Mrs.B-Archive-06-17-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Hone means to sharpen. For example: ~He needs to hone his research skills. Home in on means to target, as in: ~Well home ...
Category: Top Story
Archive Date 2014-06-16
TRANSGENDER SURPRISE As Tuesdays 20th anniversary of OJ Simpsons slow-speed pursuit through Los Angeles approaches, a story emerges that is so incredible it strains the imagination. The pilots of two of the news helicopters ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-16-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before we get to todays anxious and eager lesson, lets be sure youre pronouncing Qatar correctly as "cutter." A person from Qatar is ...
Archive Date 2014-06-13
OH, NEVERMIND Just eight months ago, The Hollywood Reporter claimed NBC was lining up candidates to replace Matt Lauer on "Today" when his contract expires this year. Chief contenders were said to be Willie ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-13-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Even though we honor all fathers on Sunday, Fathers Day is a singular possessive, like Mothers Day. Mrs. Bs father was a preacher, ...
Archive Date 2014-06-12
UNSPECIAL ED Regional Edward R Murrow Awards have become the new Emmys, increasingly valueless in their commonness. In April, the RTDNA announced 661 winners in dozens of categories in 14 regions. The National Edward ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-12-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets begin today with a note from a meteorologist in Houston: Hi Mrs. B, Have you ever done a column on the ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-11-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs grammar rats in New York City suggests a lesson: Heres one I notice all the time: otherwise smart people ...
Archive Date 2014-06-11
TWITTER THREAT Royce "Snoop" Johnson, the head basketball coach at Texas State Champion Dallas Kimball High School, has been fired for making threats on Twitter against Brett Shipp, the veteran investigative reporter for WFAA-8-ABC ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-10-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When Mrs. B heard this, her grammar radar activated and she sprang into action: Us reporters do all the heavy lifting. That "us" ...
Archive Date 2014-06-10
DOUBLE DIP Sonya Heitshusen, an "Emmy award-winning" reporter at Tribunes WHO-13-NBC in Des Moines (Market #72), was arrested early Saturday morning for driving on the wrong side of the street and for operating a ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-09-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets begin the week by looking at two sets of words that are often confused and misused. To indicate something indirectly is to ...
Archive Date 2014-06-09
BLACK BEARD Nexstar has agreed to sell three of its crappy little TV stations to the Marshall Broadcasting Group for $58.5 million. They are: KMSS-33-Fox in Shreveport (Market #82), KLJB-18-Fox in Davenport (Market #100), ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-06-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Stats show that June is still the most popular month to get married. So lets review some marriage-related words, both their meanings and ...
Archive Date 2014-06-06
CANCEROUS SALE? We have heard, but cannot confirm, that Jim Rogers, the owner of Intermountain Wests KSNV-3-NBC in Las Vegas (Market #40), has been hospitalized at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. A station ...
Archive Date 2014-06-05
SUSPENDED LEAVE Lara Logan has returned to work at "60 Minutes" nearly seven months after being ordered to take a "voluntary" leave of absence for her role in a disputed story on the deadly ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-05-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. Bear is one of them. The verb ...
Archive Date 2014-06-04
TRIAL BY MEDIA The US Army says it has no immediate plans to punish Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for leaving his post in Afghanistan. Bergdahl, a Taliban prisoner for the past five years, was swapped ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-04-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Homophones, or soundalike words, are pronounced the same but have different spellings and meanings. For example, sore means painful to the touch or ...
Archive Date 2014-06-03
ARRESTING VIDEO Ryan Chamberlain, the San Francisco media consultant who became the focus of a manhunt after agents allegedly found explosives in his apartment, was arrested in a Bay Area parking lot Monday evening, ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-03-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B recently received this urgent message: Can I remove the "or not" from after "whether"? If not, please explain. Since whether implies ...
Archive Date 2014-06-02
BURIED IN RENO Mary Beth Sewald, the former general manager and current director of news operations at Sinclairs KRNV-4-NBC in Reno (Market #107), was driving a company car when she was arrested last week ...
Mrs.B-Archive-06-02-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." What a joy to hear from readers like this South Carolina reporter: Hi Mrs. B — Quick question for you: when is ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-30-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The slang expression "where its at" should not leave that sweet mouth of yours, unless you want to sound like an over-the-hill baby ...
Archive Date 2014-05-30
Late Breaking BUSTED IN RENO Mary Beth Sewald, the former general manager of KRNV-4-NBC in Reno (Market #107) and current director of news operations at the station, was arrested for DUI and failure to ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-29-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When Mrs. B heard this slip on CBS "Sunday Morning," she thought shed better repeat the lesson on the word mementos: Inside, he ...
Archive Date 2014-05-29
iREPORT, YOU DECIDE CNN?s "iReport" project, where people post their "news stories" and CNN kinda sorta tries to see if some of it is true, is riddled with false stories "not vetted by CNN." ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-28-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An investigative reporter in Houston helps Mrs. B rant about redundant overkill: I consistently hear reporters use redundant or unnecessary words to punch ...
Archive Date 2014-05-28
iREPORT, YOU DECIDE For a big portion of the Memorial Day weekend, CNN hosted an article online that claimed a huge asteroid was on track to smash into the Earth on March 35, 2041. ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-27-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When Mrs. B hears, "Well well have continuous coverage of this story," she has to stifle a giggle. Continuous means uninterrupted. You hear ...
Archive Date 2014-05-27
IMPERMANENT ANCHOR Emily Dishnow, the blondiful former NewsBlues Looker who replaced Amy Wegmann 18 months ago as the "permanent full time co-anchor" at Journal Broadcast Groups WFTX-36-Fox in Ft. Myers (Market #62), has "resigned," ...
Archive Date 2014-05-22
LUNCH DRUNK Gregg Jarrett, who "requested time off for personal reasons" from Fox News last week, where he has anchored weekends for the past 12 years, was arrested shortly after noon yesterday at the ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-22-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B shares a note from a Nashville anchor/reporter: When writing news copy about Memorial Day or Veterans Day?what?s correct? Are the two ...
Archive Date 2014-05-21
FAKE NEWS WEBS If you?re a regular watcher of the ethically questionable Dr. Oz Show, you may remember how he helped start a minor "green coffee extract" craze a few years ago by declaring ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-21-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Progeny, prodigy, prot?g?, and prot?g?e are often confused. Mrs. B will help you sort out their meanings and their pronunciations. Progeny (PRAH-juh-nee) is ...
Archive Date 2014-05-20
ANGRY BLACK WOMAN Carole Simpson, who joined ABC News in 1982 and became the first black woman to anchor a network newscast, was not invited to last weeks Barbara Walters farewell show on "The ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-20-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B has noticed confusion over precedents and precedence. Lets begin, though, with the singular of precedents. A precedent is an act that ...
Archive Date 2014-05-19
CONSOLIDATING MEDIA AT&T agreed on Sunday to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion, trying to tilt the balance of power with media companies as the market for broadband internet and video shifts. While it may ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-19-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." A Charlotte station recently ran a lower-third "killed to death" on a live shot. Mrs. B knows that had to have been a ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-16-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. Bs mother, ever to be trusted, has reported a few instances of the redundant "ATM machine," including the presidents metaphor calling California ...
Archive Date 2014-05-16
PAY GAP FLAP New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. says its not true he fired Executive Editor Jill Abramson because she complained that her compensation package was lower than that of her predecessor, ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-15-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." An alumna *(uh-LUM-nuh) is a female graduate. An alumnus (uh-LUM-nus) is a male graduate. Alumni (uh-LUM-nye) are two or more male graduates OR ...
Archive Date 2014-05-15
PROTECTING SOURCES Meredyth Censullo, who abruptly parted ways three weeks ago with WFTS-28-ABC in Tampa (Market #14), where she had worked for eight years as a traffic/social media reporter, is said to be under ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-14-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The 67th annual Cannes Film Festival begins today in Cannes, in the South of France, and Mrs. B hopes youll pronounce it "can" ...
Archive Date 2014-05-14
UNDER INVESTIGATION Meredyth Censullo, the self-described "Emmy winning TV Reporter" and "aspiring #SocialTV rockstar" who abruptly parted ways three weeks ago with WFTS-28-ABC in Tampa (Market #14), where she had worked for eight years ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-13-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes youll capitalize academic degrees when youre writing the formal name of a particular degree: Master of Science Master of Arts ...
Archive Date 2014-05-13
SARCASM INTENDED Joel Burns, a councilman for the city of Ft. Worth, had had it up to here with The Weather Channel using photos of the Dallas skyline to depict Ft. Worth on its ...
Archive Date 2014-05-12
BREAK A LEG A pack of Boy Scouts from Berkeley Heights New Jersey?s Troop 368 rescued NBCs Ann Curry from Bear Mountain on April 5. Theres a merit badge in there somewhere…or an Emmy. ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-12-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B reminds you that theres no such thing as "a phenomena." The word phenomena is the plural of phenomenon. A phenomenon is ...
Archive Date 2014-05-09
OVER THE CLIFF Larry King, appearing on Howard Stern?s radio show, finally spoke his truth about CNN?s decision to replace him with Piers Morgan in 2010. "I thought they made a mistake in the ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-09-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mothers Day is coming up Sunday and Fathers Day next month. Mrs. B wants you to notice the possessive of these two holidays ...
Archive Date 2014-05-08
NEW DAY AT TODAY Jamie Horowitz, who helped bring Keith Olbermann back to ESPN, is joining NBC News as senior vice president and general manager of the "Today" show. Hes currently vice president of ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-08-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." To cause the death of any human being by whatever means is a homicide, pronounced HAHM–ih-side. Manslaughter is homicide without malice or premeditation. ...
Archive Date 2014-05-07
FEELING THE HEAT Declaring that the issue of human-induced climate change had "moved firmly into the present," a major study found that water shortages, heavy rains, heat waves, and wildfires are worsening. The study, ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-07-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Lets get our terms right as we report on graduation speeches. The podium is the raised platform the speaker steps up onto. Think ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-06-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." When Mrs. B heard the following, she was inspired to do a lesson on the form of a verb called subjunctive: Tens of ...
Archive Date 2014-05-06
GONE MISSING The transcript of Lara Logans discredited "60 Minutes" report on the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi has been removed from the Lexis Nexis database "at the request of CBS News ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-05-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Today is Cinco de Mayo. That means "fifth of May" in Spanish and commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over the French ...
Archive Date 2014-05-05
TOXIC LARA Lara Logan, who has been on leave from CBSs "60 Minutes" since November, is the subject of a New York Magazine expose looking into her past, detailing the events leading up to ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-02-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Some pronouns are always singular, and neither is one of them. For example: ~Neither of the cameras is working. These are other pronouns ...
Archive Date 2014-05-02
SHEP CALLS HORSESHIT Fox News anchor Shepard Smith wrote a memo to his staff yesterday declaring a recent Gawker report by J.K. Trotter "horseshit." The report, which included several inaccuracies, claimed that Fox News ...
Mrs.B-Archive-05-01-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Before we get started with todays lesson, Mrs. B wants to remind you that the plural of attorney general is attorneys general. If ...
Archive Date 2014-05-01
BLIZZARD OF OZ Sony Pictures Television, which syndicates and distributes "The Dr. Oz Show," sent an "URGENT: DO NOT AIR" notice to participating stations overnight, alerting them to dump Thursdays episode "Due to serious ...
Archive Date 2014-04-30
BROKEN NEWS In an episode reminiscent of the medias famous bungling of the Supreme Courts healthcare ruling, both TMZ and NBC News inaccurately reported on the NBAs punishment for Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-30-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Some of Mrs. Bs readers have asked about a Latin term our Surly Editor? uses every now and then: What does [sic] mean? ...
Archive Date 2014-04-29
PLAYING ANCHOR Weekend newscasts on WCBS-2 in New York (the nations largest media market) feature the giggly anchor team of Andrea Grymes and Diane Macedo. The show "has the feel of girls playing TV," ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-29-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Most of the time Mrs. B prefers short words to long ones. And your viewers (and readers) do too. Instead of "apprehend," say ...
Archive Date 2014-04-28
AGENDA DRIVEN Aides to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel coordinated scenes with the producers of the CNN series "Chicagoland." More than 700 emails, obtained by the Chicago Tribune, show that the production team, led by ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-28-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Sometimes we get all tangled up in lend and loan. Lend is the verb that means to give something to someone temporarily. For ...
Archive Date 2014-04-25
CLEAN START Rob Morrison, the former morning news anchor at WCBS-2 in New York who was arrested in Feb. 2013 and charged with choking his blondiful wife, Ashley, during a domestic spat, withdrew his ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-25-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." One of Mrs. Bs grammar sentinels noticed this headline for a crime story: Grizzly Discovery And, no, it wasnt a bear. The writer ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-24-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Today Mrs. B offers a long list of clich?s she hopes youll use at a minimum, if at all: a question mark hangs ...
Archive Date 2014-04-24
NBC TALENT SHUFFLE Daniella Guzman, the morning news anchor for the past two years at NBC-owned WMAQ-5 in Chicago (Market #3), is headed west to become the new morning news anchor at NBC sister-station ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-23-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." They sound like mistakes–"mouses" and "snow blowed." But theyre correct. The plural of the computer device called a mouse really is mouses. For ...
Archive Date 2014-04-23
SAVED BY THE CLOUD? US Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical yesterday about Aereos business model, but raised concerns about how a ruling against the company could affect cloud computing services. Originally scheduled to start ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-22-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." We hear it all the time: "theres a lot of." But sometimes it should be "therere a lot of." How do you know ...
Archive Date 2014-04-22
SCOTUS HEARS AEREO The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in the matter of American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo, Inc. (Docket # 13-461). Issue: Whether a company "publicly performs" a ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-21-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Sank is the past tense of sink, but maybe, like Mrs. B, youve seen something like this: Titanic: A New Theory About How ...
Archive Date 2014-04-21
NO FIRE FATALITY A homeless man was charged last week with arson and first-degree burglary for using liquid accelerant to burn down the former home of NBC-owned KNTV-11 in San Jose (Market #6). The ...
Archive Date 2014-04-18
BLACK CEILING Mark Edwards, a former DJ-turned sports anchor and reporter at KTHV-11-CBS in Little Rock (Market #56), has sued Gannett and his former TV station for racial discrimination. According to the 26-page lawsuit ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-18-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary, a place near ...
Archive Date 2014-04-17
ANCHOR STALKER A lovestruck New York bonehead has been arrested for stalking Diane Macedo, a reporter and weekend morning news anchor at WCBS-2. Macedo notified police Monday when Richard Pagani, 30, knocked on the ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-17-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." "He had decided he couldnt become famous, so he decided to become infamous. Screening the documentary about Jayson Blair." Thats a tweet from ...
Archive Date 2014-04-16
MILLIONAIRE ANCHORS Scott Pelleys contract is coming up for renewal at CBS, and hes seeking a significant raise, according to Politico. Pelley now earns somewhere in the area of $5 million a year, which ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-16-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Anniversary means returning yearly. So "one-year anniversary" is redundant. You may have seen this kind of construction several, if not many, times: Today ...
Archive Date 2014-04-15
CHANGE OF HEART Robin Roberts was covering the Oscars in 2012 when she noticed a lump in her neck. Initially, she didnt think anything of it, but her girlfriend Amber Laign, who was traveling ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-15-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Take a look at this sentence from a Sioux City stations web story An historic building in Iowa caught fire and burned to ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-14-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." The 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists will be announced this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern Daylight Time at Columbia University. Youll be ...
Archive Date 2014-04-14
LES GETS MORE In a proxy filing with the SEC late Friday (DEF 14A), CBS disclosed how much it paid its president and chief executive officer, Les Moonves, in 2013…and the numbers are obscene. ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-11-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B hopes you wont leave out the from with graduate the way this station did: Police say one of the two people ...
Archive Date 2014-04-11
LAW ENFORCEMENT TV KEYT-3-ABC in Santa Barbara (Market #123) showed footage of last weekend?s Deltopia riot near the University of California, Santa Barbara campus, then told viewers that "well be sharing all that video ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-10-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Effectively is one of those words we sometimes drop in either to give us time to think of the right word or to ...
Archive Date 2014-04-10
RUDE AND CRUDE Melinda Heiss, a registered nurse, has sued Bray Cary Jr., the president and CEO of West Virginia Media Holdings, claiming an encounter with him two years ago left her despondent and ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-09-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Nowhere in this Fox News web story will you find the word suspect. And Mrs. is delighted: Authorities are calling a Denver area ...
Archive Date 2014-04-09
THE HILTON CHANNEL After a nearly three-month blackout, The Weather Channel returned to DirecTV overnight. And you can thank Hilton Hotels for it. DirecTV retreated from its demand for a significant cut to the ...
Archive Date 2014-04-08
BIKE CRASH DEATH Jim Reif, one of the most recognized television personalities in Southwest Florida, died overnight from head injuries suffered in a bicycling accident Sunday morning. Reif, 61, was director of meteorology at ...
Mrs.B-Archive-04-08-2014
MRS. Bs GRAMMAR YAMMER "A PBS mind in a Twitter world." Mrs. B is all about immigrate and emigrate today, with some history thrown in. Immigrate means to come into a country that one ...
Archive Date 2014-04-07
ERRONEOUSLY YOURS Scripps-owned WEWS-5-ABC ("Keeping you safe where you live!") in Cleveland (Market #19) reported the EXCLUSIVE story last week that Jimmy Haslam, the CEO of Pilot Flying J, had been indicted in connection ...