"C-Span's Brian Lamb is not what you think"

[in_cog_ni_to]

JON FRIEDMAN'S MEDIA WEB
C-Span's Brian Lamb is not what you think
Commentary: The 'Joe Friday' of TV news is usually listening to something
By Jon Friedman, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Jul 20, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Forget for a moment about Brian Lamb's trademark gravelly voice, even if it is one of the most distinctive sounds in all of broadcasting.
Forget the C-Span host's Sgt. Joe ("Just the facts, ma'am") Friday-like persona, too.


What makes the 65-year-old Lamb unique is his scary level of news consumption. If this ever became an Olympic event, my money would be on him to bring home nothing less than a silver medal.
He insists that he gets six hours of sleep a night -- "in and out," as he put it. I don't see how.
"I have a radio on all night -- and an earplug," he told me.
Lamb rattled off an astonishingly long list of favorites. "I've listened to Stephanie Miller, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage, Tom Hartman, Al Franken, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Lars Larson, Jim Bohannon, Rush Limbaugh, John Elliot, Randi Rhodes, 'Coast to Coast (AM) with George Noory.' But, he hastens to add: "I'm not into flying saucers and those kinds of things. I used to listen to Imus. I listen to Bill Press, Fred Grandy and Ed Schultz."
There were others, but I just couldn't take notes fast enough to keep up.


I found it amusing when Lamb griped that he couldn't find a decent TV-news or talk show on the air at five in the morning (I mean, network executives have a tough enough time programming primetime.) But he is satisfied when he can catch Anderson Cooper, Charlie Rose, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Tucker Carlson, Bill O'Reilly and Neil Cavuto. Brit Hume and Tim Russert remain two of his favorites. "And Oprah!" he said. "She's terrific at what she does."
What's the common thread?
"They're in touch," Lamb commented when we talked on July 13 in Washington. "I'm learning about what they know and like, and don't like."


Lamb could care less about a host's political beliefs. "I don't come at it like an ideologue," he said. "It's all about the information with me."
Chances are if Lamb is awake, he is listening to something. After all, the man also professes to have 5,700 songs on his iPod -- "everything from Merle Haggard to Mozart. I'm on 'shuffle' all the time." <snip>

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/c-spans-brian-lamb-not-you/story.aspx?guid=%7B00F63C7C%2DC05E%2D4AB8%2D8B2F%2DAE1BAB62586B%7D&dist=morenews

[mitchtv]

1. Ray Taliafiero 1am -5am PDT

Kgo.com close as I can get

[Gabi Hayes]

2. all you need to know about Brian Lamb:

''Brit Hume and Tim Russert remain two of his favorites.''

[bonito]

3. "I'm learning about what they know and like, and don't like."

Hearing what your adversary's have to say is just as important as listening to your allies.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. did you read the quote carefully?

hearing someone doesn't make that person one's FAVORITE.quite a bit of difference there, I'd say

why did he list them as two of his FAVORITES? quite a bit of difference there, I'd say

out of all the people he named, as well as all the others to whom he listens, Britt HUME? I can forgive Tim Russert, as most Beltway types labor under the delusion that Russert is somehow not a slavering tool of Bob Welch and his peers, but Britt HUME?



and why do you think his show is called Fascist Friday around here?

now, to be fair, he seems to have wised up a bit lately, and even questioned the sanity, essentially, of several wingnut callers a few months ago. I had to smack myself on the ears to see if I was lying there in that febrile state between wake and sleep, not sure if the TV was on, or whether I was still dreaming

[bonito]

10. I did read it carefully

It was two OF his favorites, NO difference there I'd say.

And as far as what others think? hmmm.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1458784&mesg_id=1458784

[Gabi Hayes]

13. illogically parse much? what can one say WRT somebody who lists Britt Hume as one of his

favorite broadcasters?


the first thing I'd say is that that person is an uninformed news consumer, at the very least, lacking the most rudimentary critical thinking skills

and what's the snark about considering the thoughts of others, hmmmm?

do you discount everything you've ever heard/read/seen, including other DUers? do you come here only to read your own lofty pronunciamentos?

hmmm?

[Gabi Hayes]

15. but wait, there's ''Moore!''

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1459467&mesg_id=1459684

and to whom did Brian Lamb give the ONLY hostile Booknotes interview I've ever seen (and I watched every Sunday night for years), including a love fest with Ann Coulter?

Micheal Moore

[KoKo]

5. YEP...the rest is just "NOISE" to him......

:scared:

[Cha]

14. If that's right then he

may listen to a lot of radio talk shows but doesn't seem to have very classy tastes.

I think lamb's performance on Fridays speak for themselves.

[AX10]

4. I would expect that C-Span hosts would listen to the entire...

political spectrum in order to conduct proper interviews.

Why would he chose Brit Hume as a "favorite" though?

[KoKo]

7. Lamb on NIxon...from the article...Graff Head: "Nixon's the One!"

Nixon's the one
Of all the Washingtonians that Lamb has interviewed, one stands out: former President Richard Nixon.
When Nixon visited the C-Span studio in the early 1990s, he "created the biggest crowd of anyone around here," Lamb remembered. "A hundred people were waiting to shake his hand. I've never seen anything like it."
Talking about unusual sightings, I actually saw Lamb get angry on the air.
This happened last week when a caller from Jacksonville, Fla., chastised him for calling President Bush by the everyman handle of "Mr." instead of "president."
Lamb dismissed the caller by saying, "This is silly. I'm not going to argue with you."
It was, but callers frequently try to get inside Lamb's head to know what he is really thinking.
Another caller on the same show, with Iraq in mind, asked Lamb, "Are you anti-surge?" Lamb replied: "I'm not pro- or anti-surge. I don't take a particular view."
He doesn't mind the air of mystery that surrounds him.
Some critics suggest that C-Span has a right-wing bias, but Lamb disavows any political agenda. "I vote in every general election, but I'm not a party member or an ideologue. I've never told anyone who I've voted for."

[Gabi Hayes]

8. he was on Ford's transition team. I remember reading it here

so it has to be true

once a republican, almost always a republican

[Cha]

16. You would think the bushits

would have wised some of them up(which it did) but that lamb must be a stubborn one.

[Bluebear]

9. '5,700 songs on his iPod' - did you buy all those, Bri-bri? nt

[illinoisprogressive]

11. Actually, Lamb is exactly as I thought.

[AX10]

12. Which is?