TWITTER DISTRACTION The worst mix-up in the history of the Academy Awards resulted from a disastrous collision of Hollywood, social media, and a distracted accounting firm. In his fourth year of handling envelopes for ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets not forget that a suspect is a specific person who police have named, arrested, charged, or in some way implicated in a ...
TROPHIES FOR CASH The New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which last week announced 597 nominees for this years Emmy? awards, is a tax exempt organization. The group ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Electrocuted" means killed with electricity. So Mrs. B points you to this mistake in a recent edition of the Washington Post: Even apathetic ...
TOO BIG TO FAIL? The future is against morning television. "The audience has been in decline for 30 years, and theres no reason to think that slide is going to stop," writes Sarah Ellison ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets look a few nonwords today to be sure theyre not popping up in your scripts or in your ad libs. Do you ...
HOT OR NOT Color us amused by all of the media attention given to BuzzFeeds "50 Hottest News Anchors in the World." The Philadelphia Inquirer headlined: "Philly has five of the hottest TV news ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B does appreciate tips from her readers. A long-time news manager in California offers these: When it comes to remembering the difference ...
INSIDE INFORMATION A veteran Seattle police officer, who was arrested last year for illegal drug possession after an undercover investigation into prostitution tied him to a strip-club dancer, is expected to plead guilty to ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Youre" is a contraction for "you are." For example: ~It looks as if youre (you are) not able to complete the project in ...
REMEMBERING THE FOX ATTACK We know that President Trump hates the mainstream media. This is not news. Since taking office, he has been single-minded in his efforts to undermine news outlets that dont agree ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." If you arent sure about the difference between the verbs founder and flounder, this lesson is for you. To founder means to fill ...
ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE President Donald Trump, who has a colorful history of criticizing news coverage and sparring with reporters who question him, stepped it up a notch with a bizarre and disjointed news ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Today is Presidents Day, the third Monday in February. Please note where the apostrophe comes: after the "s." Its a day to honor ...
STRESS CONFERENCE President Trump, smarting from criticism of his month-old presidency, returned fire at the news media Thursday afternoon in a hastily staged free-for-all White House news conference. "I turn on the TV, open ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs news manager pals in New York writes: I send out emails about legislator vs. legislature once a week. A ...
EXILED IN VENEZUELA The Venezuelan government Wednesday ordered cable systems to take CNN en Espa?ol off the air, days after CNN aired an investigation into the fraudulent issuing of Venezuelan passports and visas. Foreign ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of the most frequently misused words is dilemma. A dilemma is a choice between two undesirable options. Heres a fine example in ...
UP AND OUT Deborah Turness was promoted (wink, wink) yesterday from president of NBC News to president of NBC News International, a new position created just for her. She will oversee a new partnership, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The roots of the National Weather Service go all the way back to February of 1870. It was called the Weather Bureau at ...
REDEFINING EVENING NEWS In an unprecedented "joint interview," Variety somehow persuaded the three major network news anchors to pose together in front of the Empire State Building and answer questions about the future of ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The formal name is St. Valentines Day, but Valentines Day works fine. Valentine Day and Valentines Day dont. You need the possessive form, ...
UNANCHORED IN ROANOKE Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend, reporter Alison Parker, was killed during an on-air shooting in 2015, announced last month that he would leave the main anchor desk at WDBJ-7-CBS in Roanoke (Market ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An incident is an event. Its plural is incidents. Incidence, on the other hand, means rate of occurrence. For example: ~The incidence of ...
PASSING THE TORCH Bob Costas, the voice of NBCs primetime Olympics coverage since 1992, is "passing the torch" to Mike Tirico starting at next years Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Costas made the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Today lets look at three words that sound exactly alike and mean nothing alike: peeked, peaked, and piqued. The verb "peek" means to ...
MORNING SURGERY "CBS This Morning" co-anchor Charlie Rose will undergo heart surgery today in New York, forcing him to take a break from the show for at least a month to recuperate. Rose, 75, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." IRS, the abbreviation for Internal Revenue Service, is an initialism. Initialisms cant be pronounced as words. Other initialisms are: FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ...
SPORTS DEMENTIA Mike Adamle, 67, a former NFL running back who went on to a long career as a Chicago and national sports anchor and reporter, says he has football-related dementia. Adamle acknowledged memory ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Oops. The New York Times did a "podium" when it meant a "lectern": On ?S.N.L,? as she lifts up her podium to attack ...
MEDIA AS BOGEYMAN President Trump continued his assault on mainstream media yesterday, tweeting that any poll showing his controversial immigration ban is unpopular is "fake news." "Any negative polls are fake news, just like ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Remembering the difference between "affect" and "effect" may be one of the most challenging grammar issues Mrs. B has encountered. In most cases, ...
MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING Ten minutes of Bill OReillys 40-minute taped interview with President Trump aired Sunday at 4 p.m. during Foxs pre-Super Bowl blather. Fresh parts of the sit-down will air on Monday ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Hone" means to sharpen. For example: ~My previous attempt hadnt produced a book, but it had honed my technique. "Home in on" means ...
HOMOGENIZED NEWS Why do local news anchors all seem to look pretty much alike? "At local stations, image coaches want you to believe the person on the screen is authentic, whatever you interpret that ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The Surly Editor? might say the weather-guessing this morning was as reliable as any. If it was cloudy when the groundhog came out ...
FROM ZERO TO SIXTY Oprah Winfrey, who parlayed a Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant win into a reporter job in Nashville and now owns her own television media empire, has joined CBSs "60 Minutes" ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes if youre not clear on whether to use a singular verb or a plural one with "neither…nor" and "either…or," that ...
REALITY CHECK Ben Swann, the "Emmy? award-winning" evening anchor at Merediths last-place WGCL-46-CBS in Atlanta (Market #9), returned to the anchor desk Monday after an unexplained 10-day hiatus. Well, he didnt really "return to ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets review some plurals you might be using soon. The plural of attorney general is "attorneys general." For example: ~More than a dozen ...
SHAKEUP AT TODAY NBC is canceling the third hour of "Today" to make way for Megyn Kelly, who will join NBC in May and will debut on air in September. Beyond that, little has ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A Baltimore newsie begins todays lesson on confusing libel and liable. I heard a local anchor say, "The man may be held libel ...
TRUTHER OR FALSE? Ben Swann, the "Emmy? award-winning" primary evening anchor at Merediths last-place WGCL-46-CBS in Atlanta (Market #9), did not report for work Thursday and management has refused to comment on his head-scratching ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Rise, rose, have risen. Those are the principal parts of the verb "rise." So Mrs. B wonders what in the world the writer ...
SKEPTICS NOT SYCOPHANTS President Barack Obama began his final press conference Wednesday by stressing the importance of a free and adversarial press corps. "Youre not supposed to be sycophants. Youre supposed to be skeptics," ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." With five syllables, thats how Mrs. B hopes youll pronounce inauguration: i-naw-gyur-A-shun (not i-naw-ger-A-shun) And pronounce inaugural with four syllables: i-NAW-gyur-ul (not i-NAW-ger-ul) ...
BIGGEST IN THE NATION At the close of business Tuesday, Media General was officially folded into the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, creating a new 171-station ownership group known as Nexstar Media Group…the largest in the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Unspoken" and "unspeakable" have very different meanings. Mrs. B wants to be sure you know the difference between the two words. "Unspoken" means ...
VIEWERS HELD HOSTAGE Atlanta-based Gray Television, which owns and/or operates 77 television stations in 44 markets, says it will pull its signals from Dish Network at 7 p.m. today if the satellite company doesnt ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Enormity" sounds like something great big. But thats not what it is. "Enormity" means a monstrous evil, something that passes all moral bounds. ...
TRANSITION ANXIETY The White House Correspondents Association held its annual town hall for members last Thursday. Normally a few dozen reporters show up. This year, more than a hundred jammed the room to overflow. ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes youll remember that "the" precedes "Rev.," which is a title that is followed by a name: the Rev. Dr. Martin ...
DIVIDE AND CONQUER Well, that sure escalated quickly. "That" was Donald J. Trumps inaugural news conference as a duly elected United States president-to-be, in which he called BuzzFeed a "failing pile of garbage," dismissed ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An "allusion" is an indirect mention of something, as in: ~In her novel, the author made an allusion to her own childhood. (The ...
MEDIA AT A CROSSROAD Donald Trumps first press conference as president-elect devolved into a shouting match with CNNs Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. The exchange began when Trump called BuzzFeed a "failing pile ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Accept" is a verb that means to receive. ~The producer said she wouldnt accept the late package. "Except" is usually a preposition that ...
PRIME-TIME TRUMPERY "The Megyn Kelly story is about best laid plans going awry?ironically awry," writes Michael Wolff in the current issue of Newsweek. "She bargained to be the biggest voice of the dominant news ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When youre talking about vehicles, "craft" is both singular and plural. ~Unmanned aircraft were popular gifts for Christmas. ~The city prohibits parking watercraft ...
CORROSIVE FAME Tucker Carlson replaced Megyn Kelly at 9 p.m. Monday on Fox News Channel and used his first show to interview Glenn Beck, the former Fox News host who left the network in ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Ravaging" and "ravishing" sound alike, but they sure dont mean the same thing. To ravage usually means to destroy or devastate. ~A three-alarm ...
PERFECT DISMOUNT With tears in her eyes, Megyn Kelly performed the perfect dismount from Fox News Friday evening. "A final word before we go," she said, using the NASCAR plural pronoun. "Night after night, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An ordinance is a law. For example: ~Its against city ordinance for us to park the news vehicle here. Ordnance is military weapons ...
CONSERVATIVELY YOURS Tucker Carlson, a much-traveled political talking head, has been promoted at Fox News to replace Megyn Kelly at 9 p.m. News of the promotion, which broke first on The Drudge Report, took ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." We trip up on every day and everyday because we get careless. If you stop to think about it, you wont confuse the ...
KELLY vs KELLY Megyn Kellys new daytime show on NBC is expected to replace the 9 a.m. hour on "Today," according to B&Cs Paige Albiniak, putting her head-to-head with Kelly Ripas "Live!" on ABC. ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Pundit is one of those words we get from India, like bungalow and thug. It comes from "pandit," meaning scholar or wise teacher. ...
RISKY BUSINESS Megyn Kellys last day at Fox News will be Friday. She is joining NBC News in a bold, risky move that has the media world abuzz. Sometime later this year (no one ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A Charleston promotions producer writes: One of my pet peeves is seeing "suppose to" instead of supposed to, as in: The officer said ...
SNIDE ASSUMPTIONS Sounding more like a Republican politician than a cable news host, MSNBCs Joe Scarborough yesterday pushed back hard against media criticism of his cozy relationship with President-elect Donald Trump and says hes ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets spend our time together today looking at some words that sound alike but have different meanings. Apprise means to inform. For example: ...
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ABCs "Dick Clarks New Years Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest," featuring a head-scratching performance by Mariah Carey, towered over the New Years Eve competition, but still slipped significantly from ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "Myself" is one of those words that pop up a lot in conversation. Most of the time we use it incorrectly. We get ...
AFFILIATION SWAP The biggest shakeup of the Boston television market in two decades comes to a head Saturday at midnight, when Sunbeams WHDH-7-NBC loses its network affiliation to the new network-owned upstart NBC Boston, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Tomorrow is New Years Eve. The apostrophe goes before the "s" because the day belongs to only one year. Since you may be ...
DOCU-SERIES LAWSUIT Burke Ramsey, the older brother of JonBen?t Ramsey, has filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit against CBS, the producers of "The Case of: JonBen?t Ramsey," and the experts who appeared in the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Poor little "me" is so misunderstood. Dont be afraid to use it. You wont sound less educated if you use "me" where it ...
DEAL STRUCK DUI charges are expected to be dropped against Tyisha Fernandes, a general assignment reporter for the past two years at Cox Media mothership WSB-2-ABC in Atlanta (Market #10). Fernandes was stopped at ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Its a little thing, but if you correct it, youll sound more professional. Mrs. B has been seeing and hearing "try and." The ...
NEXSTAR ON ICE On January 27, 2016, Media General announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group in a deal valued at $4.6 billion plus the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before Christmas, Mrs. B invited her readers to send in words for the last installment of the series on mispronunciations. And here they ...
TILTED TOWARD TRUMP In the wake of Sinclair Broadcast Groups insistence earlier this week that it struck no deal with Donald Trump to provide unquestioning coverage of his campaign in exchange for remarkable access ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B wishes you a good weekend with these reminders: Hanukkah (thats the most common spelling) begins at sundown on Saturday, December 24. ...
PROPAGANDA WARS In yesterdays story about former MSNBC host Ed Schultz becoming the lead news anchor for RT America, the multimedia organization funded by the Russian government, we noted that RT America has broad ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The Oxford English Dictionary shows the first known English use of Xmas in 1551. But if youve used Xmas as an abbreviation for ...
UNDER THE RADAR MSNBCs "The 11th Hour With Brian Williams" is quietly plugging along each night as most of America sleeps, long after Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews have headed home for the evening. ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before we get started on todays seasonal lesson, Mrs. B is amused that Merriam-Webster has chosen "surreal" as its word of the year–the ...
SINCLAIR PUSHBACK Sinclair Broadcast Group yesterday pushed back against reports that it struck a deal with Donald Trump to provide unquestioning coverage of his campaign in exchange for remarkable access to the candidate. "We ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before we get to todays list of mispronunciations, submitted by readers, Mrs. B reminds you that winter officially begins tomorrow morning, Dec. 21, ...
SWEETHEART COVERAGE In an effort to secure better coverage during the presidential campaign, Donald Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, struck a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nations largest owner of local television stations. The ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes youll pay close attention to your pronunciation of these words. mastectomy: muh-STEK-tuh-mee, not muh-SEK-tuh-mee (Dont leave out the first "t.") ...
MISUNDERSTANDING, PART 2 Atlanta General Manager Mark Pimental was mistaken. Amanda Daviss driving license was, indeed, suspended. "It was a misunderstanding on my part," Davis admitted. She was stopped by police on Tuesday for ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B continues the series on some of the most common mispronunciations. jewelry: JEW-el-ry, not JEW-el-er-y (It has just three syllables not four.) ...
SUSPENDED MISUNDERSTANDING Charges of driving with a suspended license are expected to be dropped at a hearing later this month against Amanda Davis, who is scheduled to debut January 2 as the new morning ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets get started on another list of often-mispronounced words. dilate: DIE-LATE, not DIE-uh-LATE (Its a two-syllable word.) drowned: DROWND, not DROWNDED (Its a ...
JAILED AGAIN Cops in suburban Atlanta stopped a blue Mercedes with expired tags yesterday afternoon near the Cumberland Mall and arrested the driver for having a suspended license. The driver was Amanda Davis, the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B wants to spend her time with you for the next few days on mispronunciations she wants you not to make. The ...
HARD TIME AHEAD Former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, 59, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison, one of the longest terms of incarceration ever imposed on a member of Congress for federal corruption ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Dont you hate it when you use the wrong word or expression and dont realize it until you see it in print later? ...
