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Janice Dean is a Canadian weather personality on the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. She also substitutes for Fox News Live headline anchors when needed. She is known for her nickname, "Janice Dean, the Weather Machine", coined by evening Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith. She has also been called "Janice Dean the Weather Queen".

She began her career in Ottawa at CHEZ-FM, where she was a morning show co-host, reporter, and disc jockey. In 1997, she was an on-camera weather host at CBOT Television. Dean received an honors diploma from Algonquin College, in Radio and Television Broadcasting.

Before joining Fox in January 2004, Dean was the news editor and entertainment reporter for Imus in the Morning. Prior to that, Dean was a weekend on-air traffic reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City. Previously, she was on CHUM Limited in Ottawa where she held numerous positions such as a morning news anchor for Breakfast @ the New RO, producer and host of The Broad Perspective on CFRA and an anchor for KOOL-FM. From 1998 to 2001, Dean hosted various radio programs in Houston at affiliates such as KODA-FM, KKBQ-FM and KLDE-FM. Dean is also an occasional guest on the Fox News show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.

Personal life[link]

Dean was born in Toronto and grew up in Ottawa. She was married in 2007 to a New York Fire Department Member. They have two children, born in 2009 and 2011.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bio on FOXNews.com
• Five Minutes w/ Janice Dean (FOXNews.com)

Gretchen Carlson
During an interview on Fox and Friends
Born	Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (1966-06-21) June 21, 1966 (age 46) Anoka, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation	Co-host of Fox & Friends (Fox News Channel)
Spouse	Casey Close[1]
Website
Biography on FoxNews.com

Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American television personality who currently co-hosts the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends along with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. An accomplished violinist and winner of the 1989 Miss America Pageant while representing her native Minnesota, Carlson graduated from Stanford University before embarking on a career as a television journalist. Gaining experience as anchor and reporter for several local network affiliates before joining CBS News as correspondent in 2000, she later became co-host of the Saturday Early Show. In 2005 Carlson moved to Fox News and became the regular co-host of Fox & Friends a year later. Carlson continues to work with the Miss America pageant and serves as a national celebrity spokesperson for March of Dimes.

Early life[link]

Carlson was raised in Anoka, Minnesota and graduated from Anoka-Hennepin School District 11's Anoka High School, where she was the 1984 class valedictorian.^[2] One of her childhood nannies was Michele Bachmann, the future Republican congresswoman.^[3] Growing up, Carlson was an accomplished violinist winning numerous local and national competitions. She performed as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra as an 8th grader and was the Concertmistress for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony. She spent five summers studying at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Winner of several Concerto Competitions at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, she was also featured as a soloist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.^[4]

In 1984, she was elected as one of the Anoka Homecoming attendants and was named Miss Teen Minnesota and was first runner-up in the 1984 Miss Teen USA National competition.^[4] Carlson won the title of Miss Minnesota in 1989 ^[5] and became the third woman from Minnesota to win the Miss America title. For the talent competition, Carlson played Zigeunerweisen, the violin composition of Sarasate.

Carlson graduated cum laude from Stanford University in 1990, with a degree in sociology (organizational behavior). While at Stanford University, she studied abroad at Oxford University.^[6]

On October 4, 1997, Carlson married sports agent Casey Close.^[7][8] They have two children.^[9] In September, 2011, Carlson was named to the inaugural class of the Anoka High School Hall of Fame.^[4][10]

Career[link]

Carlson was previously the co-anchor of the Saturday Early Show, on CBS, along with Russ Mitchell. She joined CBS News as a correspondent in 2000, and began working on The Early Show in 2002. Before her tenure at CBS, Carlson served as a weekend anchor and reporter for KXAS-TV in Dallas, Texas, was an anchor and reporter at WOIO-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, and for WCPO-TV, in Cincinnati. She began her television career in Richmond, Virginia, as a political reporter for WRIC-TV.^[9] She began her media career in a franchise called Neighborhood News.

Carlson was moved to Fox & Friends initially as a weekend substitute host. But on September 25, 2006, a shifting of anchors, which included E.D. Hill moving to the 10 a.m. hour of Fox News Live opened a weekday slot on Fox & Friends, which Carlson filled. She co-hosts the show with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade.

She announced on Fox & Friends on June 9, 2009 (also repeated on Glenn Beck's Fox News television program the same day) that her parents' car dealership had been selected for closing as part of the General Motors reorganization and bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.^[11][12] The dealership, Lee Carlson's Main Motors, has been operating since 1919, and is still open.^[13]

Controversy[link]

On Fox & Friends, during a January 10, 2007 interview with Dan Bartlett, Counselor to then-President George W. Bush, Carlson labeled Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy a "hostile enemy" of the United States, "right here on the home front." Bartlett replied "Well, we don't view Ted Kennedy as a hostile enemy. We do view him to be an open and often critic of the war. He has been from the very outset. I don't think that's anything new."^[14] Keith Olbermann chose her as that day's "Worst Person in the World" on that night's broadcast of his show Countdown,^[15] while Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post called it "the Fox News exchange of the day", and asked, "Doesn't the Constitution allow for dissent?"^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fox & Friends

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Andrew "Andy" Levy (born August 11, 1966) is a commentator and humorist, best known for appearing on the Fox News Channel late night show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, where he has served as the show's "ombudsman"^[1] since its debut on February 5, 2007. He is known for his deadpan delivery and libertarian politics.

Early years[link]

Levy is an alumnus of Smithtown High School East, the same high school Soledad O'Brien attended.^[2] He also graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army (he served as a 31K Combat Signaler); his first permanent duty station was on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea in the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, part of the 2nd Infantry Division. He also served in the 4th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Hollywood career[link]

He worked for three years as an associate producer at NBC News in Washington, DC, before relocating to Los Angeles. Levy worked in Hollywood for ten years, including stints as the publicist for the 69th Annual Academy Awards and an executive with the Directors Guild of America. While in Los Angeles he also played keyboards for singer/songwriter Dalton Grant and the self-described World’s Greatest Cover Band, Suite 69. He also blogged as the Cranky Insomniac, a blog that has been inactive since 2006.

[edit] Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld

On the show "Red Eye," Levy, referred to as "TV's Andy Levy" or "TV's Very Own Andy Levy," runs the "Halftime Report" and "Postgame Wrap-Up" segments. Since early 2009 he also appears on a brief "Pre-Game" segment at the beginning of the broadcast. Levy also occasionally delivers fake “Fox News Alerts," such as announcing that the newsroom soda machine was out of Mr. Pibb—and segments such as “Twitter News,” in which he reported on matters of "grave national concern," such as pop star Taylor Swift receiving free floss from her dentist. Levy's catch phrase is "I apologize for nothing."^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Levy's Twitter page
• The Cranky Insomniac Blog
• The Activity Pit

Howard Kurtz
Kurtz at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Knife Fight
Born	Howard Alan Kurtz (1953-08-01) August 1, 1953 (age 58) Brooklyn, New York
Education	University at Buffalo
Occupation	Journalist

Howard "Howie" Alan Kurtz (born August 1, 1953) is an American journalist and author with a special focus on the media. He is host of CNN's Reliable Sources program, and Washington bureau chief for The Daily Beast. He is the former media writer for The Washington Post. He has written five books about the media. He has been described as the nation's "most influential media reporter".^[1]

Life and career[link]

Kurtz was born in Brooklyn, New York in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood.^[1] He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo (SUNY). In college he worked on a student newspaper, the "Spectrum", becoming the editor in his senior year.^[1] He then attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. After Columbia he went to work for the Bergen Record in New Jersey.^[1] He left New Jersey to move to Washington D.C. and to work as a reporter for syndicated columnist Jack Anderson.^[1] Kurtz left Anderson to join the Washington Star, an afternoon newspaper. When that newspaper closed in 1981 Kurtz was hired at the Washington Post by Bob Woodward, then the Metro editor. Kurtz has written for The New Republic, The Washington Monthly, and New York magazine.

Kurtz married Sheri Annis in May, 2003. Annis, a media consultant and political commentator, served as campaign spokesperson for Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and has played major roles in various conservative initiatives, including California's Proposition 227 and Proposition 209.^[2]

[edit] The Washington Post

Kurtz joined the staff of the Washington Post in 1981 and left in 2010 (29 years). He served there as a national affairs correspondent, New York bureau chief, and deputy national editor.^[3] Kurtz covered the press since 1990 for the The Washington Post,^[4] and is widely read within the journalism business. His last day at The Washington Post was October 15, 2010.^[5]

Reliable Sources on CNN[link]

Since 1998 Kurtz has been the host of the weekly CNN program Reliable Sources, a cable television program that explores the standards, performance and biases of the media.^[6] Kurtz leads the scrutinizing of the media's fairness and objectivity by questioning journalists of top news organizations, including those at CNN.^[7] The show premiered in 1992 when it originated as a one hour special to discuss the media's coverage of the Persian Gulf War.^[8]

[edit] The Daily Beast

In October 2010, Kurtz announced that he was moving to the online publication The Daily Beast.^[9] He will serve as the Washington bureau chief for the website, writing on media and politics.^[10][11] His salary at The Daily Beast has been reported to be $600,000 a year.^[12]

Books[link]

[edit] Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers

This 1993 book by Kurtz identifies a host of problems afflicting U.S. newspapers and also offers some suggestions. Among the troubles identified by Kurtz are: timid leadership, a spreading "tabloid" approach to news with a growing focus on celebrities and personal scandal, poor coverage of racial issues and the Persian Gulf war, increasing bureaucracy and a "pasteurization" of the news.^{[13] [14]}

[edit] Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time

This 1997 book by Kurtz describes many failings of the talk show / political talk show format even as it had been rapidly proliferating on television and radio. Some of the problems he identifies include: superficiality, lies, hysteria, lack of preparation, sensationalism and conflicts of interest. ^[15]

[edit] Spin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine

This 1998 book by Kurtz describes the various techniques used by the Clinton White House to put the best possible "spin" on the numerous controversies and scandals surrounding the Clintons and to refocus the attention of the media on topics other than "non-issues" that were captivating the media's focus.^[16][17]

[edit] The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation

This 2000 book by Kurtz addresses the growing public fascination with stock market trading as fueled by cable television shows and Internet sites providing platforms to various pundits, stock touts, and brokerage firm stock analysts. The increasing potential for manipulation of the media and the public by stock market insiders is discussed.^[18][19]

[edit] Reality Show: Inside the Last Great Television News War

This 2007 book by Kurtz chronicles the struggles at the three "traditional" broadcast television networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) to enhance the stature, credibility and audience-draw of their various anchors of the evening network news programs. The book's focus is specifically on ABC's Charles Gibson, CBS's Katie Couric and NBC's Brian Williams.^[20][21]

Personal opinions and potential conflicts of interest[link]

Kurtz has publicly declined to state his political affiliation.^[22] His opinions on various media issues are featured in his five published books about the media industry.

As a high-profile media critic and analyst, Kurtz's political leanings, multiple employers and potential conflicts of interest sometimes have been discussed or called into question by other media critics and pundits. Both liberal and conservative viewpoints have been perceived in his writing.^[1] Journalist Mickey Kaus, reporting on and partially quoting from a letter by journalist Charles Kaiser in The New Republic, wrote that Kurtz "has large, non-technical conflicts of interest, since he free-lances and takes money 'from the people he writes about, from Time Warner to Condé Nast.'... One seemingly conflicting interest is Kurtz co-hosting CNN's Reliable Sources, in of which he obtains monetary supplements as well as national renown."^[23]

Kurtz has received criticism from some for his perceived friendship and implicit support of controversial syndicated radio host Don Imus. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly has criticized Kurtz for criticizing Fox News. The network had covered a story about the United States Justice Department regarding its prosecution of members of the New Black Panther Party for accusations of voter intimidation during the 2008 United States Presidential Election. O'Reilly had criticized the network news media outlets, particularly Bob Schieffer of the CBS News talk show Face the Nation, for not asking Attorney General Eric Holder about the story. When Kurtz talked about the topic to his audience on Reliable Sources, he had mentioned that Fox News was "pushing" the story. O'Reilly criticized Kurtz's description that Fox was pushing the story and said that Kurtz's own newspaper, The Washington Post, had its own ombudsman Andrew Alexander say that it regretted not pursuing the story earlier due to newsworthiness.^[24]

KURTZ: I think the argument that I've heard Olbermann make in the past about Fox News – it's not an argument that I embrace – is that, because it poses as a news organization and puts out dangerous misinformation is a cheerleader for the Bush administration, that it's misinforming our society. But you know what? They're entitled to do that.^{[citation needed]}

Kurtz's 2008 “Reliable Sources” interview of Kimberly Dozier, a CBS journalist wounded in Iraq, was criticized by several media ethicists due to the fact that Kurtz's wife had been paid to serve as a publicist for Ms. Dozier’s memoir. During the interview, Kurtz praised Dozier and read passages of her book.^[25]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Howard Kurtz (1994). Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers. ISBN 0-8129-2022-8.
• Howard Kurtz (1997). Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time. ISBN 0-8129-2624-2.
• Howard Kurtz (1998). Spin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine. ISBN 0-684-85231-4.
• Howard Kurtz (2000). The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media, and Manipulation. ISBN 0-684-86879-2.
• Howard Kurtz (2007). Reality Show: Inside the Last Great Television News War. ISBN 0-7432-9982-5.

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Profile at CNN
• Column archive at The Daily Beast
• Kurtz's Media Notes on Washingtonpost.com (up to October, 2010 when he left the Post)
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Booknotes interview with Kurtz on Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers, June 20, 1993.
• Howard Kurtz on Charlie Rose
• Howard Kurtz at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Howard Kurtz in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Howard Kurtz at the Notable Names Database