Everything I know about media criticism, I learned from Stephen Colbert. So, I'm not stealing one of his signature bits - call it a homage....

A Tip o' the Hat to ...

Channel 3's Dave Walker and Lois Hart for their stern and dogged interviewing Thursday night of 4th Congressional District candidate Charlie Brown and a former Congressman, Doug Ose, who was representing Rep. John Doolittle (R-Roseville).

The subject was Brown's attack radio ads accusing Doolittle of tolerating forced abortion and sex slavery by supporting disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his defense of the garment industry in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

After Brown made his case, Dave and Lois threw it over to Ose to respond. But Ose was vague, evasive and attacked Brown back. Lois would have none of it.

"You're not answering the question," Lois (looking like a school marm in her new glasses) scolded. "Did Congressman Doolittle know about this (abuse)?"

More tap dancing from Ose, who then started speaking directly to Brown on the split screen. "Are you running for the Congressional 4th District of California or the Mariana Islands?" Then he started to list Doolittle's accomplishments for the district, but Walker slapped him down.

"Not to interrupt," said Walker, interrupting, "but the issue tonight is whether John Doolittle knew about this."

Way to go, Dave and Lois. You won't see them cowed by politicians.

But, a Wag o' the Finger to ...

News10's normally solid sportscaster Ryan Yamamoto, who chose to devote his three-minute "Friday Night Game of the Week Challenge" (prep football, version) segment Thursday night to seeing how fast cheerleaders at Sheldon and Laguna Creek high schools could scarf down a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

"Cheerleaders do eat!" Ryan gushed, as if viewers just figured they all suffer from anorexia. Then he proceeded to interview the girls about being an oppressed group ("Cheerleading really is a sport!") before putting the box of doughnuts on the sidewalk and unleashing the girls to eat them as fast as possible.

My, what good use News10 is finding for its its high-definition cameras. You could see every flaky crumb on the cheerleaders' faces.