Permanent link to MTA daily media news

No Rush for Clinton to Go, but it’s Still Advantage Obama
Poll Shows 64 Percent of Dems Say Clinton Should Remain in the Race

Obama’s Hot Air Balloon (by Pat Racimora at No Quarter)

Curtain Time For Barack Obama – Part I (by Evelyn Pringle)
Republicans have enough damaging information against Barack Obama to knock him off the ballot before the November election. Those at the top of the Democratic Party know this by now and voters need to recognize that if they nominate him they are throwing the election. Nothing else can explain why they would allow this disaster to happen.
Click through for a compendium of the information we know of so far that will be used by Republicans to scuttle Obama’s candidacy, once he has secured the Democratic nomination.

The General Election Map (by Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic)
Here’s the first Atlantic Election Map of the cycle based on interviews, reportage, polling and guesswork…
McCain’s base states + his leaners: 245 electoral votes.
Obama’s base states + his leaners: 221 electoral votes.
Message to Ambinder:  So you left Clinton out because she’s so much more likely to beat McCain?

Reposted from last Saturday:

Math that matters most… (by V at No Quarter)
Many people are asking. “Why isn’t Hillary leaving the race?” Or, “Isn’t the math prohibitive?” Well, the answer is given quite simply by Karl Rove. Now Karl may be a lot of things, but he is not stupid and he knows politics and elections. Unlike Hillary and her surrogates in the Democratic party, he does not have to say, “either candidate can win the general but Hillary is stronger.” He can tell the unvarnished version which is that Hillary wins against McCain and Barack loses. So it’s simple, a vote for Barack in the primary is tantamount to a vote for McCain in the general.
Click through for another study that confirms Rove’s analysis.

Electoral-Vote.com, May 10, 2008 (270 needed to win)
Clinton             280        McCain     258        Tie       0
Obama              254        McCain     273        Tie     11
Click through to see the maps.

In the Shorts (as it were) (by ronkseattle at The Confluence)
Clinton a 3-1 favorite versus McCain. Obama a 10-1 underdog.

What If Clinton Forces Second Convention Vote on Obama? (by Ron Winter at Ronald Winter Books)
A wide range of viewpoints comes into this site or my emails every day, and even when I disagree with the authors, I heed where they come from and what kind of demographic they represent. Virtually all of them are angry with Obama. He does not have the support of the veterans, he does not have the support of the active military, he doesn’t have the support of non-Democrat blue collar workers especially independents, and what with his latest shot at John McCain’s age, you can bet the senior citizens aren’t going to be on his side either. They’re seeing him as just another upstart who wants to discount and discard their years of sacrifices, contributions and knowledge and shove them off to the side whenever their votes aren’t needed…

I don’t believe I am the only person out here who sees this. I believe Hillary Clinton’s camp is well aware of it, even though her advisers say otherwise, as is Obama’s. Neither has the best interests of the Democratic party in mind, so neither will give up unless they are down, out and still getting stomped. So it is conceivable that we can see this fight go right to the convention floor, and regardless of the delegate count at the moment, it all can change in the super delegate numbers. That change could occur if the Democratic convention goes beyond the first ballot.
Well, Ron, Obama thinks he can make an end run around Clinton by simply declaring himself the winner.

Obama’s May 20 Bash: A Cynical Replay of Election Night 2000 (with update) (by GRL at InsightAnalytical)
[L]isten to strategist David Axelrod on WCCO, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, MN the night of the May 8 Indiana and North Carolina primaries…

He talks about the “inside baseball” of the delegate situation, then pins Clinton with the upcoming “train wreck” which will happen if she stays in the race until the upcoming Rules Committee meeting. Then he gets on his high horse and indignantly proclaims that “the IDEA of Hillary Clinton contesting the validity of Obama’s DECLARATION as the nominee of the Democratic Party is really a near nightmare and for Obama it’s is just a thorn in his side” at a point where he should be focusing McCain. (This after admitting that neither candidate has the delegates to win outright (but he as the “majority” of them, Axelrod rationalizes) and that Obama himself hasn’t sealed the deal because of his own primary loses…

Now, let’s go back to Election Night 2000. This should refresh your memory: “Bush Cousin Calls Presidential Election”  …

“By calling the election for his cousin when he did, Ellis proved instrumental in turning Bush’s loss in the popular vote into an apparently righteous struggle to gain the presidency. With a constitutional crisis looming on the horizon, pundits called for Gore, and not Bush, to be a ‘patriot’ and concede. In a fair count, without shenanigans or election irregularities, the Miami Herald estimated Gore would have won Florida by 23,000 votes. The Bush strategy all along was to prevent a recount and run out the clock — which he succeeded in doing, eventually winning the state and the presidency by a few hundred votes. The strategy only worked because Ellis coronated him the winner.”

If this doesn’t sound like deja vu all over again…. And see how cowardly the Dems were and still are???…

“But by attenuating the election, the Vice-President is walking a fine line between perseverance and pigheadedness. The unspoken fear of some congressional Democrats is that if Gore lingers too long in the land of chad, voters will turn on them in much the same way they turned on Bill Clinton’s impeachment tormentors in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. The backlash could undermine Hill Democrats’ plans for hog-tying President Bush and gliding to big gains in the 2002 midterm elections. After all, no one wants to be branded a member of the Sore Loser Party.”
Click through for a link to video discussing the Obama victory grab.

When Pundits Decide (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
The NY Times caught the same thing that I noticed the night of the Indiana/NC primary and front paged this story about their absolute hubris. “The moment came shortly after midnight Eastern time, captured in a devastatingly declarative statement from Tim Russert of NBC News: ‘We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be, and no one’s going to dispute it,’ he said on MSNBC.”

Lest we forget….. (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
It’s all about them you see. “Mrs Clinton would be a very good story. Though truth be told the Clinton people have been quite outstandingly good at alienating reporters…” If she had only been a little bit nicer to the press. Can’t you all see that it is not their duty to bring us the news, it is Sen. Clinton’s duty to be nice to them?

Obama in Ky. makes it clear he’s moved on to November
LOUISVILLE — The week before Kentucky’s Democratic presidential primary, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama gave a general election speech that hit at likely GOP nominee John McCain while also laying out policy goals and emphasizing the campaign’s theme of change.

Obama keeps on repudiating boomers (by Jonathan Martin at Politico)
But now with a general election twist. Making a token appearance today in veteran-heavy West Virginia, Obama will say this at a rally: “One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country’s call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated.” Not only is Obama underlining his generational distance from the boomers, but he’s also reaching out to swing voters with a back of the hand at the cultural left.
So maybe he thinks he can win over the Ron Winters of the world (see above) by saying things like this, but how is this going to create any unity?  Forty years later the wounds of Vietnam are still raw, so the candidate of Unity pours salt on them?  Divisiveness, thy name is Obama. 

Obama sporting flag pin as he campaigns in W. Virginia
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, who labeled discussion of whether he wears a flag pin in his lapel a false issue in a debate with Hillary Clinton, was wearing one Monday as he campaigned in West Virginia ahead of Tuesday’s primary vote there.
Does anyone have a photo?

Obama & The 48 Laws of Power (by Mel at No Quarter)
Law 1 Never Outshine the Master
Always claiming to be the underdog!
Law 2 Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Obama in his own books always claimed himself to be a loner!
Law 3 Conceal your Intentions
Never talking on specifics, just things like “Hope, Change and Dreams”
Law 4 Always Say Less than Necessary
As exibited in every debate when confronted from Rezko to Wright to Ayers!…
Basic bottom line:
Obama and Axelrod have conned you and the Media by following rules that deceive you!
Sounds like the teachings of Leo Strauss, father of the neocons, who advocated fooling the stupid masses with myths that make them feel good.  Click through to read the rest of the laws.

How A Candidate-Based “Movement” Can Be Harmful (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Chris Bowers notices: “The moment when dislike of Hillary Clinton is combined with calls for Democrats to compromise in the manner of Jim Cooper [Obama’s health care advisor, a Democrat who scuttled health care reform in the early 90s], and it is all justified by citing David Brooks, is a moment when I really fear for the internal logic of some Barack Obama support. It is the moment when I fear we all become practioners of High Broderism: mean, left-wing Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton, are holding up reasonable compromises on Social Security, Iraq, FISA, torture, bankruptcy protection, global warming, etc. It is an argument I heard for years from the national media, long before the primary campaign began. To now be hearing it in the top recommended dairy at Daily Kos bothers me quite a bit.”… Now he notices?… It’s too late now. The Netroots gave in to Obama’s triangulation long ago. That is what happens when the candidate is more important than the issues.

Obama to Supers: Give Me the Nomination or Else (by Michael Begala at MyDD)
Though he’s actually trying his level best to stay in step with the media herd riding Hillary Clinton into the ground, Jonathan Alter unwittingly dropped this interesting tidbit in the May 19 issue of Newsweek. “For all the talk of numbers, there’s one that will be most important for superdelegates: 1.5 million. That reflects the 1.5 million names of donors that the Obama campaign has on file. Because no contribution below $200 is publicly reported, the vast majority of those names are in Obama’s exclusive possession, to be shared as he wishes…” You read it right. This, in effect, is threatening to cripple the fundraising ability of the Democratic party if Obama is not given the nomination. He is telling superdelegates, “give me the nomination or risk losing your office for lack of campaign funds.” The unmitigated gall of this man. Threatening to weaken the party and cost the Democrats offices, all if he doesn’t get the nomination he feels so entitled to.

Strong Majority Of African Americans Want Unity Ticket (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
This is a wonderful finding from an ABC/WaPo poll: “Clinton continues as the preferred choice as Obama’s running mate, with 39 percent of Democrats saying they’d like him to pick her if he’s the nominee. That peaks at 59 percent of African-Americans, 47 percent of Clinton supporters and 42 percent of women (vs. 34 percent of men). There’s also an indication that Clinton on the ticket would be a slight net plus in the general election…” It turns out that the only people against a Unity Ticket are Ted Kennedy, Mark Cohen and Creative Class bloggers. Obama’s strong African American base want unity as do Clinton supporters. The divisive ones are people like Kennedy, Cohen and the Creative Class bloggers. I must admit I feel vindicated by this finding.
Surely, this can only mean that a majority of African Americans don’t believe in the racist crap the Obama campaign has thrown at the Clintons.  It’s amazing what the Obamamedia will fall for.

The Irony (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
John Edwards was just on Larry King and let me tell you I am so impressed with the way he is handling himself. Here is a Democrat that realizes how important having a unified Democratic Party is for November. He has been gracious and complimentary to both candidates. Just what all the Party Elders should be doing. But Edwards said something that really struck me – Hillary Clinton has become a terrific candidate, just about the time that her chances for winning the nomination are dimming. The irony hurts, especially for Clinton supporters I imagine. A candidate is responsible for his or her campaign of course and Hillary Clinton is responsible for hiring Mark Penn, clearly her biggest mistake. But there can be no doubt that Hillary Clinton is now a terrific candidate, much better than I ever imagined she could be.

South Dakota for Hillary Announces Endorsement of 41 Former State Legislators and Constitutional Officers (Hillary for President)
The Clinton campaign today announced the endorsement of 41 former South Dakota state legislators and constitutional officers. These officials, with over 330 years of combined experience in public service to the state of South Dakota, endorsed Hillary because of her readiness to serve on day one and her plans to jumpstart the economy and help consumers struggling with rising gas prices. “After seven years of an Administration that favored the special interests at every turn, South Dakotans need a President who will stand with them,” said former State Representative Al Waltman. “Hillary Clinton has real solutions to our economic problems, to skyrocketing energy prices and to ending the war in Iraq, and she has the experience and resolve to make those plans a reality. Hillary is the candidate who can beat John McCain in the fall and start turning this country around on day one in the White House.”

11-year-old gives $440 to Clinton campaign (thanks to TeresaInPa at MyDD)
When [11-year-old Dalton] Hatfield presented former President Bill Clinton with a check for $440 after Friday’s rally at the Williamson Fire Station, the man who was once the leader of the free world seemed to nearly come to tears. “You sold your bike to get this?” Clinton asked the McAndrews, Ky. native. The reply was “yes” and a whole lot more. Hatfield feels so strongly that Hillary Clinton should be the next president he not only sold his bicycle, but video games and anything else he could find that “I could make money with” to donate to the former first lady’s bid for the Democratic nomination… And the reason he’s such a staunch Hillary supporter? “I think she can do just like Bill Clinton did in the ’90s and we can have a good economy,” he says. “I think the majority of people around here are struggling due to the economy. And she can get us out of the war.”

EXCLUSIVE: Military analysts named in Times exposé appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR (Media Mattes)
On the heels of an April 20 New York Times investigative report exposing the hidden relationship between media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, Media Matters for America today exclusively released an accounting of the analysts identified in the Times exposé and their more than 4,500 appearances and quotations on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, and NPR. The release documents just how far and wide the Pentagon program reached.

Media Matters for America headlines

• Fox’s Hemmer failed to challenge GOP strategist’s false and misleading statements about Obama and flag, flag pin, Senate record

• Imus corrected Dietl’s slur against Arabs: “It’s, uh, ‘camel humpers’ “

• Russert told Harwood, “Speak for yourself,” on the media as McCain’s “base” — but Russert’s colleague Matthews has said it too

• Previewing McCain’s environment speech, Reuters did not mention his voting record or include criticisms of his positions

• Drudge highlighted Financial Times quote echoing false rumor about Obama’s religion

GOP to attach telecom immunity to media shield law? (Think Progress)
Since February, when House Democrats refused to vote on a Senate Intelligence bill that included retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies, conservatives have been seeking to force the vote any way they can. Now, according right-wing insider Jeb Babbin, House Republicans may try to tie immunity legislation to a media shield law bill.

Gen Hood’s withdrawal leaves red faces at Pentagon
There are quite a few red faces at the Pentagon this week since it became known that the controversial Maj Gen Jay W Hood the “commissar” of the Guantanamo detention colony, which lies beyond the jurisdiction of American courts, was being withdrawn as the senior military official based in Pakistan. The credit for the cancellation to Gen Hood’s ill-considered appointment goes to the Pakistani print and electronic media, which decried the appointment and demanded that it be cancelled.

Egypt blocks opposition website
CAIRO (AFP) – An Egyptian government-owned Internet service provider has blocked the website of a leading opposition movement, a rights group said Monday, in the latest crackdown on the country’s cyber dissidents.

“I’ve always mistrusted that phrase ‘the reader wants’”
“How do we know exactly what the reader wants?” asks ex-New York Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld. “I think you should give the reader a fresh and original paper that’s very well-written and covers all sorts of things — social trends, fashion, the works but I think you are at your best when you give the reader something the reader wants that the reader didn’t know he or she wanted it till you gave it to her.”

This is getting personal (by Jonathan Maitland, The Guardian)
To don a cowboy hat or not to don a cowboy hat? That is the question. Ever since Jeremy Vine’s much talked-about attempt to brighten up the BBC’s local election coverage by “Going Texan” – by adopting not just the headgear but the accent – we have spoken of little else in the Tonight office. I found the whole thing fascinating, as it raises – apologies if I sound pretentious – one of the Big Existential Questions of broadcast reporting: to what extent should reporters put themselves at the centre of the story?

News outlets should bill those who benefit from “near-news”
Edward Wasserman asks: Where will news media find their next durable source of subsidy? He suggests papers start start charging for self-serving content — town-council actions rendered as news reports, and barely rewritten company press releases, for example — and label it for what it is. “Let those who benefit pay, and free up reporters for journalism.”

Tribune signs deal to sell Newsday to Cablevision for $650M
The agreement calls for the creation of a joint venture in which Cablevision owns 97% of Newsday, with Tribune retaining the remaining 3%. Cablevision will pay Tribune $612 million in cash and $18 million in rent payments for Newsday properties that Tribune will continue to own.

‘Newsday’ Sale Not Enough To Plug Tribune Debt (Editor & Publisher)
Tribune Co.’s $650 million sale of Newsday Monday gives the Chicago media giant some breathing room on its $12.8 billion in debt — but not much more.

Christian Science Monitor mulls weekly publishing schedule
Monitor insiders say a prototype of a weekly edition is underway and that the long-term goal could be to eventually phase out the daily paper, reports Don Aucoin. “Under this scenario,” he writes, “daily news operations would move to the Monitor’s website, which is heavily trafficked and considered successful.” Aucoin notes that the notion of the Monitor becoming a weekly paper has been floated for years.

Thomson Reuters and RIM Launch $150 Million Mobile App Fund (Paid Content)
In a strange but logical pairing, RIM, the makers of Blackberry, along with media giant Thomson Reuters, is launching a $150 million venture capital fund that would invest in mobile applications and services for the BlackBerry platform and other mobile platforms. Canadian VC firms JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners will co-manage the fund…both RIM and Thomson are Canadian companies as well. This comes after Apple announced its $100 million iFund dedicated to applications for the iPhone and iPod touch platforms a few weeks ago.

Magazine Publishes 100-Percent User-Generated Issue (by Dylan Steinberg, Folio)
For its June issue, Budget Travel has allowed its readers to generate all of the text and photography—only the “40 Best Deals” section was written by staffers. The magazine solicited some 2,800 pitches from readers, according to editor Erik Torkells. In the end, he says, there were 324 contributors for the issue. A piece called “50 Reasons You Love New York” elicited 500 submissions alone. “Let’s be perfectly clear,” Torkells wrote in a blog post for FOLIO:. “Making this issue was neither cheap nor easy.” The magazine paid “normal fees” to its contributors, Torkells says, as well as travel expenses for companions—“something we don’t do for professional writers.”
So Arianna, when are you going to start paying your contributors?

Clear Channel Sale Appears to Be Close
After a year of trouble and courtroom battles, two private equity firms looking to buy Clear Channel were close to settling with the banks financing the deal.

Clear Channel Expands Online Activities, May Include Pandora: Report (Paid Content)
While the effort to take Clear Channel private hangs in the balance, the radio network has an online expansion wave in the works—possibly including customized radio. Billboard reports that Clear Channel is negotiating with Pandora to offer its service across all of the company’s properties… Clear Channel launched its first national player—erockster—at Coachella. It’s also added Gracenote’s lyric service. And users will be able to install widgets for streaming a station from social networking profiles.

Losses at XM and Sirius as They Pursue a Merger
Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, the pay radio stations that are seeking to merge, both reported solid gains in subscribers on Monday although both also posted quarterly losses.

An NBC Goodbye for Leno After ‘Tonight’?
Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, acknowledged that the changing late-night landscape at the network would probably mean that Jay Leno would leave it.

Infinite Mind producer answers Slate’s shilling docs charge
The authors of a Slate piece titled “Stealth Marketers” wondered if doctors were shilling for drug companies on an episode of The Infinite Mind called “Prozac Nation: Revisited” on public radio. “We stand by the program and its editorial content,” says show producer Bill Lichtenstein. “To suggest that distinguished researchers such [the doctors who appeared on the show] are shills for the drug industry is bad journalism.”

Fox News fires staffer for McCain-will-win remark at party
Fox News production assistant Jennifer Locke told John McCain at last night’s Time 100 party that “I voted for you in the primary, you’re going to win.” Locke, whose remark was recorded on videotape, no longer works for the network.

HBO Shows May Sell on iTunes, for $1.99+
The higher pricing for some HBO shows is a departure for Apple which for years has insisted on standard pricing for digital downloads, at $1.99.

NBCU Set To Release Health-Related Online Video Net (Paid Content)
As expected, NBC Universal has finally made its foray into online wellness with the release of its Digital Health Network, which is mainly focused on the distribution of original video. The health video channel was planned for several months—we were expecting an announcement as early as March. The network will be up and running in June.

Yahoo! And Politico To Host Internet’s First-Ever On-Camera Interview With President George W. Bush
Exclusive Interview with the President to Be Conducted by Veteran Political Correspondent Mike Allen

Google Wants to Help Web Sites Make New Friends
Google Friend Connect lets small Web sites offer social networking features by tapping into the existing systems run by AOL, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and others.

Social Networks And Profitability: Facebook, MySpace Look Beyond Ads (Paid Content)
Much has been made about Facebook’s $15 billion valuation, but when will it start making some actual profits? Mike Murphy, the social net’s VP of media sales, tells USAT that’s the question he gets asked most often. The short answer: the ad dollars will soon be pouring in from the social net’s long list of marketing partners. But, as Bill Eager, co-founder of marketing solutions provider bSocial Networks, admonishes, “You can’t have a $15 billion market valuation based on advertising alone.” Some suggest that social nets round out advertising with premium subscriptions – as MySpace is considering – or licensing agreements.

Microsoft Partners with RIM to Integrate Windows Live on Blackberry (Mashable)
BlackBerry maker RIM (Research in Motion) and Microsoft … announced [Monday] a partnership that will bring BlackBerry owners easy access to Windows Live services – most especially Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail. Microsoft purports that this deal will enable BlackBerry users “an enhanced level of integration” by employing the benefits of “push” technology as well as online sync to manage both inbox and outbox activities to bring convenient near-real-time communications to a potential user pool of some 250 million existing Live Hotmail users.