Friday, 30 November 2007

The Press

Can you say "secretive?"


CNN lays down some limits on reportage:

The St. Petersburg Times first asked CNN executives in July to be allowed to watch the video selection process for tonight's CNN/YouTube debate.

It took until Nov. 19 to get clearance.

The time and place was not revealed for another week...

Among the things the Times agreed to before it could enter what a CNN executive called its "undisclosed location:"
  • No video recording.
  • No audio recording.
  • No mention of the specific questions producers are considering.
  • No pictures of the video screen where the questions are being reviewed.
The Times also said it would not publish the fate of specific questions.
- Aaron Sharockman, "Peek inside CNN's inner sanctum"

Wow, lots of conditions!  Somebody might think they had something to hide.



Link via: Romenesko

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The Press

Just ignore it, and maybe it'll go away


Today:

SO I LOOKED IN EDITOR AND PUBLISHER and there's nothing about the CNN planted-question scandal. There's one story on the debate, but it's a puff piece about a cartoonist getting his video in. Then I looked at Poynter and all I could find was this piece on covering the debates. But I'm not seeing anything about the planted-question scandal. I'm not seeing anything at the Columbia Journalism Review site, either. Journalism, cover thyself! - Glenn Reynolds
Yesterday:
JUST HEARD A LENGTHY NPR STORY ON THE YOUTUBE DEBATE, with a live followup from Mara Liasson -- and it omitted any mention of the planted question issue. - Glenn Reynolds

Reminds me of Rathergate.


Previously:  Actually, it's perfectly consistent

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Linkage

King Canute the Great exemplified


Via Howard at Etaoin Shrdlu,[1] a link to Seth Mnookin'sprofile of Universal Music's CEO Doug Morris.

Howard calls it "astonishing," and I agree. It's astonishing that Universal's publicists let this get out. Mnookin simply lets Morris talk, and Morris winds up revealing far more about the way the music business works, and why it's in the mess it's in, than he realizes.

If Morris typifies the executives at the top media companies, that would explain a lot. I could almost feel sympathy for them. Almost.


LATER, Elsewhere:  Reaction at HijiNKS ENSUE. (added 071210)
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[1] Great, now I've got two "Howards" to keep track of. (The other one runs Oraculations.)

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The Press

Ad revenue: Think it feels bad? It's actually worse.

Missed this week-ago post by Alan Mutter that inflation-adjusts newspaper advertising figures.

...1997 sales, stripped of inflation, would be worth $53.8 billion today in constant dollars.

If you subtract this year’s likely $42.7 billion in print-ad revenues from the constant-dollar value of the sales a decade ago, the difference of approximately $10 billion means that today’s revenues are nearly 20% lower than they were in 1997.
He has a scary chart which makes the decline easy to see. (Look at 2000's revenue peak, which would have been about $59 billion in 2007 dollars.)  Ouch!


Elsewhere:  On a trip to Detroit, Jeff Jarvis notices the changes.

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Thursday, 29 November 2007

Linkage

How Embarrassing!


Seems “they got better.”
Dead people.  You just can't trust 'em.

Tnx: Ace.

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The Press

Actually, it's perfectly consistent


Choose questions from Democrat operatives for the Democrat debate.
Choose questions from Democrat operatives for the Republican debate.

#7
On November 29th, 2007 at 1:52 am, DocattheAutopsy said:

...5000+ videos submitted.. and we get one working for Hillary and another working for Edwards. What are the odds?

Now we just have to find the one working for Obama.

#8
On November 29th, 2007 at 1:55 am, Michelle Malkin said:
Now we just have to find the one working for Obama.
See the update. David Cercone, the Log Cabin Republican questioner, is a declared Obama supporter with a blog at Obama ‘08.

Glenn Reynolds:
Message to CNN: It's called Google. Use it.

Pathetic.

UPDATE 071130 02:39: Later Reynolds:
Using Google for plane tickets is okay. But next time, try using them for . . . Googling.  [bolding mine - o.g.]

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In Passing

1968 Redux?


From our Coweta County correspondent, a pointer to predictions of events following a Hillary victory:

Forty years after 1968, she could find herself sitting in the Oval Office, alone with her “responsibility gene” and LBJ’s ghost. Facing a relentless war by Islamic fascists, she will be caught in the same vise as LBJ: pressed repeatedly by the GOP to fight back and win, hounded by the Wallace-McGovern-Obama-Edwards left to cut and run. And as they did with LBJ, the left will mean business.

The moment she does not move fast enough to “end the war” the left will hit the streets. Led by the MoveOn.org and Daily Kos types there will be marches on Washington with one of two purposes: ending the war or, failing that, bringing her down as was done to LBJ. – Jeffrey Lord: Hillary and the Ghost of LBJ
McGehee notes, “There are those on the anti-war fringe who would probably enjoy such a spectacle. They’ve been spoiling for it since 9/11.” He's right, but Lord’s prediction neglects two “elephants in the room” that could make a major difference...
more...

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Linkage

Makes as much sense as some of them


The gang at Althouse's house work their way up to considering an Elvira-Fabio ticket.


Sorta indirectly via Instapundit (except he probably didn't read the comments).

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Wednesday, 28 November 2007

Linkage

Eliot Spitzer aspires to be an LBJ


And that's supposed to be a good thing?

Tom Maguire has the story. This comment (by Jeff Nuding) could have been written by me.

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Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Rants

Another adventure in customer service


Tam tries to work out some problems with her cellphone.

Me: "I'd like to replace this old Audiovox."
Him: "What features do you want on a phone? We have..."
Me: "Cheap. All I want is covered buttons and more talk time. Your cheapest phone should be fine."
Him: "Well, even our cheapest phone is going to be $109."
Me: "That sign says $69.99 and the phone looks like what I want..."
Him: "That's for new customers."
How to chase customers away. I for one have resolved never to get involved with cable TV, because I'm unwilling to expend the energy to even consider the prospect of dealing with Comcast. Last night, talk over dinner with friends turned to cell phone companies, the first thing out of anyone's mouth was, "Remember, they're all weasels."


Related: From a story[1] in today's Wall Street Journal:
A vote today on a proposal that could lead to stricter regulation of the cable industry was in jeopardy yesterday, as internal squabbling at the Federal Communications Commission and outside pressure from Congress and the White House threatened to delay, if not completely derail, the plan...

A rejection... would be a blow to [FCC Chairman Kevin] Martin, who has come under pressure from fellow Republicans and free-market advocates to back off his cable-regulation plan.
Given the public's hatred for cable providers, instead of fooling around with more regulation the Republicans ought to be calling for a Waco-style assault on the cablecos' headquarters, taking care to sow the grounds with salt afterward.

It'd set 'em up to win in 2008, for sure.

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[1] FCC Proposal on Cable Industry May Die in Last-Ditch Haggling, WSJ, November 27, 2007, page A3

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