Flash!(Tom Freston and Mark Katz create funny moments)(National Broadcasting Company Inc. not too keen on user-generated content)(documentary on Hunter S. Thompson being promoted)

Broadcasting & Cable, October, 2006 by Topcik, Joel

Edited by Joel Topcik Freston and Chernin Kill-With Hired Guns Joel Topcik Last week's roast of ex-Viacom CEO Tom Freston at New York's Center of Communications looked like a night at the Improv. Host Stephen Colbert was in full bluster, but it was Freston himself and News Corp.

CEO Peter Chernin who killed. Both are known to be funny guys, but this time, they had professional help. Freston pals say his bit was largely crafted by Mark Katz , best known as the Clinton White House's joke man. Katz, who also wrote for the short-lived ABC sitcom Madigan Men , is now "resident scholar" of the Sound Bite Institute , which specializes in humor routines and speeches for corporate bigwigs, including Time Warner...

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