design flaw to their attention. That isnt the UAWs fault. Why do republicans who think companies should be able to do ANYTHING to increase their profits attack the one thing WORKERS can do to increase their power? OH yeah, like I said at the beggining of the post you guys never miss a chance to stand with the powerful against the weak.
The reason Dems have the support of unions is that Republicans say stupid things like unions USED to be a good idea but arent necessary now. Funny how when companies band together to increase THEIR power the Republicans cheer and when PEOPLE band together like in unions to increase THEIR power its a bad thing. Unions are participatory democracy in action. Conservatives never seem to miss a chance to stand WITH the powerful AGAINST the weak. The ONLY thing that gives workers ANY power to stand up to corporations instead of being completely at their mercy is Unionization.
"They have become greedy, overbearing blowhards." -dave
Of course you would prefer a humiliated and compliant labor force.
Greedy indeed. It takes a truck load of stones to argue on behalf of men whose salaries are inflated 400 times bigger than the average worker. As if they are 400 times more productive than any other human being.
"Unions were a good idea in the days of sweatshops and child labor" Sweatshops and child labor are still with us, just in other countries that don't allow unions, and former Rep. Tom Delay and other Republicans are big fans of those places. So believe me, without unions sweatshops and all would be back in a second.
I guess Strangy and Dave are reminiscing about the American sweatshop days. You know, before there were all those unreasonable demands for wages and benefits.
Of course I don't want to go back to sweatshops. But I believe that unions have completely put themselves out of the market by forcing the employer to pay them outrageous wages for assembly line work and huge benefits for turning a screw. As I've stated, unions were a good idea 50 years ago but their time has passed and they are simply not competitive against a non union plant who can do the same job for less.
OK, it's those Fat Cat assembly line workers and Golden Parachute screw turners that are sticking it to us.I think I'm all straightened out now. ;0)
Mr. Burns: "What's the name of this gastropod?"
Smithers: "Homer Simpson, sir. One of your seat-moisteners in sector 7-G."
They aren't sticking it to you. Their union reps are sticking it to their own union. You still get a great product, but it may not be produced by a card carrying member of the (insert favorite union name here). But I can imagine its much cheaper.
Hitting another of the hivemind propaganda talking points. That unions screw their members. We dont like our Union reps we vote them out.
The unions screwed themselves out of jobs. it takes an average of about 7 man hours more for a union assembled car vs. a non-union one, with a wage differential of almost plus $8.00/hr. This adds around $700 cost.
On top of that there is a $1500 per car legacy cost in the form of lifetime medical benefits for all retirees and their families.
$2200 in the hole to start with...nah...unions aren't killing the US auto indutry
Why does Toyota have some plants in the U.S. then? How much do you think they should be paid?
Toyota isn't unionized and its cheaper to have them built here as opposed to shipping them from Japan.
"On top of that there is a $1500 per car legacy cost in the form of lifetime medical benefits for all retirees and their families."
And that is exactly the reason you should be proud to drive a union manufactured automobile. The UAW, protecting families and raising living standards for all.
And then you're gonna try to tell me that all those executive salaries and golden parachute expenditures have no bearing on what I pay for a car? Idiot.
And what's that you say? You don't really believe in family values? Go figure. Hypocrite. The only thing you care about is your own damn money and screw the rest of 'em. Then again it's not suprising a Republican would come to that conclusion, it's the logical end to the personal responsibility argument. Instead of people helping people, conservatism pits neighbor against neighbor in bitter competition to get theirs.
p.s.
(So why not let the corporation compete against good paying union jobs for my and your labor?)
Corporate profits are SOARING and have been for decades. The SAME decades that wages have been flat. You are repeating propaganda that is just religious dogma to republicans without merit. In the 80s in America the average CEO was paid about 25 times as much as the average worker today that is more than 400 times as much. Higher wages arent the problem. The US has a lower average wage than Japan and has since the 70's. I dont see that hurting Toyota or Nissan.
Right on Solon. Screw these anti-working class nimrods. God but they make me wretch.
One big example: Saipan. As Saipan is under U.S. control, companies can still put that "Made in the USA" tag on their product, even though the companies regularly bring workers from Japan and China and force them to work for very little pay, while at the same time forcing many of the women into prostitution.
Complicity between NBC news and the huckster Mike Huckleberry Hound-dog is not surprising. While NBC News reflects its lean to the right by the order of story segments on the evening news that favor the white house, it also shamelessly forces among its family of shows the cross promotion of its news anchors. Do you really think Saturday Night Live so often wants to showcase in person or by caricature the self absorbed Brian Williams or the Hillary-hating Chris Mathews? It’s no wonder NBC would “forget” to mention Huckabee’s crossing a picket line.
You don’t have to listen closely too Huckabee to witness his snake oil salesman encroachment into our senses. Arkansas home boys may be America’s finest story tellers and slight of hand artists, and Huckabee knows it, despite his purist, evangelical claims. I suspect Huckabee’s inner self realizes his unavoidably genetic appearance similar to a rural gangster in a 1930’s B-movie. He likely also realizes his only hope for success is to exercise his fine ability to smooth-talk crowds.
Widespread unionizatiion help create the largest middle class growth this nation has ever seen. Now with the decline of unions we are again seeing a widening gap in wages and earning between the managers and the workers, so unless you are in the management class I would find this trend troublesome.
I have Countdown on and the racist Chicken n' Waffles Olbermann looks like he's about to cry because Hill came in third behind Edwards....and a..a..a..black guy!