Dan Rather Explains 'Watermelon' Remark and How It Went 'Viral'

In a blog post this morning, Dan Rather explained his comments from the weekend's "Chris Matthews Show" and the controversy that surrounded them. On Sunday, Rather used the expression "he couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic" in explaining the position of President Obama's opponents.

Rather, known for his "folksy" sayings, writes at The Huffington Post, "It's an expression that stretches to my boyhood roots in Southeast Texas, when country highways were lined with stands manned by sellers of all races. Now of course watermelons have become a stereotype for African Americans and so my analogy entered a charged environment." He adds, "I'm sorry people took offense."

Perhaps even more interesting is Rather's take on how the news spread in the new media landscape:

But what has caused this comment to "go viral" is the trumpeting of an online and cable echo chamber that claims the banner of news but trades in gossip, gotcha, and innuendo. Furthermore, even for those who brook no prejudice, when everything is condensed to 140 characters or a small YouTube clip, many people who got this "news" did so without any context, just a headline that popped up on their phone or inbox.

"What saddens me is what this experience has made all too clear," Rather writes. "Much of what we call news, isn't."

More: TVNewser sat down with Dan Rather for a Media Beat discussion about the changes happening in journalism.

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David Letterman Comments On Halderman Case as Former Producer Heads to Jail

Following his Top 10 list last night, David Letterman talked about yesterday's guilty plea from former CBS News producer Joe Halderman.

"I need to talk to you about a segment of my life here that began six months ago," said Letterman. "I found myself in some legal trouble... I had never been involved in anything like this in my life. I was concerned and full of anxiety and nervous and worried."

"The people in the district attorney's office said this will be handled professionally, this will be handled skillfully, and appropriately. Well, the matter was resolved today."

Letterman thanked the DA's office, the special prosecutions bureau and the NYPD.

As for Halderman, he'll serve six months after pleading guilty to blackmail. The award-winning producer on "48 Hours" is no longer employed by the network. A CBS News spokesperson could not confirm when his employment with the company came to an end, or how.

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Harry Smith Undergoes Live Colonoscopy with Encouragement from Katie Couric

"I was just in Harry's kitchen, and he chugged a big tall glass of miraLAX," CBS' "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric told us. She'd stopped by "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith's apartment on her way home after the newscast to give him some advice and words of encouragement.

Smith was prepping himself for the colonoscopy he'd be undergoing the next morning live on "The Early Show." "The night before is when you do your prep," Couric said. "We're trying to take people through the process. I'm like a colonoscopy tour guide."

In 2000, Couric famously taped an on-camera colonscopy for NBC's "Today" show. The segment is credited with starting the "Couric-effect," a spike in the colonoscopy rate. She's referred to it as her "proudest accomplishment" in the past.

In fact, Couric was the one that asked Smith to have the live colonoscopy in the first place. "Katie came to me and asked me about it," Smith told TVNewser. "It so happened that I'd had a physical a year ago and the only thing that was incomplete was this. I thought, why not do it?"

He also said knowing about the "Couric-effect" played a part in his decision to go through with the exam on the air. "This is a moment in morning television you can be an advocate," he said. "It can save lives. It was a no brainer."

Smith's live colonoscopy will make "TV history," but he joked, "It's not exactly the first color telecast." He pointed to what Couric had done as an important step. "You have to continually remind people of this kind of screening," Couric said. "It s so 'easy' to put it off."

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Cable Network Rankings: FNC #2, MSNBC #25, CNN #31, HLN #36 in Prime

Fox News was the #2 network in all of primetime cable last week in total viewers. MSNBC was #25, CNN was #31, and HLN was #36. In total day, FNC was #4, CNN was #27, MSNBC was #32, and HLN was #35. You can see the full rankings for the top 30 below.

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Glenn Beck: 'I Think This Is the First Time I Have Wasted an Hour of Your Time'

"America, I'm gonna shoot straight with you," Glenn Beck said near the conclusion of his apparently frustrating chat with Rep. Eric Massa on Fox News. "I think I've wasted your time. I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time. I apologize for that." Video after the jump.

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The Scoreboard: Monday, Mar. 8

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:
FNC	Beck:	Baier:	Shep:	O'Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O'Reilly:
	714	526	523	1080	629	510	463
CNN	Blitzer:	Blitzer:	Blitzer:	Brown:	King:	Cooper:	Cooper:
	112	134	77	131	271	164	120
MSNBC	Matthews:	EdShow:	Matthews:	Olbermann:	Maddow:	Olbermann:	Maddow:
	111	134	184	318	253	212	108
HLN	Prime:	Prime:	Issues:	Grace:	Behar:	Grace:	Showbiz:
	79	89	112	201	147	221	193

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AC360 Team Receives January Sidney Award

CNN photojournalist Neil Hallsworth, "AC360" EP Charlie Moore, and Anderson Cooper were presented with the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award today in NYC for their coverage of the earthquake in Haiti (photo below). Cooper was out in LA over the weekend where he attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and was seen driving around with Nancy Reagan.

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Alison Stewart, Newsweek's Jon Meacham in Talks for PBS' 'Need to Know'

The new PBS public affairs series "Need to know," which launches May 7th and is produced by WNET in New York, is in discussions with Newsweek editor Jon Meacham and former MSNBCer Alison Stewart to co-anchor the program, according to Elizabeth Jensen at Media Decoder.

Previously: PBS' New 'Need to Know' Gets an EP

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Eric Massa Also Appearing on 'Larry King' Tonight

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), whose seat in the U.S. House is vacant as of today, will appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" tonight at 9pmET. His first TV interview goes to Glenn Beck on Fox News at 5pmET.

Yesterday, Beck tweeted -- and mentioned on his program -- that he would have Massa for the full hour in an exclusive interview.

King's interview was also touted as an exclusive, on CNN.com. TVNewser contacted CNN with questions about the claim. The promotional copy has been edited to more specifically indicate the interview is a "primetime exclusive." All of the on-air CNN promos have noted the "primetime" nature of the exclusive. Screenshots from CNN.com after the jump.

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Olympics Help Boost NBC Brands

NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC saw major jumps in consumer perception in February, according to the YouGov BrandIndex. Our advertising industry blog, AgencySpy, has more.

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Joe Halderman to Plead Guilty in Letterman Extortion Scandal

Robert "Joe" Halderman, the CBS "48 Hours" producer accused of attempting to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million, will plead guilty in Manhattan today to attempted extortion, according to the NYTimes and the NYPost.

The Times' reports that Halderman "will serve six months in jail, according to two people briefed on the case," and that "Mr. Halderman will also serve four and a half years probation and must perform 1,000 hours of community service."

Update: CNN took Halderman and his attorney's press conference live at 2:32pmET. "This afternoon, we entered a plea of guilty. Mr. Halderman plead guilty to attempted grand larceny by extortion, and he's done it in an effort to resolve this matter, it is now behind him," said Halderman's attorney, Gerald Shargell, who also said he had not spoken to Letterman.

Halderman, in a very brief statement, apologized to Letterman and his family and said that he would not be doing any interviews.

More: Letterman released a statement thanking the Manhattan DA's office and the NYPD.

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John Roberts Gets a Haircut

CNN's John Roberts anchoring "American Morning" last week and this week:

"The change was recommended by my personal 'style consultant'...Kyra," Roberts tells TVNewser for our groundbreaking investigative report. "I've always preferred it longer, but friends and loved ones have accused me of being 'stuck in the 80s.'"

Speaking of 80s hairdos... (I think you know what's coming.)

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Evening News Ratings: Week of Mar. 1

"NBC Nightly News" remained the top evening news program last week, but, predictably, lost significant viewership week-to-week following two weeks of the Winter Olympics, for which Brian Williams anchored the newscast from Vancouver. "Nightly" lost 1.8 million total viewers and 640K in the demo.

"ABC World News" was also down week-to-week in total viewers and the demo, as was "CBS Evening News." All three programs were down year-to-year in total viewers. "Evening News" was the only newscast up year-to-year in the demo.

Numbers for the week of Mar. 1:

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Joy Behar Whoops

Though edited out for the broadcast, HLN's Joy Behar had a pretty unfortunate slip-o'-the-tongue during her chat with Ann Coulter yesterday. (h/t Mediaite) At the :40 mark, she meant to call Karl Rove a "bad cop," but...

And Rove continues the publicity for his new memoir, "Courage and Confidence," online. After interviews on the "Today" show yesterday and today, Rove is taking part in an online book launch on UStream at NoonET.

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Women in the World Gather in NYC

Where can you find Christiane Amanpour, Lesley Stahl, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Juju Chang, Mika Brzezinski, Diane Sawyer and Campbell Brown all in one place?

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