The Finger-Pointing Game

"Ask Russ Mitchell whether his appointment as news anchor at CBS's Early Show signals that the network is concerned about diversity, and his reply is blunt.

"I've been doing this for 25 years, and there comes a point in your career where you hope your credentials speak for themselves," said Mitchell, who was named news anchor last week, three days after CBS announced the departure of Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler, who is also black. "I'm not some 25-year-old kid fresh from school . . . And I didn't get this job because I'm some black guy."

"Still, the names rumored as possible replacements for Syler --Weekend Today co-host Campbell Brown and Saturday Early Show co-host Tracy Smith, for instance -- wouldn't have brought CBS what it sorely needs now: on-air diversity.

"Consider this: Besides costing TV one of its best journalists, the death of news legend Ed Bradley in November also means that 60 Minutes will not feature a regular correspondent of color for the first time in 25 years."

Deggans faults all the networks for a paucity of black anchors.

By the way, Blog P.I. nailed it weeks ago, predicting that Time would name "You" as its Person of the Year. I like the blog's proposed cover design better than the real one.

Salon: "Apparently no longer able to withstand the barrage of criticism that came his way, Senator Sam Brownback says he will stop blocking the nomination of Janet Neff to the Federal District Court. Brownback, who has been positioning himself as the presidential candidate for conservative Christians, blocked Neff because she attended the same-sex marriage of her neighbor's daughter in 2002."

Finally, Harvard's sex magazine is in trouble. You'd think it would have a built-in audience.