Media & Politics
25-Nov-08
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Normally I would say “So what?” (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
From Politico: “OBAMA SKIPS CHURCH, HEADS TO GYM”… Now I don’t really care if Barack Obama attends a church, temple, mosque or gym every weekend. But he’s the one who made a big deal over his religious faith… It’s the hypocrisy, stupid!
He doesn’t need the South Side black churches any more. He’s made it. He can forget them.
Obama the Secret Progressive (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
From Chris Bowers: “According to [The Atlantic’s Marc] Ambinder, hiring centrists and Republicans for top positions in the Obama administration actually means that Obama intends to govern in a clearly progressive direction…” Put down your sippy-kup Marc, and check this out: “A senior Obama campaign official shared with The Washington Note that in July 2008, the McCain and Obama camps began to work secretly behind the scenes to assemble large rosters of potential personnel for the administration that only one of the candidates would lead.” WE TOLD YOU SO!
Bacevich: ‘I want to see President Obama explicitly abrogate the doctrine of preventive war.’ (Think Progress)
Earlier today, ThinkProgress interviewed Andrew Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University who has been one of the most astute foreign policy critics of the Bush administration. (Bacevich’s son died while serving in Iraq.) In his new book, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, Bacevich challenges Obama to “go beyond merely pointing out the folly of the Iraq war” and “demonstrate that Iraq represents the truest manifestation of an approach to national security that is fundamentally flawed… I would want to see a President Obama explicitly abrogate the doctrine of preventive war and to question fundamentally whether global war — open-ended global war — really provides the proper framework in which to address the threat posed by violent Islamic radicalism.”
Click through to listen.
Why Obama should end the “war on terror” (by Gary Kamiya)
Bush’s infantile response to 9/11 has harmed our national interests for too long. It’s time to declare it dead.
Now is time to get energy equation right (Miami Herald)
OUR OPINION: With prices down, we mustn’t lose focus on reducing dependence on foreign oil.
The power of intimidation (by vastleft at Corrente)
Jane [Hamsher]: “Many people managed to convince themselves that Obama was a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool progressive at some point during the primaries. For no reason as far as I could tell — his voting record in the Senate was pretty much identical to Hillary Clinton’s, and the people he surrounded himself with weren’t exactly “outsiders.” But in the midst of the pie fights, that hardly seemed worth dwelling on for the pointless vitriolic arguments it would have engendered. (emphasis added) I mean, it’s not like whether or not Obama was a progressive (or responsive to progressives) really mattered to the people who frequent left-wing blogs, did it? Or that the time to come to grips with that might have been back before, dare I say it, June?
The kind of cowardice Hamsher acknowledges here is far too prevalent in the nation, and we certainly don’t need it in the blogosphere.
Hillary Clinton’s Emoluments Problem (by Josh Patashnik at The Plank, The New Republic)
It turns out that the biggest obstacle to Hillary Clinton’s march to Foggy Bottom might be grammatical in nature. Adam Bonin and Eugene Volokh weigh in on the debate over the application of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Art. I, § 6, cl. 2), which provides: “No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.” As it happens, the secretary of state’s salary was increased by executive order this past January, which would seem to clearly disqualify her from the job…
The relevant debate here is whether the so-called “Saxbe fix” (named after Richard Nixon’s last attorney general, former Sen. William Saxbe of Ohio, who ran into the same difficulty Clinton is facing now) would rectify the problem: couldn’t the salary just be lowered to where it was prior to the beginning of Senator Clinton’s current term?… I tend to agree with Volokh and Bonin that the language is ambiguous and … no doubt Congress will resort to the Saxbe fix once again.
Rice Headed to United Nations (Political Wire)
ABC News has learned that Dr. Susan Rice has emerged as the leading candidate to be President-elect Obama’s nominee as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. “Dr. Rice, a member of President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council and a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, was involved in President-elect Obama’s campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser.”
Obama to appoint Melody Barnes as head of Domestic Policy Council. (Think Progress)
President-elect Barack Obama will announce that our friend and former colleague Melody Barnes will be named as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. The Council “coordinates the domestic policy-making process in the White House and offers policy advice to the President.” In her new role, Melody will be working with allies such as incoming HHS Secretary Tom Daschle to bring about comprehensive health care reform. Her policy portfolio will include issues such as education, immigration, criminal justice, and other domestic issues. Melody was a former Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, and previously served as Senior Domestic Policy Advisor for the campaign and as co-chair of the Agency Review Working Group for the transition. We wish her the best of luck.
Obama Taps Romer for CEA Chair (Political Wire)
ABC News has learned that President-elect Obama had tapped University of California -Berkeley economics professor Christina Romer to be the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. “Romer, a widely respected economist with an expertise on the U.S. economy, will be one of the key economic advisers whom Mr. Obama will introduce to the nation this morning.”
Obama’s Bureaucratic Economic Team–Recipe for Disaster? (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Is this change you can believe in? We are facing, so we are told by President-elect Obama, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and he offers the nation this team? You have got to be kidding me. These are nice people, don’t get me wrong. But genuine expertise with capital markets and creating jobs. ZERO!! Take a close look at the sparkly resumes of these so-called “Economic” superstars. Two government bureaucrats, one mediocre academic, and one hill staffer… How do people who have never, ever worked in the private sector qualify to create 2.5 million new jobs? These are intelligent people, but the reality is that they have spent most of their lives as academics or government bureaucrats. If the task is to create more government or university jobs they are mightily qualified. But as far as the rest of the economy is concerned, not so much.
It’s typical of Democrats to appoint academics to economic advisory positions. But Democrats have had a much better record on financial matters than Republicans.
The NYT Gets it Exactly Right On Obama’s Economics Team (by Dean Baker)
The editorial makes the points well (although the East Asian bailout belongs on the minus list — it leads to the over-valued dollar and huge trade imbalances that are at the root of many of our problems).
Chambliss Expands Lead in Georgia Run Off (Political Wire)
In Georgia’s U.S. Senate run off, a new Public Policy Polling survey shows Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has expanded his lead to six points over Jim Martin (D), 52% to 46%, an improvement from the three point advantage he had on election day. Chambliss is benefiting from increased support with independent voters since the general election. However, a new DSCC poll shows Chambliss leading by only two points, 48% to 46%.
VIPs continue to campaign in Ga.; Gore [Sunday], Giuliani [Tuesday] (On Politics, USA Today)
“It’s time for him to go,” former vice president Al Gore told fellow Democrats in Atlanta [Sunday] night. The 2000 presidential nominee was speaking about Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who has a Dec. 2 runoff date with Democrat Jim Martin as their battle over a seat in the Senate continues. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, Democratic and Republican heavyweights continue to stump in the state for the candidates. Next to visit: Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will be there on Chambliss’ behalf. Giuliani is due in Georgia [Tuesday]. The Democrats’ biggest star hasn’t made a run-off related appearance yet, though. Politico’s Ben Smith says President-elect Barack Obama has been heard on some robo-calls, though, and Obama also has lent his voice to a Martin radio ad.
Delaware Guv Appoints Biden Pal to Placehold Biden Senate Seat (by Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe at Political Punch, ABC News)
When Vice President-elect Joe Biden resigns his Senate seat sometime before the January 20 inauguration, his close friend and adviser Ted Kaufman will fill the vacancy until the 2010 election, a decision announced Monday by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and widely seen as a way for a Biden pal to sit on the Senate seat until Biden’s son Beau is ready to run for it.
I HATE nepotism.
Cuomo Favored to Take Hillary Clinton’s Senate Seat
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is emerging as the leading contender to take over the Senate seat of Hillary Clinton, who is poised to head the State Department after Barack Obama takes offices as President. Blogs and polls are showing a preference for Cuomo.
Lieberman lies: ‘I never felt that Barack Obama was unready.’ (Think Progress)
In an interview with Hartford, CT, local Fox affiliate Fox 61, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) denied that he had ever suggested that Barack Obama was “not ready to lead.” “I never felt that Barack Obama was ‘unready,’” he told the host… The host pushed back, warning him that bloggers who watched this interview “are going to have a field day with it.”
Click through to watch the video.
Obama Birth Certificate, Citizenship: SCOTUS Conference Scheduled for Dec 5 (by Mondoreb at DBKP)
On November 19, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas distributed Denofrio’s renewed application (for a stay of the 2008 election) for conference on December 5. The Supreme Court wouldn’t be anxious to involve itself in another US election, but it wouldn’t have to–IF the individual secretaries of state had fulfilled their duties. Three other justices would have to join Thomas in requesting a hearing. Four of the nine SCOTUS justices have to favor review for a hearing on the matter to be scheduled. Donofrio’s first application was denied by Justice David Souter on Nov. 6. The rules of the court, however, allow for a renewed submission to a justice of the petitioner’s choice.
The case has been docketed (docket no. 08A407, Donofrio v. Wells), but I can’t confirm the other information.
Digby asks a question about Spiky (by lambert at Corrente)
On Obama’s trial balloon for a 9/11 Commission-style, “modified limited hangout” approach to the problem of holding torturers accountable, even if not criminally culpable, Digby compares an earlier story from Salon’s Mark Benjamin with Spiky’s [Michael Isikoff’s] work yesterday in Newsweek, notes disturbing similarities, and asks: “Wasn’t Michael Isikoff supposed to be a crack ‘investigative’ reporter?”… Call me Pollyanna instead of Cassadra, but that reads very much to me like a “Come hither” to whistleblowers. Seymour Hersh expects that and so does Wired. And Spiky, being higher on the food chain than Benjamin, is in a better position to offer a listening ear — and perhaps a measure of protection. In other words, saying “Make me do it!” to Obama on torture may still be possible. [Emphasis added.] It all depends on what the civil servants have cached, and what they’re willing to reveal — or get themselves asked.
Make him do it—it’s what we had to do when he was our senator.
What is Nancy Gibbs talking about? (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The Time mag writer seems to be reading way too much into the Obamas’ decision to send their daughters to the Sidwell Friends school in Washington, D.C. Gibbs claims it revolves around the school’s Quaker background and then quickly gets bogged down in Quaker dogma:.. The headline also suggests Time, which received no insight from the Obamas about this choice, can read minds: “Why Sasha and Malia Will Go to Sidewell Friends”. In truth, Time has no idea why the Obamas chose Sidwell Friends. And the magazine ought to probably just say so.
It’s another way Obama is mimicking the Clintons, after having trashed them viciously in the primary.
Stay classy, Politico (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Politico’s Anne Schroeder Mullins: “People would like to know …does David Axelrod’s make up look different or weird here while he was on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace? Some viewers are saying he looks like a $2 non-family friendly name. We wouldn’t go that far but…you decide.” I understand that she’s a gossip columnist. And that the Politico is … well, the Politico. But is this really why John Harris and Jim VandeHei left the Washington Post? To preside over a “news” organization that uses an absurd “some viewers are saying” excuse to call the incoming senior advisor to the President a “non-family friendly name”? This is bottom-dwelling sleaze, even by the Politico’s standards.
Howie, you’re gonna have to do bet[t]er than that (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The WaPo’s media writer Howard Kurtz remains very troubled that the press is being too nice to the incoming Obama president. That he’s so popular. Last week, Kurtz went on and on about how the press was “hyperventilating”, without pointing to much in the way of evidence in terms of hard news reporting to support his claim. This week, Kurtz tries to keep the meme alive with by instituting the “Obama Adulation Watch.” For those with good memories, that will recall the “Clinton Suck-Up Watch,” which The New Republicran during the 1992 campaign and the 1993 in order to mock reporters who supposedly wrote too many nice things about the Clintons… You’ll notice there was very little concern in 2000 and 2001 about reporters and pundits sucking up to the new Republican president. That’s not a problem. It’s only when journalists go soft on Dems that eyebrows are raised.
Origins of opera: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
We’ll give the Washington Post some credit. On Saturday, the paper ran an editorial about Obama’s cabinet picks. In this passage, the editors showed they understand how language sometimes works: “WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL (11/22/08): Some critics are unhappy about the number of Clinton administration veterans—the derogatory word is retreads—in the new administration. As we’ve said before, we have no sympathy for this complaint. “… We chuckled mordantly at that passage because of what preceded it.
You see, in the paragraph which came right before, the editors used some derogatory language themselves! This language is used to sneer and roll eyes. But within the Insider Mainstream Press, this lingo is now required: “WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL: A striking, and somewhat unexpected, element of Mr. Obama’s choices is a degree of risk-taking and boldness. Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff is a smart but edgy pick. The will-she-won’t-she Clinton soap opera suggests a tolerance for drama in the service of an all-star Cabinet.” It’s now a mandate of Hard Pundit Law. In discussing Obama’s likely selection of Clinton, Village Insiders are required to talk about “soap opera”—“drama.” These are the derogatory terms for the negotiation between Obama and Clinton.
Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“I’ll give you eight months.” — White House press secretary Dana Perino, quoted by the Washington Post, on how long the “glowing press” will continue for President-elect Obama.
If we use what happened to the last Democratic President as our guide, it won’t be as long as eight months.
Byron York still doesn’t know why Obama ran for president (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The conservative writer … mocks Obama because he has tapped so many Clinton administration vets. Why the derision? Because, claims York, Obama’s campaign was all about change. And look! Now’s he’s hiring Clinton pals. If nothing else, York’s column provided us with a chuckle. We chuckled over the fact that York, who spent the last year covering the election, still can’t figure out what Obama’s campaign was about. Yes, it was about “change.” It was about delivering the country from change from the Bush years.
Um, that’s not exactly the way Obama put it. In fact, he went out of his way to say that in the last 15 years, it’s the REPUBLICAN Party that has been the party of ideas. Specifically, and purposefully, disrespecting Bill Clinton.
Denial, Cognitive Dissonance, and Hacks (by ghost2 at Alegre’s Corner)
In response to Mark Halperin’s comments on the ‘disgusting’ (Halperin’s characterization, not mine) pro-Obama bias during this election, Big Tent Democrat writes: “No one can doubt that Obama was the Media Darling. But for Halperin to pretend that he and his cohorts were not disgustingly bad, indeed they turned in the worst political journalistic performance in history (see Somerby, Bob), during the 2000 election is just shameful of him…” What the heck makes Big Tent Democrat so damned superior to Halperin?? It’s pretty rich of BTD to find faults with Halperin. Just this morning, he re-iterated his reasons for having supported Obama. Yes, BTD supported Obama because: “the Media loved him and hated Hillary (there is not a dime’s worth of difference between them on policy.” Yeah, he made that argument a lot during the primary, and felt pretty smug saying it.
Let’s compare this election with that other one with the devasting consequences, shall we? [In 2000], Bush is the Media Darling. The media hates Gore and constantly mocks him and manufactures stories about him. Bush doesn’t have much experience (or interest in policy,) but claims to surround himself with capable advisors to run his administration. Bush sells himself as a moderate Republican, so republicans and independents don’t find him that bad and happily vote for him. In a close election, the media makes the difference for Bush. Bush’s campaign uses falsehoods, funny numbers, etc, and runs a negative campaign. The media doesn’t call him on it. Meanwhile, They twist every sentence of Gore, and constantly create hysteria around Gore. After Bush is [s]elected, the media is still in the tank for him, with devastating consequences.
Yeah, same play, different actors, but this guy has a D after his name. What could possibly go wrong??
Stories and Numbers - a Closer Look at Camp Obama (by Zack Exley at Off the Bus, Huffington Post)
No one who attends a “Camp Obama” training weekend can deny that something truly beautiful is taking place inside the Barack Obama campaign. But beauty does not win votes. Is the campaign’s innovative, intellectual and emotional training program leading toward electoral power, or just another screaming disappointment for the grassroots?
“There’s no question that Camp Obama is a beautiful thing.” (by vastleft at Corrente)
I’d missed this story [above] when it came out. Now, I feel so much better about everything! The fact is, I’m fairly sanguine about the new administration. I think the combination of major crises, Clintonian technocrats, and Obama’s smarts means there’s a decent chance he’ll do a decent amount of decent things decently. But the other fact is, we don’t have a president, just like we haven’t for the past eight years. We have a king — or, more accurately, a leader of an ill-defined charismatic movement. He is in no way responsive to the public, certainly not the progressive half. He’ll be a good king, or he won’t. All we can do is lie back and hope.
NRA Propaganda At Nation’s Largest Gun Show: Obama Is An ‘Enemy Of Your Gun Rights’ (Think Progress)
Since Barack Obama’s election, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other pro-gun groups have been warning that the new president will take away their second amendment rights. This multi-million dollar campaign is already having effects. Not only is the NRA trying to profit off this fear-mongering by increasing its membership, many gun sellers are holding “Obama Sales.” On Friday, ThinkProgress visited The Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly, VA, where 1,000 vendors took over a building the size of two football fields. The NRA’s fear-mongering was all over the event. An ad in the Washington Post read, “GET YOUR GUNS WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!” While we waited in a long line in the cold, visitors willing to begin or renew their NRA membership were able to get in free and skip the line.
Freedom’s Watch is shutting down. (Think Progress)
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports today that Freedom’s Watch, the right-wing advocacy group founded by Ari Fleischer and funded by Sheldon Adelson, “is pretty much kaput.” Freedom’s Watch spokesman Ed Patru “confirmed that much of the staff was on its way out,” but refused to say if the group would continue in the future… Politico’s Josh Kraushaar notes that “the group is going out with one last blast in the Georgia Senate runoff” by running an ad that attacks Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin, whose daughter was kidnapped, as being soft on crime.
Candidate for RNC chairman was member of whites-only country club. (Think Progress)
TPM Election Central notes today that South Carolina Republican Party Chairman and recently declared candidate for RNC chairman, Katon Dawson, was formerly a member of a the 80-year-old whites-only Forest Lake country club: “Back in September, when Dawson was first quietly laying the groundwork for his RNC run, The State newspaper reported that he resigned his membership in the nearly 80-year-old Forest Lake Club… Dawson claimed to the paper that he’d actually been working since August to change the club’s admission practices after reading about them in the press.” In August, Dawson did indeed send a letter to the country club calling for it to open its doors to minorities. But Dawson, who had been a member for 12 years, only sent the letter after reports of the club’s racist membership rules appeared in the The State newspaper.
Dick Morris repeatedly promoted GOP PAC on-air without disclosing his financial ties to the group. (Think Progress)
Media Matters reports that in the month before the election, Fox News pundit Dick Morris “repeatedly used his columns and Fox News appearances to promote and raise money for the National Republican Trust PAC without disclosing that the organization has paid $24,000 to a company apparently connected to Morris, according to FEC filings.”… According to Media Matters, Morris made at least 13 appearances on Fox News during which he “repeatedly promoted, praised, and fundraised for GOPTrust.com — all while appearing as a Fox News ‘political analyst.’” The National Republican Trust PAC was responsible for the ads tying Barack Obama to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Click through to watch a compilation of Morris’s appearances.
Newspaper Chronicles Sharp Uptick In Hate Incidents (American Constitution Society)
Has a rise in hate-crimes and incidents occurred since the decisive presidential election of Barack Obama? The Chicago Tribune reported that since Obama’s election “a spasm of noose hangings, racist graffiti, vandalism and death threats is convulsing dozens of towns across the country ….” The article continued that more than “200 hate-related incidents, including cross-burnings, assassination betting pools and effigies of President-elect Barack Obama, have been reported so far, according to law-enforcement authorities and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.”
Did Obama break new ground on ’small donors?’ Yes and no (On Politics, USA Today)
President-elect Barack Obama received about the same percentage of his campaign funds from small donors as President Bush did in 2004, according to a study released [Monday] by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute (CFI), USA TODAY’s Fredreka Schouten reports. She writes that: “…While 49% of Obama’s funds through Aug. 31, came in contributions of $200 or less, some of the individuals who gave him that money came back to contribute more. As a result, only about a quarter of Obama’s money — 26% — through Aug. 31 came from donors whose total contributions added up to $200 or less. During the same time period in 2004, Bush received 25% of his money from individuals who ended up giving $200 or less over the course of the campaign, the center found. The comparable number for Obama’s 2008 Republican rival John McCain: 21%.”
Suspending Campaign Doomed McCain (Political Wire)
A post-election assessment by Wilson Research Strategies concludes that though Barack Obama “leveraged a Democratic advantage on the economy throughout the campaign,” it wasn’t until John McCain’s “ill-fated efforts to ‘lead’ on the bailout that he truly lost control of the issue.”
Yes, it was at the time of the panic that McCain’s numbers started declining. But it was the panic itself, created by Bush, not the suspension, that spelled the doom of his campaign.
RBC Committee Rigger; “This is the thing I’m most proud of.” (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
There’s a writeup in my local paper about one of Obama’s supporters here in FL talking about the Rules and Bylaws Committee travesty on May 31, where the nomination was stolen from Hillary by disenfranchising Florida and Michigan voters who voted for her. And he’s SO proud of it… “‘This was the best thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,’ Katz told about 100 campaign volunteers and donors at a reception Thursday night. ‘I’ve told my children that except for them, this is the thing I’m most proud of.’”… He’s VERY proud of the role he played in making sure the delegate allocation was wildly different from the popular vote in FL and MI, which should give you some idea of the uphill battle we have in trying to get nomination process reform going in the allegedly Democratic Party. There doesn’t seem to be much support for it right now.
Remember how proud the right wingers were of Katherine Harris, and the way she helped them install Bush in the White House?
The “Strict” 30% Solution? (by madamab at The Confluence)
[T]he 30% Solution is not just about voting. It is important to vote for women in order to achieve it, but in countries where the critical mass has been reached and surpassed, voting was not the only method of putting more women into national office. Some used quota systems, some revised their election procedures - some enshrined the percentage into their Constitution. In other words, the change occurred both at a grassroots level and at a governmental level. Thus, the entire responsibility for the success of this effort does not rest solely on your vote. In fact, one of my ideas for reaching critical mass earlier is to use our many, many PUMA voices to reach out to the RNC and the DNC, and demand that in 2010, the next slate of new candidates for national office will include at least 30% women.
Ga. Supreme Court Gets Active On Marriage (American Constitution Society)
Talk about activist courts. The Supreme Court of Georgia is actively pushing a statewide campaign to promote marriage. Through its Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law, the Georgia Supreme Court is hosting dozens of billboards with messages such as, “Get Married, Stay Married” and sponsoring conferences, Law.com reported.
Judges Need to Look (by Lou Fisher, Legal Times)
The federal judiciary should not turn a blind eye to the possibility that the executive branch has used the classification system to hide unlawful acts. Judges at least need to look at disputed documents. Unfortunately, one recent U.S. district court ruling-in an important case involving terror detainees who were most likely tortured-did not.
Alan Colmes leaving ‘Hannity and Colmes.’ (Think Progress)
Fox News announced that Alan Colmes will be leaving his 12-year gig as co-host of “Hannity and Colmes.”
Hannity to Go It Alone, Without Colmes
Sean Hannity would be the sole anchor of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” upon the departure of Alan Colmes, people close to the network said.
“Milk” Celebrates Life of Gay Activist (by Anne Shoup at the Center for American Progress)
Harvey Milk’s fight resonates today as gay activists fight against the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
76 percent of middle-class households not financially secure (thanks to Economist’s View)
Waltham, Mass–As the economy continues to reel, a new report finds that 4 million American households lost economic security between 2000 and 2006, and that a majority of America’s middle class households are either borderline or at high risk of falling out of the middle class altogether. The new report, “From Middle to Shaky Ground: The Economic Decline of America’s Middle Class, 2000-2006″ was published by the policy center Demos and the Institute for Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.
Bailed-out companies AIG, Citibank have no plans to cancel expensive sports sponsorships. (Think Progress)
ABC reports that “AIG, Citibank and a number of other federally bailed-out financial institutions have no plans to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in sports team sponsorships, even as they take billions in taxpayer support”.
So, after two years of crisis, we still don’t know how big the Big Shitpile is (by lambert at Corrente)
William Grieder: “Here is the ugly, unofficial truth that neither Wall Street nor the government will acknowledge: the pinnacle of the US financial system is broke — with perhaps $2 trillion in rotten financial assets on the books. Nobody knows, exactly. The bankers won’t say, and regulators won’t ask, or at least don’t dare tell the public. Official silence naturally feeds the conviction that banking’s problems are far worse than we’ve been told.”
Tax Increases Are Not Stimulus (by Dean Baker)
The NYT tells us that President Obama’s plans to increase taxes on the wealthy are not part of his stimulus package. It would be very surprising if they were since tax increases, even on wealthy people, are not stimulus. His plan to withdraw from Iraq is probably not part of his stimulus package either.
Help!!! (by lambert at Corrente)
This is a personal call for help from me, lambert. The plumber has just spray-painted the Day-Glo orange stripes on my driveway so he can bring in the backhoe, dig deep in my driveway, find the break in my sewer line, and repair it, so my basement doesn’t fill up with, er, solids — and it’s going to cost about as much as a couple of MacBook Pros. I’m asking for your help because while blogging has brought me happiness and fame, it hasn’t brought me wealth. In fact, my income is not middle class, and it’s heating season — and though our loyal subscribers have made it possible for me to be keep the servers spinning and be here 24/7, my plumbing disaster is a bit beyond the scope of our subscription base (or our newly sought advertising base, for that matter).
Please help Lambert, if you can.
Media Matters for America headlines
• Politico article on Obama’s recent church attendance ignored Bush’s sporadic attendance as president
• MSNBC hosts appearance by Mark Williams, who again smears progressives
• Morris on possible Clinton as sec. of state nomination: “It is the blonde leading the blind”
In Holiday Season, Some Papers Show Contempt For Readers (by Mark Fitzgerald, Editor & Publisher)
I know, I know, advertising is content, and readers come to newspapers for ads. While it is true that surveys repeatedly show that newspaper ads are not viewed as intrusions the way Internet or broadcast ads are — newspapers must realize there is a limit to how far news can be crowded out by advertising. It seems newspapers have reached it in this anxious holiday season when the annual increase in ad volume — even if that increase is not what it once was — comes at a time when decimated newsrooms are filling smaller newsholes. Anyone reading the first section of the Sunday Times could reasonably conclude there was not much there, that the $5 cover price — $5! — for the national edition wasn’t worth it, at least so far.
Consultant: Make radio like Wal-Mart.
For the next 24 to 36 months, media consultant Jack Myers says radio needs to run its business for advertisers. He suggests stations dramatically cut prices for :30s and strike multi-year, low-rate ad deals. Myers says “Radio needs to become the Wal-Mart of the media industry.”
Judge bars Argentine TV from airing suicide tape
BUENOS AIRES - A judge has barred an Argentine cable television station from airing footage of a former police commander shooting himself on camera to avoid arrest on human rights violations.
AP Lifts Ban on Military Photos
The Associated Press on Friday lifted its suspension on the use of photos provided by the U.S. military after the Pentagon assured the news cooperative that it would avoid distributing altered images to the news media. The AP also has strengthened its internal procedures for ensuring the integrity of photos from outside sources.
People Editor Calls Times Allegations ‘Totally Bogus’
People magazine editor Larry Hackett sent out an internal memo blasting the page one New York Times story Friday about People’s alleged shady dealings with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Hackett acknowledges that the magazine’s coverage of the couple has been was positive; but he strongly asserts that the magazine would never “purposely slant coverage as condition for acquiring pictures.”
Which ‘Working Journalists’ Could Work for Dan Abrams?
Last week, Dan Abrams unveiled Abrams Research, which puts working and ex-journalists in touch with companies so that they can provide “advice” on things such as PR strategies, for a fee. We and others thought this was maybe a little bit totally unethical. And so we thought we’d check with a couple of news organizations to see if they would allow their “top” journalists to moonlight for Abrams.
Watchdog group cites video games for violence, sex
WASHINGTON - Gang members slitting the throats of their rivals and beating up strippers. Combatants hacking away with chain saw-equipped assault rifles. Football players taking steroids and celebrating game victories with hookers. Those images flicker across the screen in some of the 10 video games that a media watchdog group warns should be avoided by kids and teens under 17. The National Institute on Media and the Family is unveiling its 13th annual video game report card Tuesday to help parents choose games that are appropriate for their children as the holiday shopping season picks up.
Parents Television Council Pillories GM and Nissan
Group’s List Aims to Shame Sponsors of Risque Shows
Facebook wins $873M judgment against spammer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Facebook has a won $873 million judgment against a Canadian man who bombarded the popular online hangout with sexually explicit “spam” messages.
Most Consider The Web Most Reliable Source of News (Media Bistro)
A Zogby Poll, commissioned by IFC, found 37.6% of those asked consider the Internets the most reliable source of news. 20.3% consider national TV news most reliable and 16% say radio is the most reliable source. Also revealed:
• 39.3% of those surveyed trust FOX News most for the issues they consider most important, followed by CNN with 16% and MSNBC with 15%.
• 72.6% believe the news they read and see is biased.
• 88.7% Republican and 57.5% Democrat respondents describe the news media as biased.
But hey, it’s Zogby.
A scenario for news (by Jeff Jarvis)
[H]ere is a snapshot of - a strawman for - where I think particularly local news might go…
* The next generation of local (news) won’t be about news organizations but about their communities…
* The local news organization inevitably will be smaller…
* News will emerge from networks…
* The heart of the work of local news organizations will be beats…
* Do what you do best and link to the rest will be a foundation of the future architecture of news.
Click through for more.
Redstone Weighs Sale of Theaters
In order to stave off dismantling his media empire, Sumner M. Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS, may sell his movie-theater chain.
Reader’s Digest Pushes on in Weak Climate
Mary Berner has been a jolt to the system at the Reader’s Digest Association since she became chief executive in a private equity takeover 20 months ago. She has replaced executives, sold unprofitable businesses, and even set out to change the company’s name. Most important, the company is taking risks, starting dozens of new magazines at a time when its peers are contracting.
Maxim, Blender Publisher Could Go to Creditors
The publisher of Maxim is in restructuring talks that are expected to turn over the company to creditors, in another blow to star media deal maker Steve Rattner. The negotiations are fluid and could still fall apart, according to people familiar with the discussions. Financial results at Alpha Media have dropped sharply amid an advertising slowdown, causing the firm to violate debt covenants.
Outside’s Go Down to Two Issues in ‘09
Outside’s Go the bi-monthly magazine aimed at “affluent men who have a taste for adventurous travel and the means to experience it in its rarest forms,” has decided to publish just two issues next year, down from its usual bimonthly publishing schedule. The magazine was a spin-off of Outside and launched in Spring of 2007, initially as a quarterly and then as a bi-monthly in 2008.
Book Publisher Suspends New Acquisitions
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which has undergone staff layoffs and other turbulences, has temporarily suspended acquisitions of new manuscripts.
Random House to digitize thousands of books
NEW YORK (AP) - With e-book sales exploding in an otherwise sleepy market, Random House Inc. announced Monday that it was making thousands of additional books available in digital form, including novels by John Updike and Harlan Coben, as well as several volumes of the “Magic Treehouse” children’s series.
Negotiations to put Beatles on iTunes stalled
LONDON - Paul McCartney said Monday negotiations on a long-awaited deal to make the Beatles’ catalog available on the online music service iTunes have stalled.
Blockbuster to rent through new on-demand device
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Blockbuster Inc. will start renting movies and television shows through a new gadget that may give consumers another reason to bypass the struggling video chain’s 7,500 stores. The new system announced Tuesday relies on a small box that connects to television sets and stores video after it’s downloaded over high-speed Internet connections. The player, made by San Jose-based 2Wire Inc., is built on the same concept as storage devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc. The devices are all meant to provide a bridge between the Internet and TVs.
Needed: TV Networks Bailout?
It’s D-Day for the broadcast networks. They’ve been living on borrowed time for the better part of two decades, thanks to advertisers willing to toss in more cash each year even as ratings slowly trended ever lower. But with the economy in a tailspin — and the Big Three auto manufacturers, some of TV’s best advertisers, near ruin — the biz may finally have to pull the emergency cord.
Informercials Replace Saturday Morning Cartoons
In an unprecedented move, Fox will program two hours of longform commercials on Saturday mornings starting in January. That’s believed to be the first time a major network has slated full-blown, program-length advertisements on its schedule. The move follows an out-of-court legal settlement with children’s TV producer 4Kids, which had been programming Fox’s Saturday morning kids block.
Forecaster lops 10 pct off 2009 online ad estimate
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A marketing research firm is dimming its Internet advertising outlook for the next four years, the latest sign of the more austere times looming for the high-tech sector. In revisions made Tuesday, eMarketer estimates U.S. advertisers will spend $25.7 billion on the Internet next year - about $2.7 billion, or 10 percent less, than a forecast from just three months ago.
Blogging at a Snail’s Pace
Barbara Ganley, 51, is part of a small, quirky movement called slow blogging. The practice is inspired by the slow food movement, which says that fast food is destroying local traditions and healthy eating habits. Slow bloggers believe that news-driven blogs like TechCrunch and Gawker are the equivalent of fast food restaurants.
Salon Cuts Nine Staffers
Salon editor-in-chief Joan Walsh said that nine staffers were let go last week, the first cuts since 2001. Overall, the Web mag dropped from 66 to 57 staffers. Walsh said that “it was personally very sad to me to lose friends and colleagues, but we did what we needed to do to preserve the financial health of the company, and I’m confident about our prospects.”
YouTube Widescreen! (Mashable)
YouTube [has] announced that they’re officially changing the size and aspect ratio of the standard video player on the site. “We’re expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don’t worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.” For all videos uploaded in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, they’ll appear inset, but the increasingly more common 16:9 videos will fill all available space.
Digital TV, real or converted, is holiday priority
Want a digital TV this holiday season? You can get one pretty cheaply, without changing your set. You don’t have to buy a new television — although some of you may want to; prices will certainly be low enough in hopes of spurring sales.
NFL Thinks Beyond HD, Tinkers With 3-D
Next week the National Football League is broadcasting live in 3-D a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders to theaters in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.
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