According to story that will come out in New York magazine tomorrow, Katie Couric threw a hissy, slapping fit about the word "sputum". She doesn't like it apparently, and threw the tantrum when an editor inserted the word in a story about tuberculosis. They said she began slapping him furiously on his arm.

Sounds like a Monty Python skit. Anyway, if you happen to stumble across her, just say "sputum!" and see what happens............

-Richard

Uh, no thanks. I don't want any of her sputum coming my way when she goes ballistic ...

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The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

If it will come out in New York mag tomorrow, how did you find out about it?

I'm not doubting--just asking.

I've never liked Couric. She's too damn perky for me.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Pythonesque, indeed. Maybe she thought it meant something else.

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

I used to work in news and here's the deal:

Almost EVERY anchor (male and female) throws hissy fits.

Their egos are what gets them their jobs; not journalistic talent... that went out of the 'news business' long ago.

(been around too many of 'em....)

Heh.. I first read the thread title as "Katie 'Scutum' Couric." Silly to hope it was a positive, astronomy related story.... anyway...

I don't get it, though. So you don't like a word - why would you throw a fit? The whole thing sounds ridiculous!

CJSF

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Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

This is the first I've heard of this, but my guess would be that it showed up on her teleprompter and she tripped over it on-air. I can see how that would make her mad, because it might have made her look stupid.

It's also possible that this whole story is just a made up hit piece. She seems to be a popular target right now.

Yeah, I mean I was thinking maybe she tripped over it and was maybe part embarrassed and smacked the editor or whomever kind of in mock anger like "what do you think you're doing, putting in a word like that!" But if she really and honestly got that upset, she needs some valium or a vacation.

CJSF

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Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

What's a Sputum?

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There is no dark side of the moon really, as a matter of fact it's all dark - Pink Floyd, The Dark Side Of The Moon

"Journalistic"..."Talent"...




I recognize the words, but why did you put them next to each other?...

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

damn you, you beat me to it

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There is no dark side of the moon really, as a matter of fact it's all dark - Pink Floyd, The Dark Side Of The Moon

And here it is:

Katie Couric Learns What Happens When Great Expectations Go Unmet -- New York Magazine

How did I find out? I'm in the grapevine.

Seriously, they leak this stuff all over the place to build hype, and the targets of these stories can even start damage control early to try to minimize impact. I happened to read it from an political e-mail "newsflash" thing I subscribe to.

-Richard

Pfft. This is what happens when the people who read the news become more important than the events they're reporting. Chalk it up to our Celebrity Culture. Anyone who is functionally literate can do the job, but they had to pay extra for a "name".

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Les Moonves got pimpslapped with the reality that evening news people actually want real information, not fluff. Couric is all fluff.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I wrote this last year in the "Here Comes Katie ..." thread:
I think I'm going to have to subject myself to the whole half-hour of her show to see if she's improved any. Unless I start coughing up sputum and phlegm and hairballs, that is. (Yum!)

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

Why is it that every time I read about Les Moonves, this guy comes to mind?

From the great Turkey Drop episode:

"It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. It's flying something behind it, I can't quite make it out, it's a large banner and it says, uh - Happy... Thaaaaanksss... giving! ... From ... W ... K ... R... P!! No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this!"

As God as his witness, he thought she could broadcast.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I believe it's the Russian term for satellite.

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PW -- Plant Whisperer

Interesting... I know what sputum is but I have no idea what a Katie Couric is...<quickly Googles>... Oh, she's one of those. You'd think someone married to a colon cancer victim would be a little less sensitive.

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This is not an idea to be tossed aside lightly - it should be thrown with great force

Nah, she's one of those metrofeminine types that suffers from an overactive "ick factor" gene.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I don't know, did it have all that much to do with it even long ago? "Yellow journalism" and "muckraking" are both old terms.

And I guess ego has something to do with it, but it can't be all of it. Lots of people have big egos. A nice face, good voice, composure are all important. Kind of like what makes a good president in the TV age.

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As above, so below

In the U.S., it did seem for a brief time that TV news reporters (if not the news business in general) at least seemed like they were trying for journalistic integrity and/or objectivity. Those days are long past.

As for appearance, newsreaders used to be chosen for their percieved journalistic cred, their avuncular and trustworty-looking appearance (trustyness?) and deep voices. Now they're talking heads chosen in the same way as any TV celebrity commodity. Just a shift in priorities, no deeper thatn before

No, no, a thousand times no. That's what makes an electable president. What makes a good president has never changed-- good leadership, period.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

You know, I had forgotten about it, but do you all remember Katie's Photoshop diet:

National Ledger - Katie Couric Photoshop Diet

Some of the PR people at CBS pulled that little stunt.

-Richard

You could've at least told us it was on the bottom of page seven.

To join the cholus, who's Katie Colic?

The female star of some new sputum-up?

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Still a few out there, you just have to avoid the main broadcasts and get into the special reports. The talking heads are typically pretty useless, but the field reporters have some shred of the old school within them.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

And to think, I was out drinking that night

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PW -- Plant Whisperer

Anyone else wonder what Edward R. Murrow's grave RPMs are up to these days?

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

That would spoil the tease, and you wouldn't have read the whole thing. Which is why they do that. Just do like I do, and read backwards.

That's also generally where they put the caveats and yeah-buts. You may see a sensational sounding headline, and an equally sensational first paragraph, while the last paragraphs will tone down the hype with the reality.

-Richard

Not sure, but I suspect it would either demonstrate the existence of objects that can move faster than light, or could be the source of unlimited energy.

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