How MSNBC's 'The Cycle' Won Me Over (Video)
March, 29, 2013 9:47 am | Comments On #Fox News, MSNBC, Television, the cycle, The FIve, videoThere are two things in life that are much more enjoyable the second time. MSNBC’s “The Cycle” is the other one. When the show debuted last June, it was loathe at first sight for me. Who were these four young hosts -- I came within a thin gray hair of calling whippersnappers -- and what gave them claim to expertise on anything? As one viewer commented on Huffington Post, when it joined the chorus of critics panning the program, “Bring back the adults to this time slot. I feel like I am watching a group of Disney musketeers talking politics.”
Now, I still have old ties to NBC that make me care deeply about its successes and failures. I worked as a correspondent and anchor for NBC in the early 80’s -- covering all the self-imploding presidential candidates, from John Glenn to Jesse Jackson – and subbed on "Today" and so...
Read MoreWhen the Media Takes a Page From the Kathryn Bigelow Playbook
February, 27, 2013 9:25 am | Comments On #Movies
“Best Picture” isn’t the only competition "Zero Dark Thirty" may lose this year. And while the Oscars were over in a mere 17 hours, the debate over the film’s central premise – that torture was the key to killing Osama bin Laden – will continue for months, if not years to come.
Unlike the historical inaccuracies of “Lincoln” which, at worst, have ruffled the feathers of states incorrectly portrayed as opposing the 13th amendment – the issue in “Zero Dark Thirty” is much more than accuracy for accuracy’s sake.
Some worry that, by crediting torture with the elimination of America’s No. 1 enemy, many Americans will be lured into supporting what we so euphemistically refer to as “enhanced interrogation” or, at...
Read MoreLawrence O'Donnell: Death by Voice Coach
February, 06, 2013 3:47 pm | Comments On #Lawrence O'Donnell, Mary Nissenson, Television, The Last WordIf Chucky Cheese is one of the worst things that can happen to an adult, a voice coach is one of the worst things that can happen to a journalist. Working with a camera and cookie cutter, they take aspiring anchors and commentators and reshape them into characters not found in nature.
I don’t have proof, but – watching “The Last Word” lately, I could have sworn one of those Svengalis had gotten his hands on Lawrence O’Donnell and created a “new & improved” version. I happen to be a great admirer of O’Donnell. But I so prefer the original to his didactic doppelganger.
When he first began subbing for Keith Olbermann on “Countdown” in 2009, I was instantly hooked on O’Donnell. He was the kind of person you so rarely see at the anchor desk: a remarkably decent, caring guy who spoke like a real human. He...
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Description
Mary Nissenson is a veteran journalist with over 100 honors, including seven Emmy Awards and a George Foster Peabody. After working as a trial lawyer and NBC Network News correspondent and anchor, she built five businesses, was named a “Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year” by INC. Magazine and was inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. A self-taught glass artisan and painter, she founded one of the first pain patient advocacy groups in America.
