In Unrelated Anderson Cooper News Today...

I know, I know...we all love the Cooper. But to tell the truth, since ol'Andy hasn't been a barrel of fun lately and since we won't make up stories about him on FreakSpeakers (even though that can be hours of fun!) we bring you these tidbits instead from the usual sources. And don't get all in a twitter you AnderBloggers, I wasn't picking on any one site in particular, but we all know the sites that love the Anderson fodder....

Midterms: Rather, Stewart, & Colbert

"Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, whose colorful Dan-isms attained collectible status over his four decades of covering politics at CBS News, won't be sitting out this midterm election night. He'll sit in during the first half-hour of Comedy Central's hour of election coverage featuring The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert," TV Week reports.

"Titled Indecision 2006: The Midterm Midtacular, the show, which will be live at 11 p.m. on the East Coast and tape-delayed on the West Coast, will be, Comedy Central has promised, 'unburdened by objectivity or even accuracy..'"

Will News Corp. Buy Newsday?

News Corp. won't comment, but the Rupert Murdoch-owned mega-company, which owns the Post, is rumored to be a potential bidder for Tribune Co.-owned Newsday. Last week, Tribune Co. quietly said all of its properties, including the Los Angeles Times, could be sold individually.

According to Newsday, developer Robert Toussie has expressed interest in buying the paper — which analysts quoted by Newsday put the price tag at anywhere from $472.2 million to $674.6 million to more than $1 billion.

Great...it'll be like Fox News in a magazine format.





Williams Tops Couric; Couric Wets Feet

Maybe it's the impeccable (really) comedic timing. Maybe it's his willingness to diss the Daily Show. Maybe its his friendship with Bono, who has been known to deface a lightbox or two at NBC to prove it. Maybe it's his towering billboard. Maybe it's his blog. Whatever it is, it's working: Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News are #1. And it seems NBC is determined to highlight that fact during its midterm election coverage.

So it would only be natural for Katie Couric, in her first election as the anchor of CBS Evening News, to be feisty, to want to scratch and claw at any and all rivals who, despite her years covering big news events at the Today Show, say she's just getting her feet wet.

Says Couric:

"It's my first time in this position, so I just think it's a great way to get my feet wet."

Will she even be on CBS for the 2008 elections? Maybe Cooper will have a new home by then...