Daily News Feed 11.18.2009/Vocab: exegesis

‘Williams’ show renewed in key markets
Debmar-Mercury said its syndicated talk show “The Wendy Williams Show” has been renewed on the Fox Television Stations through the 2011-12 season. The renewal includes Fox owned-and-operated stations in the top markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas. The announcement was made by Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, co-presidents of Debmar-Mercury, and Frank Cicha, senior VP of programming at the Fox Television Stations. (Continue Reading…)

Janet Jackson confirms she is no longer dating Jermaine Dupri
That’s the way love goes. Despite reports that Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri are still a couple, the singer confirmed breakup rumors when she recently referred to him as her “ex.” During a radio interview with Atlanta’s “Bert Show,” Jackson reveals that she has a very short list of ex-boyfriends with whom she still communicates. “I’m not the type of girl that stays in touch with your ex like that,” the singer, 43, said. However, Jackson said that Dupri, 37, is an exception. “Jermaine is one of my best friends,” she said. “I love him to death. We’re still connected. We’re still good friends. We still talk.” (Continue Reading…)

Report: Little diversity progress among writers
The push to increase diversity among showbiz writers remains an uphill battle, a new report concludes. The WGA West’s 2009 Hollywood Writers Report finds “little if any” improvement in employment and earnings for women and minority writers. The report, authored by UCLA professor Darnell Hunt and recently posted on the WGA Web site, found that women scribes remain stuck at 28% of TV employment and 18% in features while the minority share has been frozen at 6% since 1999. “White males continue to dominate in both the film and television sectors,” Hunt wrote. “Although women and minorities closed the earnings gaps with white men in television a bit, the earnings gaps in film grew. These findings are clearly out of step with a nation that elected its first African American president in 2008, a nation in which more than half of the population is female and nearly a third is non-white.” (Continue Reading…)