A long time ago, before I became the editor of MTV's Remote Control blog, I did some honest-to-goodness real news reporting. I'm a bit rusty, but today I'm attempting to write seriously about a topic both newsworthy and personal to me.
It's been 120 days since my old colleague from Channel One News and former MTV documentary producer Laura Ling ("Breaking It Down With Serena") was detained at the North Korean border, along with fellow Current TV journalist Euna Lee. In that period of time, both women were arrested, tried and sentenced to 12 years of "hard labor" for illegally crossing the border and for committing a "grave crime."
I simply can't imagine the mental and physical toll this has taken on Laura and Euna, their families and close friends. The word from Laura's sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, is that an ulcer has been giving her trouble. Euna is also struggling with poor health, having already lost 15 pounds. Her 4-year-old daughter is in anguish, awaiting some type of communication.
The Asbury Park Press is reporting that Randal Pinkett (the fourth — and sole African-American — winner of "The Apprentice") is about to get hired by another old guy with questionable hair. But this time, his boss will be New Jersey governor Jon Corzine. The gig is pretty major. If Randal gets chosen, he'll be Corzine's running mate later this fall.
You might scoff at a reality TV vet being in public office (I can hear my mom now: "What's next? Tila Tequila as secretary of state?"), but if I were a New Jersey resident, I'd probably vote for the guy because of his reality TV past.
Let's review Randal's "Apprentice" journey, shall we? (It as, after all, the ultimate job interview.) Read more...
After seemingly disappearing for a while, the Governor of South Carolina is back home and facing the music. Mark Sanford left the state last Thursday, claiming he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail and needed to get some writing done. But it turns out he jetted to Buenos Aires to meet with a woman with whom he was having an affair. The Governor said in a press conference that he would resign from his position as head of the Republican Governor's Association but would remain in office. Sanford was considered a frontrunner to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 election.
It's still unclear how Sanford ended up carrying on an affair in South America, but it's possible that he was transfixed by Madonna's performance as Eva Peron in 1998's "Evita." She does make Buenos Aires seem pretty great, doesn't she?
It's been more than a week since Sacha Baron Cohen (as Brüno) dropped in on Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards, but the aftershocks continue! In a speech to the College Republican National Committee, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said that the GOP should take a cue from Slim Shady and get mad. According to the New York Times, the Governor was referencing NBC's recent documentary "Inside the White House" when he said,
"I haven't seen something that staged since that half-naked Austrian fell onto the face of Eminem at the MTV music awards" (of course, the incident actually happened at the Movie Awards). He continued, "Eminem was mad. And so, just like Eminem getting dumped on, we've got to kind of regroup. We've got to continue to fight."
The Governor apparently wasn't completely up on his facts, as Eminem admitted last week that he was in on the stunt, and his reaction was merely a case of excellent acting. Even so, it's an unusual event to use to stir your political party! After all, if the GOP follows Mr. Mathers' lead, there will be a lot of storming out of Congress with bodyguards in tow ...
It was complete and utter chaos as Bow Wow brought his Walk Across America tour to New York City on Friday. MTV News hung out with the rapper for seven hours (most of it on foot) to cover the event, designed to encourage young people to vote.
Our day with Bow Wow started at Long Island University in downtown Brooklyn, where he spoke to students about why it's more important than ever to vote. In a short interview on campus, he told us that the economy is the number-one issue because the recession is affecting young peoples' daily lives. "I want [students] to feel comfortable when they go to class and not have to worry about no student loans, no credit, no high gas prices," he said. Read more...
Earlier this afternoon as the newsroom was buzzing over the R. Kelly verdict, Stephen Totilo, our resident video game expert, came over and asked, "Did you guys hear that Tim Russert died?" Even in the midst of one of our biggest stories this year, everyone within earshot immediately began Googling, channel surfing and checking every reliable news source for more information, hoping that it was an erroneous report.
Then, at about 3:40 p.m., Tom Brokaw, his voice shaking with grief, appeared on MSNBC to announce the loss of the host of NBC's "Meet the Press" and one of political journalism's most authoritative voices. Here in the newsroom a crowd gathered around one of the TVs, totally shocked and saddened by the loss of a giant in the field of journalism. Especially in this election year, Tim had become such a familiar and comforting face in helping us and millions across the country to make sense of the madness that is U.S. electoral politics. Read more...
By Conor Bezane