Good-bye Miss Nebraska, Hello Miss America!

Teresa Scanlan made history Saturday night in what was an evening full of firsts in the Miss America Pageant’s 90 years. At the age of 17, Scanlan is the youngest (since they enacted age limits in 1938) and the first from the Cornhusker state of Nebraska to win the crown. As Miss America 2011, Scanlan will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and to promote her platform of Eating Disorders: A Generation at Risk. She was inspired to take up the cause by a friend who is struggling with bulimia.

Scanlan, who turns 18 next month, is deferring her enrollment at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. But her aspirations to study law and become a politician are stronger than ever. As she told the Associated Press, Scanlan is going into politics so she can “stand up for what’s right, stand up for integrity and honesty.

“At this point, attorneys and politicians are looked down on and have terrible reputations for being greedy and power hungry and I really think it’s important for people who have their heart and mind in the right place get into those powerful positions,” she said.

The recent high school grad beat out 52 other young women for the ultimate prize at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, taking home a $50,000 scholarship sponsored by Artistry exclusively by Amway to continue her education.

First runner-up honors went to Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady whose talent performance was Vocal-Ventriloquism to “I want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” Eady earned a $25,000 scholarship while Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier was awarded $20,000 as second runner-up.

America had their say in another pageant first by voting online and via text message for their favorite contestants in the days leading up to the pageant. Miss New York Claire Buffie and Miss Delaware Kayla Martell won ABC’s America’s choice, both making headlines for the causes they represent. Buffie was the first contestant to ever run on a gay rights platform, and Martell hopes to raise awareness about alopecia areata, a disease that caused her to start losing her hair at the age of 13.

The Miss America Organization is the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women, making more than $45 million available last year alone. Want to see who won over the judges? Here’s Teresa Scanlan in her first press conference as Miss America 2011:

Check out the story in The Washington Post and watch her talk about her plans to run for President in 2028.

WHC Insider News 90th Anniversary, ABC, Claire Buffie, Kayla Martell, Miss America, Miss Nebraska, Pageant, Planet Hollywood, Teresa Scanlan

They’ve got smarts, talent, compassion, and a whole lot of gumption to be able to walk across the national stage in front of millions of viewers while balancing a tiara on their heads. But we expect nothing less from a future Miss America!

Over 12,000 young women made their way through local and state pageants this past year, and 53 three of them are about to face the final hurrah! This Saturday, the Miss America pageant returns to network television after five years on cable. This will be an historic night on ABC as 2011 marks the pageant’s 90th Anniversary.

For the first time in pageant history, Americans had a say in who they’d like to see in the finals by voting online and via text message. This week the contestants have been competing in preliminary contests and by Saturday evening, the field will have been narrowed to 15 finalists.

Broadcast from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, the pageant has become a showcase for what can be achieved by promoting education and encouraging hard work. The Miss American Organization made more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance available to young women last year alone.

The Miss America Board of Directors is committed to preserving this tradition of scholastic achievement and added Regina Hopper, President and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance and Miss Arkansas 1983, as its newest member in August to work for this cause.

But any Miss America is smart enough to know that it can’t be all about the books and that a sense of humor is an absolute necessity – especially being able to laugh at yourself. Here are a few takes from late night comedians, including ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, and CBS’ David Letterman with the “Top 10 Signs You’re Not Going to Win The Miss America Pageant.”

So, tune in to ABC this Saturday at 9pm EST to see who is crowned Miss America 2011 – until then there is plenty of action going on at www.facebook.com/MissAmericaOrganization where you can watch the preliminary competitions which wrapped last night, as well as get other behind-the scenes scoops.

WHC Insider News 90th Anniversary, ABC, Las Vegas, Miss America pageant

CNN may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but that’s about all they have to be happy about these days.

According to the latest Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first half of 2010 among both total viewers and in the key adult demographic. MSNBC also beat CNN in primetime for second quarter of 2010. Year to date, MSNBC is on track to beat CNN for the second year in a row among Adults 25-54 and for the first time ever among total viewers.

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is pacing to beat CNN for the year for the first time since 2000 in its time period. Meanwhile, CNN’s “Larry King Live” and “Campbell Brown” had their worst quarters ever among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. This was CNN’s worst performance in primetime in nine years, since 2Q 2001.

CNN isn’t the only one losing viewers these days. Turns out all three major broadcast network evening news programs were down in 2Q 2010 compared to the same period last year.

WHC Insider News Media 2010, 2Q, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Nielsen, Primetime, ratings

Just in time for its 90th anniversary, the Miss America pageant has signed a deal to get back on network TV. Next year’s competition will air live on ABC on January 15, 2011.

The three-year agreement with ABC comes after the pageant’s nearly six-year absence from network TV due to record low ratings. Since 2004, the pageant had been aired on cable channels CMT and TLC.

Though happy with the deal, Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, declined to discuss the specifics.

“It’s a wonderful deal,” Haskell said to the Associated Press. “It’s much better than any deal we’ve had in the last five years.”

In light of the recent spat between Miss America and Miss USA, Haskell says that this deal will reposition the pageant to separate itself from its competitor, which is owned in a joint venture between Donald Trump and NBC.

“No little girl walks around saying, ‘I want to be Miss USA when I grow up.’ She says, ‘I want to be Miss America,’” said Haskell.

Read more about the agreement in The Washington Post.

abernson News Media ABC, Caressa Cameron, Miss America, Sam Haskell

Remarks Suggest President is Open to an Investigation

April 21 — Press secretary Robert Gibbs faced persistent questioning from the White House press corps, which focused primarily on whether President Obama is now open to possibly holding former Bush administration officials — including the former president — accountable for CIA interrogation methods of suspected terrorists.

In response to reporters after his meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah earlier in the day, Obama said, “If and when there needs to be a further accounting of what took place during this period, I think for Congress to examine ways that it can be done in a bipartisan fashion, outside of the typical hearing process that can sometimes break down and break it entirely along party lines, to the extent that there are independent participants who are above reproach and have credibility, that would probably be a more sensible approach to take.” Read more…

BTriplett Uncategorized ABC, Bush administration, CBS, Chip Reid, Chuck Todd, Jake Tapper, Jordan, King Abdullah, NBC, Robert Gibbs, White House correspondents