Washington Whispers
Arkansas Royalty: Huckabee or Times
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a likely 2008 GOP presidential hopeful, has never been a fan of the Arkansas Times. And why should he be? "We have been very critical of him," says Editor Max Brantley. But now it's payback time. Brantley says the guv has stopped E-mailing releases and schedules to the popular tabloid. "A guy who has a hard time with a throwaway mag," says Brantley, "will have a heck of a time in the national spotlight. He ain't royalty." Right back at you, says Huckabee. "We don't have to hand-deliver information with a bow tie on it," he says. "That's special treatment." Anyway, most of the info is on his state website. "I guess he is too lazy to access it," says the guv. It won't end with name-calling--Brantley's considering suing.
Grudging Praise for a Russian Thorn
The Iran nuclear showdown returns this week to the United Nations Security Council, and that means we'll be hearing more from Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. He has been leading the opposition--with China--to U.S. efforts to get tough on Iran's nuke program, bedeviling American diplomats who privately admire his diplo-smarts. "Lavrov is brilliant," allows one U.S. official.
ABC News Tries a 'Smooth' Approach
We used to hear New York-based ABC Radio hostess Daria Albinger on satellite radio. So when she popped up on a Washington radio station delivering local news, we called to say "hi," only to find out that she never moved. Instead, she's part of a new gig by ABC News to reach FM listeners who prefer tunes to talk. "We've got AM covered," says ABC's Andrew Kalb. "We want to find new FM listeners." An ABC study found that a short minute of hard and lifestyle news works well on FM. "ABC FM News" works this way: Via the Internet, Albinger from New York uploads to the stations a minute of local, national, and sports news. Her conversational broadcast sounds as if she's in their newsroom, though no local news staff is needed. Two Washington stations, Smooth Jazz 105.9 and Mix 107.3, get it now, but Kalb hopes to add many more.
The Questioner Behind the Decider
Pay attention to new CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry. President Bush does. After just three weeks on the beat, the TV newbie--Henry recently celebrated two years in the biz--asked the question that resulted in the latest Bushism: "I'm the decider." And he's the reporter who pressed Robert Novak about publishing ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame's name, prompting the columnist to storm off the live-TV set and eventually quit CNN. Other reporters say they haven't seen such a fast start since CNN's Wolf Blitzer arrived to cover former President Bill Clinton. Still, we hear that Henry hasn't been on the beat long enough to earn a presidential nickname yet, though "decider" wouldn't be a bad start for Dubya.
With Rick Newman, Suzi Parker and Thomas Omestad
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