DRUDGE REPORT 2/13/97: FOX NEWS SHAKEUP, ALREADY? U2'S NEW POLITICS, DAVID BROCK TO MOVE TO NYC?
Matt Drudge
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT FINAL XXXXX FEBRUARY 13, 1997 XXXXX
DRUDGE MEDIA-GO-ROUND
FOX NEWS SHAKEUP, ALREADY?
..FOX NEWS executive Tammy Haddad is imminently out as Washington bureau
chief, whispered a rat late Wednesday. The move comes just four months
after the network's launch.
Haddad, who came to the network from the LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, was
handpicked to run Washington by news head Roger Ailes. But Broadcast Row
has been talking for weeks how Ailes, while not getting overly impatient, is
ready to teach baby how to walk -- make some changes.
The network still suffers from major clearance troubles and is fighting the
absolute glut of news and information that now beams and steams on the dish.
There are indications that Rupert Murdoch would like to see more "raw" news
on FOX. The current format of slight "live news updates" at the top and
bottom leave many, reportedly including Rupe, hungry.
DAVID BROCK TO NEW YORK?
..Master investigative writer David Brock is now said to be leaving the
sins of Washington behind and is moving to New York. Brock, who became a
legend with his REAL ANITA HILL, not to mention his many moments in the
AMERICAN SPECTATOR, is said to have grown tired of the scene.
His '96 book, SEDUCTION OF HILLARY, a semiliking look at the life of Hillary
Clinton, seriously hurt his standing within the sexy GOP scene. Some
called him traitor. Published reports had him uninvited to parties. (How
quick they turn. He was the toast when he did the Troopers.)
"No, Gary Aldrich has not run him out of town," e-mailed a Brock associate
on Wednesday. (David and Gary have be raging and ragging since Brock went
public and popped holes in the former Agent's book, UNLIMITED ACCESS.)
"He's just looking for a new view."
Separate intelligence explains how the AMERICAN SPECTATOR was not very high
on the idea of Brock doing any more writings on the Clintons for the
magazine post-SEDUCTION. And while his departure from the magazine has not
yet been made official, it is said to be mutual.
NOVAK NOT PUSHED
..Don't believe the major press, Pat Buchanan's March return to CNN's
CROSSFIRE may leave the "Prince of Darkness", Robert D. Novak, as the odd
man out on the show, but that's his choice. Buchanan's return to the
network will mean much less face time for Novak, who's been co-hosting with
former Bush chief, John Sununu.
But the DRUDGE REPORT learned on Wednesday, Novak wants it that way. "It
was his call," a source close to the scene told the REPORT. Novak, who also
has his CAPITOL GANG and EVANS AND NOVAK show on the network, not to mention
a nationally syndicated column that goes three times a week, is simply "too
busy for a human," says the source.
"He's a CNN superstar...but he likes to travel. CROSSFIRE keeps you stuck
in Washington."
It should be noted that Novak is also in the "A-tier" of the lucrative
speaking circuit.
U2'S NEW POLITICS
..Serious is out. Gone are the days of Bosnia outreach and world rescue.
"We believe in trash. We believe in kitsch. That's what we are up to today,"
pronounced U2 rocker The Edge at KMART in New York City on Wednesday.
(U2's attempt to make a covert serious political comment on commercialism is
b-side obvious.)
The band held a mediamash to announce a 60-date world tour called POPMART --
a fantasy replication of a giant, sci-fi disco supermarket setting -- in
support of their new album POP.
The band stunned shoppers with an impromptu performance and by handing out
underwear, bras and pink curlers. Lead singer Bono pushed a shopping cart
while singing the song HOLY JOE.
The POPMART concert stage will feature a single Golden Arch 100 feet high, a
35-foot-high Mirrorball Lemon, a 12-foot-wide internally illuminated and a
Stuffed Olive on a 100-foot-tall toothpick. (It is rumored Bono will be
chowing down on freak-sized Big Macs between songs.)
And already they're getting a rise.
On the city's WOR-AM on Wednesday, one talkshow caller declared: "They're
making fun of our culture...they believe in nothing."
Also, old school disco fans are furious at the band's campy single
DISCOTHEQUE, which sits at #1 on several charts this week. An ATLANTIC
RECORDS rep tells the DRUDGE REPORT that many in the industry suspect U2
ripped the title DISCOTHEQUE from the label's PET SHOP BOYS: their latest
album is titled DISCOTECA.
Coincidentally, U2's new album is released the same week as Howard Stern's
PRIVATE PARTS movie, also a pop cultural scream.
It's getting loud, on this media-go-round...
______________________
Filed By Matt Drudge
2/13/97 04:01 UTC
The REPORT is issued when circumstances warrant.
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