Kirtzman and Weinberger Out at CBS 2

Brian points out that both Andrew Kirtzman's and Scott Weinberger's bios have been pulled from wcbstv.com.

Kirtzman joined CBS 2 from NY1 News on November 13, 2002, joining Marcia Kramer on the station's political team. He often contributed "Kirtzman's Columns" to the end of the 6:00 newscasts on Fridays, a political week-in-review of sorts. He began hosting "Kirtzman & Co." on September 7th of the following year. The show originally alternated with Marcia Kramer's "Sunday Edition" on Sunday mornings, but the shows aired back-to-back beginning in January 2005 and were later merged into "Kirtzman & Kramer" before eventually being discontinued. Since last year, Kirtzman most often served as a general assignment reporter.

Weinberger joined the station from NewsChannel 4 in October 2005 and served as its chief investigative reporter. He was behind several heavily promoted exclusive interviews, such as with the captain of the Staten Island ferry that crashed and the "Son of Sam."

The personnel moves come amid cost-cutting measures at other CBS O&O stations including KCBS in Los Angeles, WBBM in Chicago, KYW in Philadelphia, WBZ in Boston and WCCO in Minneapolis.

More Spitzer Coverage

Chris Wragge anchored today's split edition of CBS 2 News at 5:00 from Albany while Kristine Johnson handled the rest of the day's news from the studio. The two also anchored another 30-minute 7:00 special, called "Spitzer Resigns," and will of course be on again tonight at 11:00.

Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation is effective Monday at noon and that will presumably be when Lieutenant Governor David Paterson is sworn in. CBS 2 will likely cover that during the noon newscast.

Political reporter Andrew Kirtzman joined Campbell Brown on CNN's "Election Center" program tonight to talk about the Spitzer resignation and offered some insight on Paterson. This isn't Kirtzman's first time on CNN at 8:00 p.m. In fact, it was just about this time last year when he spoke with Paula Zahn about then-Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani.

CBS 2 News Covers Spitzer's Resignation

CBS 2 had at least five separate special reports as news of Spitzer's imminent resignation broke.

At 9:06, Chris Wragge broke in from Albany to announce the news that Governor Eliot Spitzer would announce his resignation today. This eight-minute special report included Andrew Kirtzman in the studio, Mary Calvi in Albany and Marcia Kramer in the newsroom.

Chris Wragge returned to the air at 10:10 with word that Spitzer was scheduled to make an announcement before the media at 11:30. Back in the studio, Kirtzman spoke with political strategist Joe Mercurio and Kramer was in the newsroom with more. This report went until 10:16.

CBS 2 broke in again at around 10:50 to carry Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's press conference. Dana Tyler and Jim Rosenfield anchored this special report and signed off at 11:03.

Tyler and Rosenfield returned at around 11:10 to cover Spitzer's transportation from his Upper East Side apartment to his offices on the East Side. Chopper 2 provided live pictures of the motorcade as Tyler and Rosenfield talked with Kirtzman about the implications of what was about to happen. Spitzer came to his podium at 11:43 with more apologies and, at 11:45, announced his resignation, effective Monday. His statement lasted three minutes. Rosenfield and Tyler then continued anchoring the commercial-free coverage through 12:27, the time when CBS 2 News at Noon usually signs off. Wragge provided several live shots from Albany, including a brief chat with political analyst Bob Bellafiore. Calvi also had a package air from the state capital. Jay Dow reported live from Harlem with that area’s reaction to the news that David Paterson is about to become New York’s first black governor and Tamsen Fadal had even more reaction from Midtown. John Elliott came on with a brief weather forecast at 12:25 before Rosenfield and Tyler recapped the morning’s events and promised to be back at around 1:00 with State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s press conference.

CBS 2 News returned at 1:04, going straight to Speaker Silver’s press conference during which he took questions from reporters. This ended at 1:15, when Rosenfield and Tyler tossed to Calvi, who briefly spoke with State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, the Brooklyn Democrat. This special report ended at 1:17.

CBS 2 News Covers Spitzer Prostitution Scandal

Jim Rosenfield broke in at 2:28 this afternoon with a minute-long special report to announce "a potential bombshell rocking New York politics at the very top." Sourcing The New York Times, Rosenfield reported that Governor Eliot Spitzer had told advisers that he was involved in a prostitution ring.

Rosenfield returned at 3:01 with exclusive word that, according to multiple sources, Spitzer would not be expected to remain as governor. He also mentioned that Spitzer was expected to make a public statement within a few minutes.

CBS 2 News broke in again at 3:11 minutes to carry Spizter's short statement via 1010 WINS-AM in which he apologized to the public and said that politics is about ideas, not individuals. A few minutes later, Rosenfield tossed to Marcia Kramer, who was live with more information from her sources in Albany. She was the first on the station's air to mention that Spitzer might be "Client #9" and said that rumors first began swirling last week. Rosenfield tossed from the newsroom at 3:25 to Chris Wragge in the studio. Wragge was joined by Andrew Kirtzman with analysis at the desk. This special report was 17 minutes long.

CBS 2 News at 5:00 with Wragge and Kristine Johnson covered the story with a team of reporters beginning with Lou Young at governor's office on East Side. Next up, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, who broke the "Client #9" part of the story, joined Johnson live from Washington with more details. Kramer had more on what's next, John Slattery had New Yorkers' reactions from Times Square and Dave Carlin was in Brooklyn Heights with a closer look at The Emperors Club. At 6:00, Sean Hennessey profiled Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, the man who is next in line to replace Spitzer.

Wragge and Johnson returned with a special half-hour broadcast at 7:00. Young, Rosenfield, Kramer, Slattery and Hennessey all provided reports and Kirtzman was back in the studio with more analysis. Wragge and Johnson also spoke via phone with New York State Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Republican, who called for the governor to resign. Tom DeLuca, a Fordham University political science professor, was in the studio for more discussion. This broadcast was repeated on C-SPAN 2 at 8:30 and at around 9:10 on C-SPAN with the two commercial breaks taken out. It can be watched at wcbstv.com here: Part I, Part II.

February Sweeps Begins

Nielsen's four-week February Sweeps ratings period begins today. CBS 2 News at 11:00 will feature an exclusive interview Pablo Guzman got with convicted murderer Danny Pelosi in a report titled "Murder in the Hamptons: The Next Chapter."

Two big news events happen to fall within the next few days. Sunday is the Giants' first appearance in the Super Bowl since 2001 and, while the game won't air on CBS 2 this year, CBS 2 News has been covering the Giants extensively. Ducis Rodgers' sportscasts have been originating from outside the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, where John Discepolo has also been reporting. Hazel Sanchez has provided reports from around the region as well.

And Tuesday is the largest Super Tuesday primary election in U.S. history with more than 20 states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, holding presidential primaries and caucuses. Political reporters Marcia Kramer and Andrew Kirtzman have been reporting on the latest campaign news and the station will undoubtedly provide extensive coverage on Tuesday. As for network coverage, CBS News will break in with updates during the 8:00 p.m. hour and air a two-hour special report beginning at 9:00 p.m.

CBS 2 News Reporters Across the Country, Around the World

CBS 2 News currently has three reporters covering political events happening outside of the tri-state area and providing live reports.

Marcia Kramer followed Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Norman, OK. The trip is seen by many as Bloomberg's testing of the political waters for a presidential run.

On the eve of the New Hampsire primary elections, Andrew Kirtzman is reporting from Manchester, NH. While he's been covering all of the Democratic and Republican candidates, his reports have focused on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton because of her local ties. Kirtzman reported from Des Moines, IA last week on that state's caucuses.

And Lou Young began reporting from Jerusalem, Israel this evening. He's making his 11th trip to the area to cover President George W. Bush's visit later this week. Jim Rosenfield was originally slated to take the trip and even spoke to NewsByte2 about it, but he fell ill at the last minute.

Kirtzman in Iowa

Andrew Kirtzman is covering the primary campaigns in Iowa for CBSNews.com. In his first post last night, he writes of how he keeps getting lost. Here's one particularly interesting passage from his campaign diary:

I have come to Iowa on a mental vacation. I'm a television reporter seeking refuge in the written word, unburdened by cameras, cameramen, sound bites or satellites. As the Iowa caucuses grew closer, I realized that this was the only place on earth where I truly belonged. And so I've run away to join the media circus.

CBSNews.com says that Kirtzman will be "writing regularly" for the website.

Kirtzman Discusses Giuliani on CNN

CBS 2 reporter Andrew Kirtzman was a guest on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" a few minutes ago. He was invited, along with The Village Voice's Wayne Barrett, to talk about Rudy Giuliani, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination for president.

Kirtzman is the author of the 2001 book Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City and covered the former New York City mayor extensively while at NY1.

"Giuliani, during his mayoralty, was the most incredibly combative, attack-oriented politician I have ever covered," Kirtzman said. "To think that Giuliani is this kind of benevolent figure is not really an accurate picture of who this guy is and I think if America is going to elect him president, they should know who he really is before they pull that lever."

CBS 2 Dumps, Reassigns and Renegotiates with Talent

The Daily News' Richard Huff says "It's getting uncomfortable inside WCBS/Ch. 2." Here's some more of what he reports:

Cindy Hsu's contract expires in March and will not be renewed.

Audrey Puente's status is still unclear. (John Elliott's first day on the air, Tuesday, was the same day that Puente filled in for Dave Price on "The Early Show," despite appearing to have a cold. She was introduced as being from New York's WCBS-TV.)

Veteran reporters like Lou Young are renegotiating their contracts to take pay cuts.

Political reporter Andrew Kirtzman has been reassigned to general assignment reporting.

Producers for CBS 2 News This Morning and at 11:00 have also been shuffled.

As for what Huff did not report, tech editor Brett Larson's bio was recently removed from wcbstv.com. He most often appeared on the morning newscasts (weekdays and weekends). A video search shows his last day as possibly being December 21st when he showed off the new Nintendo Wii system with Kate Sullivan. However, Larson appeared on Monday's taped edition of CBS's "The Early Show" and was introduced by Dave Price as being from WCBS-TV in New York.

And the same TVSpy poster who broke the news about Hsu and Larson mentioned that Long Island reporter Reid Lamberty is also on the way out.