The AMPTP has agreed to go back to the negotiating table with the WGA on November 26. In anticipation, the AMPTP took out an ad in Variety that was a bit factually challenged.

Phil Robinson turns the tables and gives some story notes.

Meanwhile, Nikki Fink writes about the coverage that the strike has been getting in Variety:

When the strike is over, and one day far into the future that will be true, media critics may have a field day dissecting the slanted coverage and total fabrications which Variety is reporting in these early days of the strike. But for now, I’ll do it. How much longer is this going to be allowed to continue by parent company Reed Business? The trade’s Jason Blairs — oh, excuse me, Josef Adalian and Dave McNary — keep inventing stories which purport to show that less than 2 weeks into the strike wither the WGA’s resolve is withering, and/or its writers are going back to work, and/or even its late show iconic hosts are going to double-cross their teams of scribes. Just one problem: those stories are either totally fabricated or highly exaggerated, made worse by headlines which are not borne out by the content of the articles. The latest is Variety’s bullshit article today that the late night hosts may be going back to work after Thanksgiving while their teams of writers walk the picket lines. I guarantee you this is not the case and no plans are underway. My info is that NBC is putting heat on Conan O’Brien to come back earlier than anyone but he’s resisting. I hear no one is telling Dave or Jay or Craig what to do, and they’re not even thinking about it. And I know that Jon Stewart is saying privately that he won’t even consider coming back until 2008 at the earliest. At the same time, the AMPTP keeps taking out expensive full-page ads in Variety to state its case — as if the trade’s editorial pages aren’t doing a ridiculously good job of that already. I, for one, am perplexed but also sad to see the day-by-day destruction of Variety’s credibility and trust (well, as much as a trade which has always been in the pocket of the Industry can engender…)

Variety is a publication whose revenues are generated in large part by (surprise!) the studios. Unfortunately, many people who are affected by the strike are looking toward it for factual information on a issue that directly impacts their future.

Kind of like throwing a lit match onto a pile of gasoline-soaked rags, you know?

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