PERMANENTLY DAMAGED A decision on the future of Brian Williams at NBC News could come soon, according to The Washington Post. Although Williamss six-month suspension officially extends into August, the network is under pressure ...
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) ...
STEPPING DOWN Less than a year after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, Dave Benton, the morning news anchor at Nexstars WCIA-3-CBS in Champaign, IL (Market #85), announced last September that the tumor ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B appreciates this reminder from a Tampa anchor: Theres a difference between "suffer" and "sustain." A building cannot "suffer" damage. Only people ...
BLUSTERY BEACON Dale Hansen, the primary sports anchor for more than three decades at Gannetts WFAA-8-ABC in Dallas (Market #5), is profiled in ESPNs "Grantland" as a "blustering, vainglorious, near-mythic figure in Dallas sportscasting." ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A letter from a former producer in Omaha brings up a subject Mrs. B wants to review with you: A local station recently ...
BANNED IN BOSTON The judge presiding over the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez yesterday banned Robert Cusanelli, a news photog for WHDH-7-NBC in Boston (Market #7), from the courthouse for the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs anchor friends in Chicago writes: Is "persons" correct when used with a specific number? For example: Two million persons ...
OLD SCHOOL Bob Schieffer, a reporter and anchor for 46 years with CBS News, will retire from the network sometime this summer. He made the announcement during the annual "Schieffer Symposium" at Texas Christian ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B appreciates this headline for its correct use of further: Report On ?Rolling Stone? Rape Story Further Roils A Troubled Campus (kpbs.org, ...
WRONGFUL BLAME GAME A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Jeff Woods, the weekend sports anchor and reporter at Gannetts WHAS-11-ABC in Louisville (Market #49) who pleaded not guilty last month to leaving ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Youve probably been using the words aide and aides in your writing. Mrs. B wants to be sure youre spelling them correctly, the ...
DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION Two months after Brian Williamss suspension from NBC News, Vanity Fair has published an in-depth investigation into the networks handling of the scandal and the problems that have plagued NBCUniversal since its ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The challenge with modifiers is knowing where to put them. A misplaced modifier can change, dramatically, the meaning of a sentence. Take a ...
DARK DAYS AHEAD Storm clouds are gathering over The Weather Channel. The network is facing a major threat to its core business…the fees it collects from pay-TV providers that carry its channel. As more ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of our Minnesota newsies asks Mrs. B how to form the possessive case of names that end in "s." Add an apostrophe ...
SHORT MEMORY The Weather Channel has bought a full-page ad in The Washington Post touting its storm coverage and lampooning competitor Accuweather. "On the evening of March 25? The first tornadoes of the season ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Passover and Good Friday fall on the same day this year, and Easter Sunday and the second full day of Passover are also ...
MOCKING CAMPAIGN The Weather Channel is running TV, radio, and print ads in 13 markets, including Boston, DC, Norfolk, and Dallas, that focus on the disparity in the coverage of tornadoes that struck Oklahoma ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Former and formal dont sound that much alike, but their -ly versions do. Mrs. B wants to be sure you know the difference. ...
BLACK IS BACK Gloria Neal, a reporter and anchor for the past seven years at CBSs last-place KCNC-4 in Denver (Market #17), starts June 1 as the new morning co-anchor at Merediths last-place WGCL-46-CBS ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes that youll write April Fools Day correctly. "Fools" is the plural of "fool." And in this case its possessive, so ...
ADVERTISER COMPLAINTS Some advertisers on NBCs "Nightly News" have told the network to stop running their commercials on overnight replays in Cleveland, St. Louis, Portland, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, Charlotte, Buffalo, and Knoxville. NBC ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets look at three words that you might be misusing. To censure is to express official disapproval. For example: Nuns are protesting a ...
SELFIE-OBSESSED Tourists, and at least one journalist, posted online selfies of themselves in front of the smoldering remains of a deadly inferno last week in New Yorks East Village, leading the New York Post ...
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 ...
LUCKY GUY Less than a year ago, the broadcasting career of Gregg Jarrett, the Fox News weekend anchor, appeared to be over. He had been arrested in May for disorderly conduct after making a ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs news director friends suggested she do a lesson on the correct use of infamous. Infamous means disreputable or notorious, ...
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Kirk Clyatts wild career ride continues. The high-strung former Philadelphia (WPHL-17-MyTV) and Baltimore (WBFF-45-Fox) weather guesser, who was fired from crappy little WHSV-3-ABC in Harrisonburg, VA (Market #178) in 2010, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs friends, a professional proofreader in Minnesota, caught a mistake on a CNN caption that led to todays lesson on ...
UNSPEEDY RECOVERY Yesterdays report that "60 Minutes" correspondent Lara Logan had been hospitalized in DC for the second time in a month raised plenty of eyebrows. Details of her admittance were oddly ambiguous and ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An Atlanta publicist and freelance magazine writer, with roots in TV news, rants about pronouns: Mrs. B: The other day a colleague wrote ...
PENISES NOT ALLOWED The ever-alert FCC has slapped Schurz-owned WDBJ-7-CBS in Roanoke (Market #67) with a $325,000 fine for a story it aired in July 2012 about an "ex-porn star who had joined a ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A Birmingham Fox station gets a pat on the back for using the correct word in this headline: Mourners leave mementos at makeshift ...
SUDDEN DEATH Lisa Colagrossi, a veteran reporter for the past 14 years at WABC-7 in New York, died Friday after suffering a catastrophic brain aneurysm while out on assignment. The 49-year-old mother of two ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A DC-based publication mixed up "lightening" and lightning: The bank has become a lightening rod among conservatives, with Tea Party groups like Heritage ...
ARISE AND FALL Arise News, a 24-hour international TV news operation with offices in London, New York, DC, Johannesburg, and Lagos, launched in February 2013 with the lofty goal of providing "a strong African ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Tomorrow will be the first full day of spring. The spring equinox will happen at 6:45 this evening, EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). That?s ...
PADDING THE NUMBERS Beginning in early February, just days before Brian Williams was suspended, NBC quietly began airing replays of the "Nightly News" in early morning hours. The replays are now being seen in ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before we get started on todays lesson, Mrs. B hopes youll practice saying the name of the South Pacific island nation hit by ...
BLAME THE GERMANS If the latest ratings numbers are to be believed, David Muirs "ABC No World News Tonight" came within 11,000 total viewers of NBCs "Nightly News" last week and beat Lester Holt ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Sometimes finding the subject of a sentence takes some digging. When you come to a prepositional phrase, throw it out and see whats ...
NINETY-DAY MYSTERY Three months ago today, an unknown gunman shot Patrick Crawford, the morning meteorologist at KCEN-6-NBC in Temple, TX (Market #87), outside the TV station. The assailant opened fire with an automatic handgun, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. And today, St. Patricks Day, honors him. Mrs. B wants you to notice the apostrophe that ...
WHISTLING DIXIE Several black employees got their knickers in a knot last week when a white photographer was heard whistling "Dixie" in the newsroom at Raycoms WBTV-3-CBS in Charlotte (Market #24). The folk tune, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The Surly Editor recently used a primordial form of communication to ask Mrs. B for help in word choice: "Yo, Mrs. B, whats ...
DELAYED REACTION We can all now agree: Theres a new sheriff in town at NBC News. Yesterday, Dr. Nancy Snyderman resigned as the networks chief medical editor. It was nearly six months in coming. ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An out-of-work meteorologist, as he identifies himself, writes to Mrs. B: I have heard many distinct pronunciations for Boca Raton, Florida, in the ...
PREMATURE DEATH Former NewsBlues Looker Nefertiti Jaquez, an "Emmy-nominated journalist" for the past two years at NBC-owned WCAU-10-NBC in Philadelphia (Market #4), was first to report last Thursday that police officer Robert Wilson had ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Something that causes intense sadness, anguish, or deep distress can be described as gut-wrenching or heartrending. So Mrs. B was surprised that a ...
COMFORTABLE LESTER Conventional TV wisdom has long held that "People dont watch the news; they watch the people who deliver it." NBCs "Nightly News" may be disproving that notion. One month after Brian Williams ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B invites you to join her for a lesson on three "e"-words that sound alike but certainly dont mean the same thing. ...
LOUDER, BIGGER, BRIGHTER Ed Ansin, the owner of Sunbeams WSVN-7-Fox in Miami (Market #16), says he spent $500,000 on renovations to overhaul the newsroom and studios at the 20-year-old station. "Its important nowadays to ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets look at the difference between convince and persuade. Its subtle, so please concentrate. You convince someone "of" something. For example: ~She convinced ...
PEACOCK CULTURE What started as a phone call last month about Brian Williams ended Friday with Andrew Lack being appointed chairman of NBC News and MSNBC. He will replace Pat Fili-Krushel in April. Lack, ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B is in a tiz today about troopers and troupers. She keeps seeing one when she should see the other. Troopers are ...
NO REPRIEVE Citing unnamed executives within NBC, the New York Daily News reports that Andrew Lack is unlikely to give Brian Williams a reprieve from his six-month suspension when Lack replaces Pat-Fili Krushel as ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Remember "spring forward"? Its that time again. DST, daylight saving time, returns Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m. So does daylight-saving time. The ...
BUSINESS OF CHANGE Veteran anchor Jonathan Elias, the face of CBS-owned WBZ-4 in Boston (Market #7) for the past eight years, is leaving the station in June for the primary anchor seat at Sinclairs ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." This Washington Post sentence reminded Mrs. B of a lesson she thinks is important: Underwoods plan for the Middle East centers around the ...
REESTABLISHING ORDER NBC News may be opening the door for the return of Brian Williams. The network is in "advanced talks" with Andrew Lack, the former president of NBC News (1993-2001) and a former ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Today is National Grammar Day, established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. Mrs. B ...
HOOTERS HIT AND RUN Put a fork in Vince DeMentri. Hes done. He was fired yesterday as the primary anchor at Sinclairs WICS-20-ABC and WICD-15-ABC in Springfield/Champaign, IL (Market #85), a job he has ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Not too long ago, Mrs. B had a lesson on the verb "shrink" and its principal parts: shrink, shrank, have shrunk. The principal ...
FATAL HIT AND RUN Jeff Woods, a weekend sports anchor and reporter for less than a year at Gannetts WHAS-11-ABC in Louisville (Market #49), was arrested Friday for leaving the scene of a fatal ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When to use lie and lay is one of the most challenging lessons in grammar. And even the best writers have trouble with ...
HOSPITALIZED CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was rushed to a DC area hospital late yesterday, suffering from what was described as internal bleeding. Logan, 43, was admitted with diverticulitis, a digestive disease that can ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets talk about the difference between historic and historical. Historic means important in history. These two headlines are examples of its correct use: ...
INKREDIBLE KYLE! Just in time for the final day of February sweeps, sports anchor Kyle Kraska returned to KFMB-8-CBS in San Diego (Market #28) yesterday, 15 days after he was gunned down Feb. 10 ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B was watching her local news while she ate her lunch when up popped cemetary. She nearly choked on her macaroni/cheese/tuna casserole. ...
UP A SWEEPS TREE A 14-year-old Florida boy died in a tree-trimming accident 18 months ago while doing work for a company in Palatka, about 50 miles south of Jacksonville. The owner of the ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B wants you to look at two expressions that sound alike but have different meanings: jury-rigged and jerry-built. Something rigged up temporarily, ...
PAID SILENCE In an explosive $20 billion lawsuit opposing the merger of Comcast and Time Warner, the National Association of African-American Owned Media claims Comcast paid the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B received this from one of her longtime readers in Brooklyn: The other day (February 19) I heard an NPR reporter on ...
AGGRESSIVE PUSHBACK Despite an aggressive PR campaign to push back against charges that Bill OReilly exaggerated his role as a correspondent for CBS News when covering the 1982 Falklands war, new accusations have come ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs faithful readers, a St. Peters University professor, wrote how distressed he was about this headline: A Early Albee Play ...
ATTACKING THE ATTACKER Bill OReilly has developed a Brian Williams conflating problem of his own. On numerous occasions, he has claimed, "Ive covered wars, okay? Ive been there. The Falklands, Northern Ireland, the Middle ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." If you feel badly, that means your sense of touch isnt working so well. You would have a hard time learning to read ...
REDEMPTION FAVORED A new poll by CNN shows that 52% of respondents think NBC News should allow Brian Williams to return to the "Nightly News" anchor chair. 40% said the network should not. 8% ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B is going to do some heavy-duty grammar talk today. If youre up to the challenge, continue. If not, Mrs. B hopes ...
NOT GUILTY PLEA The man accused of shooting Kyle Kraska, the sports guy at KFMB-8-CBS in San Diego (Market #28), appeared in court for the first time Tuesday. 54-year-old house painter Mike Montana pleaded ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets look at the definitions of regime, regiment, and regimen. A regime is a form of government. Rage against the regime: The hip-hop ...
YARN SPINNER In the first week without Brian Williams, NBC "Nightly News" viewership dropped 12%. ABCs "No World News with David Muir" finished 347,000 viewers ahead of "Nightly," a huge turnaround from the previous ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." If you remember to include the "of" after "a couple," youll be Mrs. Bs star student today. That "of" is missing in this ...
IRON PANTS BUGALOO Although Erika Hill did most of the heavy lifting on Sundays Weekend "Today," Lester "Iron Pants" Holt was still on the anchor desk for the ninth consecutive day. And he is ...
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 ...
DEATH BY SWERVING The driver of the Lincoln Town Car in which legendary CBS correspondent Bob Simon died Wednesday evening may have had a heart attack before the crash on Manhattans West Side Highway. ...
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, ...
SUDDEN DEATH Legendary "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon, who survived numerous close calls as a war correspondent, was killed Wednesday in a horrific car crash on Manhattans West Side Highway. The 73-year-old CBS veteran, ...
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 ...
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY NBC announced Tuesday that it is suspending Brian Williams as "Nightly News" anchor and managing editor for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War. ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An investigative reporter in Houston helps Mrs. B rant a bit about redundant overkill: I consistently hear reporters use redundant or unnecessary words ...
LOST TRUST Before he was exposed as a prevaricator, NBCs Brian Williams was the 23rd-most-trusted person in the country…on par with Denzel Washington, Warren Buffett, and Robin Roberts. On Monday, he ranked 835th, according ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B reminds you of the difference between premier and premiere. A premier (without the "e" on the end) is someone who leads ...
TIME OUT Brian Williams has benched himself. "As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hears from the owner of a production studio in Southern California: In my way of thinking, "unique" means one of a ...
CASUALTY OF WAR NBC News has gone into lockdown mode, refusing to comment on the controversy surrounding Brian Williams. He made no mention of the story on Thursdays NBC "Nightly News." Williams is scheduled ...
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An injury is a casualty. Casualties are those who are injured, wounded, dead, missing, or lost. Fatalities are deaths only. Mrs. B knows ...
