Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“I’m sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me.” — President Bush, in an interview with CNN.

Resting a wee bit easier (by J -SOM at Liberal Rapture

Hillary Clinton will be the next Secretary of State… Other than the Kennedy clan there is no other political family that has been such a powerful force for good. (The Kennedys are behind everything from the Peace Corps to the Special Olympics.) Hillary has spent a large part of her working life on women and children’s issues. And The Clinton Foundation is a remarkable success. Of course, The Clinton “family” as a force is but 2 people. Given that one can presume that Obama will have to spend an enormous amount of time on the failed economy – Hillary Clinton may well carve out an enormous power base in the world and the White House. This would be good news. There are few people in D.C. I trust more than Hillary Clinton to be the face of America around the world.

If Obama continues to appoint Clinton Administration veterans I hope he has the good sense to get out of the way and let the grown ups do their work.

Clinton vows to make US force for positive change 
Hillary Clinton on Monday vowed to make the United States a new force for positive change, saying that as secretary of state she would work with the world community to solve global crises. “The American people have demanded not just a new direction at home, but a new effort to renew America’s standing in the world as a force for positive change,” Clinton told a Chicago press conference after being nominated to the post of secretary of state by president-elect Barack Obama. Clinton vowed to “reach out to the world again” after eight years of President George W. Bush’s administration and promised to give “this assignment, your administration and my country, my all.”

“America is a place founded on the idea that everyone should have the right to live up to his or her God-given potential. It is the same ideal that must guide America’s purpose in the world today,” said Clinton, who leaves a seat as New York senator to serve as secretary of state. Her nomination requires Senate confirmation.

World leaders welcome nomination of Hillary Clinton (AFP)
US allies gave a warm welcome to Hillary Clinton’s return to the world stage as US secretary of state but her husband,former president Bill Clinton remained tight-lipped about the appointment. In Hong Kong, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday congratulated the couple before she addressed the opening session of a two-day conference hosted by Bill Clinton in Hong Kong… China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi echoed Arroyo’s congratulatory words during a forum about climate change… In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said he looked forward to working with Clinton, noting she had stressed the importance of the alliance…

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, praised Clinton, describing her most appealing characteristic as “a determination to defy fatalism.”.. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the New York senator would ensure close US-Israeli ties… And French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Europe was ready to work closely with Clinton as part of a renewed trans-Atlantic partnership.
The only dissent came from Russia.  But that’s okay, she’ll win them over, too.

What should Bill Clinton do now? (by Joe Conason, Salon)
Critics worry he’ll get in Hillary’s way. But the new secretary of state’s husband is a great international ambassador for America.

Why Obama’s Got “Complete Confidence” In Clinton (by John Nichols, The Nation)
Obama is not assembling a team of rivals — at least not with the Clinton pick. He is selecting a fellow senator who he came to respect and even to regard somewhat fondly during the course of a difficult but not particularly destructive primary campaign. More importantly, he is selected someone who agrees with him on almost every significant global issues and who he is certain will be able Secretary of State… This is not fundamental change. But no one who paid serious attention to Obama’s campaigning, even in the early stages of the race, thought he was about fundamental change.
So why did The Nation endorse Obama over Clinton in the primary, if they felt that there was no difference between the two?

Cheetoland welcomes Hillary Clinton. We’ve ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia. (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Markos Moulitsas, king of the PsychObot Hillary-haters … [published]: ”Welcome Secretary Clinton: Obama’s Promises to Be Kept”, a headline that really does convey a Pravda-like odor. (The same person who wrote this piece apparently claimed recently that the SOS “rumors” were a Clintonian Conspiracy.) “Promise #1: Renegotiate NAFTA within six months” This one really sticks in my craw, since Obama lied so flagrantly about NAFTA during the primaries. “How wonderful that both the President-elect and his nominee for Secretary of State are so clearly on the record not only to force a renegotiation of NAFTA.”

Earth to Kossack: Obama is a LIAR. He said one thing about NAFTA in public, but in private, he had his economic henchman Austan Goolsbee assure the Canadians that he meant not a word of it. That, my friends, is called LYING. He was caught, well and truly caught. The Canadian government did a full investigation and pointed the finger at Barack Obama. Daily Kos is a refuge for liars. Why doesn’t the site link to this front-paged Kos story which asserted as ironclad fact a ridiculous conspiracy theory that it was Hillary, not Obama, who gave back-channel assurances to the Canadian government about NAFTA? (For the truth, go back here.)

NYT, please define “tough” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
At the newspaper’s blog, Sharon Otterman writes about Hillary Clinton’s upcoming SoS confirmation hearings. The headline: “Clinton May Face Tough Confirmation Questioning.” Sounds intriguing, right? Like a real political showdown is brewing. Well, there might be, but the Times provides no evidence to suggest there is. Instead, the blog post quotes Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN.) who appeared on a Sunday talk show and who said he would vote to  confirm Clinton for SoS, and that there would be “legitimate questions” asked about Bill Clinton’s post-presidential activities. (Lugar never used the word “tough,” or anything like it.) Talk about anti-climatic. Instead of “tough” questions, Lugar thinks senators will simply ask “legitimate” ones, which means Clinton’s SoS confirmation hearings, at least according to Lugar, will be pretty much be like every other cabinet confirmation hearing. Good to know.

Los Angeles Times, please define “challenge” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Is it just us, or are reporters just bending over backward trying to find some sort of conflict and tension as the new Obama administration is being put together. The latest to try the trick is the LA Times, whose headline claims “Obama’s picks challenge party.” Sounds bad, right?… But once again, there’s hardly any there there. The only real evidence of the vacancy challenge is that Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who is set to become the head of Homeland Security, may be replaced by a Republican in Arizona. That hardly stands out as unusual in terms of transition teams. 

CDS, via Slate (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Just when you thought the Village couldn’t get any creepier, Emily Yoffe at Slate delivers: “Isn’t it time for Hillary Clinton to get a quickie divorce from Bill (it can be done; it took about 20 minutes for Madonna to dissolve her marriage) before her confirmation hearings start?…And just think, if she divorced him, it would be the first time that their relationship made sense.” Whether the fact that Yoffe’s item appeared on XX Factor, where “Slate women blog about politics,” makes the whole thing even creepier remains open for debate.

Speak for yourself, Alexandra Stanley (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The NYT scribes does her best to scrounge up news from yesterday’s Hillary Clinton announcement. But all Stanley does is highlight the press’ pathological refusal to deal with reality when covering the Clintons. Here’s Stanley, writing about the remarks Clinton made after Obama introduced her as his SoS pick: “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech was no ordinary public-service pledge; for plenty of viewers, it was the moment when Mrs. Clinton finally conceded the election for real.”… [M]y hunch is that most people assumed Clinton conceded the election “for real” when she, y’know, conceded the election in June. Or maybe when she endorsed Obama at the convention in August, or when she campaigned for him nationwide in October. But for The Village, it wasn’t until December that Clinton conceded the election “for real.”

Pinch Me, Am I Dreaming? (by Mona Charen, a right-wing, anti-liberal columnist)
Superstition almost forbids me to comment on President-elect Obama’s appointments thus far. The news has been so shockingly welcome that I’m almost afraid to remark on it for fear of breaking the spell. Such reticence has not afflicted everyone on the right, though. Here’s Max Boot, conservative editorialist, author, and military historian: “I am gobsmacked by these appointments, most of which could just as easily have come from a President McCain…” Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, declared that the Obama administration was “off to a good start.” And New York Times columnist David Brooks has acknowledged that he is “tremendously impressed.”
Right wingers are “tremendously impressed.”  To me, that’s cause for concern.

Homeland security nominee is tough on immigration (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Few people have been closer to the center of the debate over illegal immigration than Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the top Democrat in a conservative state with little sympathy for illegal immigrants.

Obama: ‘I Believe That 16 Months Is The Right Time Frame’ For Getting Out Of Iraq (Think Progress)
At a press conference [Monday] where President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team, a reporter asked Obama if he still intended to “withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq in 16 months after Inauguration.” “I believe that 16 months is the right time frame,” said Obama, noting that he has ‘consistently” said he will listen to the recommendations of his commanders on the ground… Obama’s re-commitment to the 16 month withdrawal timeline is significant because the status of forces agreement passed by the Iraqi legislature last week contains a longer time frame for withdrawal. In the agreement, U.S. troops must be withdrawn from Iraq by December 31, 2011. Obama’s continued endorsement of the 16 month timeline is also important because some in the Pentagon are challenging Obama’s time frame.
Click through to watch the video.

Leahy: ‘Torture will be a major issue’; ‘All that’s going to be reviewed.’ (Think Progress)
During a press conference [Monday], Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, echoed President-elect Obama’s vow to end torture and pledged to continue investigating the Bush administration’s torture policies… “…Personally I would like to know exactly what happened because — more of a past is prologue kind of thing. I would like to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Torture is going to be a major issue. Torture is going to be a major issue. … And so all that’s going to be reviewed.”
Click through to watch the video.

The Billion Dollar Man (Political Wire)
When the 2008 campaign books are closed, President-elect Obama “will shatter another record by coming close to, or capturing, the title of the first billion-dollar candidate,” Politico reports. “That’s roughly how much the Obama finance team will have raised for his campaign, convention, transition and Jan. 20 Inauguration events.”
How can this be good for democracy?

Obama Discloses Transition’s First Donors (Capital Eye)
The fundraisers for the Obama-Biden transition announced this morning that they raised just under $1.2 million to finance the transition in the 11 days following Barack Obama’s election… According to Obama-Biden, the donor count as of Nov. 15 stood at 1,776 individuals… You can see the full list of donors at Change.gov. Their contributions augment the more than $6 million that taxpayers contribute toward ensuring a smooth changeover between presidencies. 

On the list, giving the maximum $5,000 allowed by law, you’ll see former Commerce Secretary William M. Daley, the JPMorgan Chase executive who is co-chairing the fundraising for Obama’s inauguration, and John W. Rogers Jr., the Chicago mutual fund executive who’s another co-chair. (Contributions to that event can be much larger — up to $50,000 but, like the transition fundraising, only from individual Americans who aren’t lobbyists.) ”Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas has contributed $5,000 toward the transition, as has Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Not all the donors are high-rollers, though. A woman named Mary Coe Corroo of Coral Park, Fla., contributed $5.00.

2008 Political Ads Worth $2.5 Billion to $2.7 Billion
Save for a few ongoing races, tallies for political ad spending in 2008 have been finalized: Between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion were spent on political ads this election season, according to figures from ad measurement company TNS Media Intelligence. Television took the lion’s share, with $2.2 billion.
I’ve been telling you for years.  Way too much of the money we donate to Democratic candidates goes into the pockets of the media moguls who pay their employees so well to trash Democrats and pump up Republicans.  That hasn’t changed.

Obama Won Without Voter Surge (Political Wire)
President-elect Obama “bet on an unprecedented surge of new voters to carry him to victory last month,” Bloomberg reports, but “he won without the record turnout… About 130 million Americans voted, up from 122 million four years ago. Still, turnout fell short of the 140 million voters many experts had forecast. With a little more than 61 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, the 2008 results also didn’t match the record 63.8 percent turnout rate that helped propel President John F. Kennedy to victory in 1960.”

Email Could Be Powerful Governing Tool (Political Wire)
Bloomberg: “Obama finished the presidential race with 13 million names and e-mail addresses, more than 3 million of whom donated what is believed to be more than $700 million to his campaign. That gives him a grassroots organization rivaling any competing interest group, a tool to pressure Congress that no other president has had. The list represents a number equal to 10 percent of those who went to the polls on Nov. 4.”
This is what I want Hillary to do with her list of donors and activists.

Fox News shut out again at Obama press conference. (Think Progress)
Fishbowl DC has been keeping tabs of which media outlets have been allowed to ask a question at President-elect Barack Obama’s five press conferences so far. They report Fox News is 0-5. “Questions instead went to such outlets as ABC, New York Times, CBS, Reuters and the Associated Press.”

Publishers Bet Big on Obama
The publishing industry is betting on Barack Obama like no president in decades. Since Election Day alone, more than half a dozen book deals have been signed to exploit Obamania. Two dozen books in the works range from the serious to the silly. There are retrospective ticktocks on how Obama won office and prospective looks at his first year in the White House.

Bush admits ‘I was unprepared for war.’ (Think Progress)
In an interview with ABC News that [aired Monday night], President Bush admits that he was unprepared to be Commander-in-Chief when he was elected: “‘I think I was unprepared for war,’ Bush told ABC News’ Charlie Gibson in an interview airing today on ‘World News.’ ‘In other words, I didn’t campaign and say, “Please vote for me, I’ll be able to handle an attack,”’ he said. ‘In other words, I didn’t anticipate war. Presidents — one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.’”

More Unsurprising News (by Mark Thoma at Economist’s View)
The president added, “I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.” Asked if he would have gone to war if he knew Iraq did not have stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, Bush said, “That is a do-over that I can’t do.” Nah, there was nothing in the 2000 election about Bush being strong on national defense: “In the 2000 election George W. Bush, who had shirked military service, succeeded in presenting himself as more reliable on national security than Al Gore…” He didn’t say the exact words “Please vote for me, I’ll be able to handle an attack,” that’s true, but he certainly implied it… By his own admission, he got fooled by false evidence, evidence he wanted to believe in so he did, then he went to war based upon that evidence even though he was not prepared to do so.  But as I said, we are noting the obvious today.

Update: Thinking it over, what were they prepared for? War? Hurricanes? An economic crisis? And worse, in every case, even after the event occurred they seemed to have great trouble coming up with a plan of action, let alone having plans ready in advance. Broadly, and again obviously, they were unprepared to govern.
Bush told his biographer before he became president that he wanted to attack Iraq. What a liar.

Bush admin. proffers the ‘Chuck and Larry’ defense to deprive gay federal employees of health benefits. (Think Progress)
In September, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee considered legislation that would provide federal benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. Howard Weizmann, the deputy director of the U.S. Office Of Personnel Management, objected to the bill because it “could lead to fraud and abuse in the programs we administer.” Weizmann claimed that the office was unaware of any interest from federal employees for such benefits. He even evoked a fictional movie plot of two heterosexual New York firefighters who pretend to be a gay couple to suggest such fraud would be a problem in real life.

Bush strips collective bargaining rights from federal employees. (Think Progress)
Yesterday, President Bush issued an executive order “that denies collective bargaining rights to about 8,600 federal employees who work in law enforcement, intelligence and other agencies responsible for national security.” 900 of the employees affected were already represented by collective bargaining units. Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said that employees “had their collective bargaining rights stripped away for no justifiable reason.” For more on Bush’s last-minute regulations, orders, and proposed rule changes, check out ThinkProgress’ updated report: “Bush’s Backward Sprint To The Finish.”

Judge dismisses indictments against Cheney and Gonzales. (Think Progress)
Yesterday, a Texas judge dismissed indictments brought against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra had accused the two men of holding responsibility for prisoner abuse at privately-run federal prisons in the county. “I suggest on behalf of the law that you not present any cases to the grand jury involving these defendants,” Administrative Judge Manuel Banales said, urging the colorful prosecutor to “exercise caution as his term in office ends.” Guerra responded, “I expected it. The system is going to protect itself.”
Too bad.  It would have been so much fun.

Jeb Bush: GOP needs to set up ‘a shadow government.’ (Think Progress)
In an interview with the conservative online publication Newsmax, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party,” and recommended that Republicans create a “shadow government” to work on its own agenda. Claiming this is still a “center-right country,” Bush urged Republicans not to move towards a “Democratic-lite” agenda.
On Politics reports that “Bush recommends a renewed focus on ‘blocking and tackling’ — basic tasks such [as] voter registration, grassroots organizing and recruiting candidates who look like the voters you’re trying to attract.”

Palin draws crowds for Chambliss, but can she top Ludacris? (McClatchy)
PERRY, Ga. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lent her rock-star status to U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss this afternoon in a state fly-around that GOP strategists hope will help put Chambliss over the top in Tuesday’s Senate runoff against Democrat Jim Martin.

Murkowski Warns Palin (Political Wire)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sent a sharp message to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), according to the Politico: “If you want to make a run at the White House, keep your hands off my Senate seat.” Said Murkowski: “I can guarantee it would be a very tough election… If she wants to be president, I don’t think the way to the presidency is a short stop in the United States Senate.”

Senators want Bush to pardon their convicted felon friend — Ted Stevens. (Think Progress)
Last month, soon-to-be retired Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) delivered his farewell speech on the floor of the Senate, many of colleagues from both sides of the aisle gave speech after speech lavishing praise on the recently convicted felon. Now, some of those same senators are saying that President Bush should pardon Stevens.

Franken May Appeal to Senate (Political Wire)
Al Franken’s (D) campaign said “that as many as 1,000 absentee ballots were improperly disqualified in Minnesota’s Senate race, and that it may appeal to courts or the U.S. Senate to order that those ballots be counted,” according to The Hill. The U.S. Constitution allows each congressional chamber to be the “Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.” According to Politico, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called the Board of Canvassers’ decision to not count the absentee ballots “a cause for great concern,” fueling speculation that the Senate would explore the legality of the Minnesota recount’s results.

Martinez Will Not Run Again in Florida (Political Wire)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) “plans a major announcement” in today and “a highly-placed Republican source says Martinez will announce that he’s not seeking re-election and that he may leave his seat in advance of the end of his term in 2010,” according to the St. Petersburg Times. ”That would open the door for Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint a replacement in advance of a wide-open Senate race in 2010.”

Should Matthews Quit MSNBC? (Political Wire)
Phil Singer: “If Chris Matthews is seriously considering a run for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat, he shouldn’t be on the air right now… To avoid the appearance of conflict, Chris should do the right thing and remove himself from the air until he has made a decision.  If he won’t do it, NBC should suspend him.” Perhaps that’s why Matthews denied reports he’s looking to hire staff.

Gregory Picked for Meet the Press (Political Wire)
According to Huffington Post, NBC News plans to name David Gregory as moderator of Meet the Press. However, the New York Observer says Gregory’s agent wouldn’t confirm or deny the reports and the New York Times reports NBC executives said “that no announcement of the replacement for the late Tim Russert is planned for Tuesday, though the executives did not deny that Mr. Gregory may be named to the position at some point.” Political Wire sources suggest Gregory will be formally named on Sunday’s show.

O’Reilly Whitewashes Torture At Gitmo: ‘There’s Certainly No Proof That Ever Happened’ (Think Progress)
Today on the Radio Factor, a listener called in to tell Bill O’Reilly that she had “zero confidence” in Obama’s ability to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the course of her call, the listener expressed mock concern for the detainees that were mistreated there. O’Reilly, apparently missing the caller’s sarcastic tone, interrupted her to falsely claim that “no proof” exists to back-up accusations of mistreatment and that his two tours of the prison facility confirm that.
Click through to watch the video.

Watch what you say (by vastleft at Corrente)
One of those holiday conversations that depressed the hell out of me was with a lifetime liberal, a genuine community-oriented person, who cited “gays-in-the-military” advocacy as an example of the failure of Bill Clinton to be a wise pragmatist like Obama. Another pragmatism-harshing faux pas was having the 2004 Dem nominee come from a state that legalized gay marriage. Isn’t that the sweetest little show in town? The problem isn’t that hatemongers get to dominate the airwaves and define what “morals” and “values” are, it’s that a handful of Democrats and humane judges stand up for equality at the most awkward times. Haven’t they any manners? So, which progressive concerns must we tamp down now, lest they send James Dobson and “liberal” concern troll Chris Matthews to the fainting couch (ideally not the same couch, or the neighbors would talk)?

After 9/11, Rove pressured the entertainment industry ‘to produce propaganda.’ (Think Progress)
The New York Times reports today that shortly after 9/11, the White House met several times with “a delegation of high-level media executives, including the heads of every major studio,” in order to discuss how “the entertainment industry could play a part in improving the image of the United States overseas.” Karl Rove attended at least one of the meetings. One of the participants in the meetings, former RIAA chairwoman Hilary Rosen says Rove “put pressure” on them to “produce propaganda”:

STUMP THE HMO ACCOUNTANT (thanks to lambert at Corrente)
Dear HMO Accountant: Why do you let people die, when you could easily pay for treatment that would keep them living for many years and make many people happy as a result? Sincerely, Mourning in Memphis

Dear Mourning in Memphis: We have the greatest health care system in the world and in order to keep it at such an optimum level, some have to suffer. They have to “throw themselves on the grenade,” as it were. We realize that not everyone is cut out to be a hero. So part of our job as health insurance industry is to help people become heroes. They must die so others don’t have to. Because of their sacrifices, this, the greatest health care system in the universe, will still be there when others need it. Thanks for your question. Good luck. And stay healthy!
There’s more!

For Nearly A Year After Recession Started, Bush White House Insisted That ‘We’re Not In A Recession’ (Think Progress)
[Monday], the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced that “the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy.” The group, which the White House has previously pointed to as the determinative body for declaring a recession, said in a statement that the “decline in economic activity” after Dec. ‘07 “was large enough to qualify as a recession.”

AP IMPACT: They warned us, but US eased loan rules
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. “Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories,” California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job… [But] Countrywide Financial Corp., at the time the nation’s largest mortgage lender, [said a proposed regulation] “appears excessive and will inhibit future innovation in the marketplace,” said Mary Jane Seebach, managing director of public affairs.
Lambert: “You say ‘inhibit future innovation’ like that’s a bad thing…”

Blaming “The Stupids” For The Financial Disaster (by Danny Schechter, the News Dissector)
The author of The World Is Flat, which one reader in Australia described as a book about “financial geniuses who were beating our olive trees into Lexuses!,” … lays out who was complicit in all this—with nary a mention of the media that spent years hyping the “financial innovation on Wall Street.” His answer: all of us. Everyone, he concludes, was involved so you can’t really blame anyone, much less prosecute the fraudsters and, to use an FDRism, “banksters” who bamboozled the gullible and laughed all the way to the bank or their high priced condo—which ever came first… To him, the bankers and brokers were not driven by avarice and self-interest but by ignorance and idiocy…

A number of New York Times readers denounced this moral obtuseness and media simplification. Wrote Mary Lou from Springfield MO with great brevity:” “And still no suits not even fired, let alone in cuffs.” SEO writes from Maine: “The ones at the top have walked away with vast fortunes, while the humble taxpayer pays to clean up after them.”… As I have been saying for over a year, it’s time for a JAILOUT, not just a bailout.

PLUNDER – Teaser Trailer
Danny Schechter investigates our economic calamity in the upcoming feature documentary ‘PLUNDER,’ based on his recent book. Want to support this film? Write Dissector@mediachannel.org.

Carmakers will return to Congress to try again for bailout (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — American auto executives, stung by declining sales and unprecedented turmoil in credit markets, are braced for a tense showdown this week with still-skeptical lawmakers over whether the federal government will give them a $25 billion lifeline.

Ford CEO will drive to Washington for auto bailout hearings. (Think Progress)
The CEOs of the Big Three automakers were heavily criticized for flying private jets to D.C. when they appeared on Capitol Hill a couple of weeks ago. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) commented, “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo.” Since that hearing, GM announced it was putting two of its five corporate jets out of service, but claimed it was not a reaction to the harsh treatment from Congress. Now, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is pledging to drive to Washington for auto bailout hearings this week.
I hope he drives a Ford.

Bailout Must Focus on Auto Workers (by E. J. Dionne)
If saving our auto industry means moving GM workers ever closer to Wal-Mart wages, the bailout isn’t worth doing. A hideous class bigotry has disfigured this debate… [T]he blame-the-workers-first cant ignores the fact that if the Big Three had designed better cars, they would not have lost as much market share to Toyota, Nissan and other competitors. The unions did not stop management from producing a better product… It’s also nonsense to say that the UAW has been indifferent to cost issues. The last auto contract included so many givebacks that Ron Gettelfinger, the UAW president, was threatened with a rank-and-file rebellion…

Unlike the other bailouts, this one could provide a model for how management and labor might team up to create better companies in a fairer, more productive economy. If this actually happened, the taxpayers would get their money’s worth. But if all that’s on offer is a plan to buy the CEOs a few more months or years, they should drive back to Detroit empty-handed.

States press Congress, Obama for economic stimulus package (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Facing financial woes at home, states continued to press Congress to boost the economy by giving federal money to folks they know will spend it: the unemployed, the poor and road builders, among others.

Florida, banks halt foreclosures for 45 days (McClatchy)
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s bankers and credit unions announced Monday that they’d suspend foreclosing on homeowners for the next 45 days.

Fund Investors Sue Countrywide Over Modified Loans (New York Times)
As policy makers push banks to help struggling homeowners, some angry investors are pushing back. On Monday, a hedge fund sued the Countrywide Financial Corporation, the giant mortgage lender, demanding that Countrywide compensate holders of some securities backed by mortgages if the lender changes the terms of the loans. The fund, Greenwich Financial Services, said it and other investors stood to lose money if Countrywide, now part of Bank of America, modified loans under a settlement that it reached with 11 state attorneys general in October.

Media and Retailers Both Built Black Friday (by David Carr, New York Times)
When assessing blame for the trampling death of a salesclerk, the news media should include themselves.

The news and the Wal-Mart death (by Jeff Jarvis)
David Carr is bang on assigning a share of blame for the Wal-Mart Black Friday death under the feet of a shopping mob to news media. I will disagree in degree about business vs. editorial responsibility. He sees the creation of Black Friday – and that horrible coinage itself – as a cynical business conspiracy to pump advertising. I wouldn’t disagree except that I’m never a conspiracy theorist, especially inside newspapers, which only conspire against themselves. I think there is also an editorial responsibility – importantly in local TV news, too – to do the same damned story everybody else is doing and everybody else did last year. Black Friday walk-up stories are in no way whatsoever informative; they are not news. They fill time and space. We thought they were just pap. But as Carr points out, their unthinking inanity can also be dangerous.

Killer Stampede a Reason for Reflection (by Marie Cocco)
[T]he culture of consumerism is only half the story. Suburbs like those that run along the South Shore of Long Island changed long ago from comfortably middle-class enclaves to polyglot communities of strivers who are far more squeezed than the suburbanites of a generation ago. “They’re struggling to maintain their middle-class livelihood,” says Lawrence C. Levy, director of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies. In a poll the center conducted this fall, 40 percent of respondents in suburbs across the nation said they were living from paycheck to paycheck. “I was astonished that that many people would admit it, in suburbia,” says Levy, who grew up in Valley Stream community where the Wal-Mart is located. “These are numbers that destroy the myths of wealth and wellness.” It is impossible to try and make sense of the stampede without stripping away these myths. Our well-manipulated desire for consumption is now incompatibly coupled with economic distress.

A Team of Whizzes (by Bob Herbert, New York Times)
President-elect Obama campaigned on the mantra of change. For years the federal government catered increasingly to the interests of the wealthy and the powerful. This reached a destructive crescendo when the ideologues and incompetents of the Bush administration came to power. That is what needs to change…  I want to know who in the Obama administration will be listening to the young girl on the South Side of Chicago whose future is constrained by a lousy public school, and the factory worker in Toledo whose family’s future has been trampled by unrestrained corporate greed and unfair trade policies. All the evidence is that the next administration will be competent and smart as hell. Now I’d like to know for whom they plan to deliver.
Me, too, Bob.  Me, too.

There is Money for Health Care Reform (by Dean Baker)
The Washington Post decided to do he said/she said reporting on health care rather than inform its readers. It told readers that Senator Max Baucus, the chair of the finance committee, wants to push for health care reform, even though it will initially cost money. It then comments that his Republican counterpart, Senator Charles Grassley, says that the government doesn’t have this money. In fact, the government is planning a large-scale stimulus package where it is looking for areas in which it can usefully spend money. If health care reform would require an initial increase in spending, before subsequent savings could be achieved, then it would be an obvious target for the stimulus. The Post should have noted that Grassley’s claim about the lack of money for such an investment is contradicted by the vast majority of economists from both political parties.

Useless Budget Reporting in the NYT (by Dean Baker)
Today the NYT discussed the stimulus package that Congress is considering for next year and never bothered to tell readers that the $400-$500 billion cost would be over the next two years… Of course, even if [readers knew] that the spending would be over two years, it’s unlikely that they really have a sense of how large this spending is relative to the budget or the economy. (The proposed package would be equal to between 7-8 percent of projected spending and 1.3-1.7 percent of GDP.) It is really simple to express budget numbers in ways that are meaningful to readers. There is no excuse for not taking the 30 second necessary to do it. (The Post is no better.)

Media Matters for America headlines

Why does MSNBC continue to invite on Christopher Hitchens to bash Hillary Clinton?

In response to Mumbai terrorism, Quinn suggested attacks regardless of whether “a lot of peaceful Muslims” are hit

Wash. Times failed to note Chambliss’ filibuster flip-flop

Savage on the Mumbai attacks: “Should the tribal areas in Pakistan be wiped out and the rats killed in there once and for all?”

Ignoring sergeant-at-arms’ security concerns, Levin said of “Stretch” Pelosi’s need for “big military jet”: “She wants a really, really big one”

Wash. Times and Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewpublish false Heritage Foundation claims about autoworker compensation

Woodward on reported Clinton appointment: “She never goes away, she and her husband”

Attack Coverage Tests India’s Nascent News Channels
Live Showings of the 60-Hour Siege Get High Viewership and Mixed Reviews; Hyperbole, Security Among Concerns

Media Under Fire As Political Conflict Intensifies (Committee to Protect Journalists)
As Thailand’s political crisis deepens, the Committee to Protect Journalists urgently calls on both sides of the conflict to end their attacks on reporters and media outlets and allow all journalists to report freely on breaking news.

The Listening Post: Gaza Media Blackout
The Israeli blockade on Gaza has now been extended to the media, creating a news blackout that has severely restricted the reporting of the suffering in Gaza to the outside world.

Reporting From Pakistani Tribal Areas Highly Risky
Reporting from Peshawar – hub of Pakistan’s tribal areas, currently the focus of a pincer movement between the Pakistan army and the United States-led forces in neighboring Afghanistan – has become a highly risky affair.

Police Treatment of Journalist Prompts Outcry in France
The treatment meted out to Vittorio de Filippis, an executive and former editor in chief of the Paris newspaper Liberation, prompted an outcry Saturday from his colleagues, lawyers, and other supporters, who said the tactics were out of place in a country with long and cherished traditions of rule of law and freedom of expression.

FCC Chairman’s Seat Up for Grabs
Major departmental shifts are coming left and right in Washington, but one change is of primary interest to broadcasters: the new chairmanship of the FCC. A handful of contenders have emerged to succeed oft-embattled Chairman Kevin Martin, whose exit is likely by early January. Among those atop the list are a pair of Barack Obama insiders (Julius Genachowski and Larry Strickling) and two more figures with FCC experience (Don Gips and Blair Levin)… Whoever gets the seat, look for that person to put a premium on Internet access, broadband rollout and no more loosening of media ownership rules.

Report Ties Children’s Use of Media to Their Health
The National Institutes of Health and a nonprofit advocacy group have another reason for President-elect Barack Obama to keep urging parents to “turn off the TV.” In what researchers call the first report of its kind, a review of 173 studies about the effects of media consumption on children asserts that a strong correlation exists between greater exposure and adverse health outcomes.

Apocalypse Soon? Forecast Says Half Of UK Media Jobs To Disappear By 2013 (Paid Content)
Some thoroughly depressing news…: the founder of UK media research agency Enders expects the number of media jobs in the UK industry to halve between now and 2013… That kind of decimation might seem an unlikely apocalypse, but other analysts (via Reuters) are pessimistic, too.

They’re Lying To You, News At Eleven (by Athenae at First Draft)
[Gannett Blog:] “Documents reveal double-digit profit margins at scores of newspapers on verge of massive layoffs”… Newspapers make plenty of money. PLENTY of money. They are wildly successful businesses. If you or I owned them we’d be jumping for joy. They just don’t make enough money to satisfy the greedy, rapacious assholes who own and run them. This isn’t a death, you know. It’s a homicide. Newspapers aren’t dying. They’re being murdered… It’s maddening because there’s so little journalists can do about this shit, when it’s all being run by people who come down and lecture you that you’re not covering the right stuff. Write more about pets, or flip-flops, or Sex and the City. Let people send in their teenage kids’ poetry. As if that shit even counts when there’s money like this being squandered. Schmucks.
Major business school types seem to have a hard time understanding that different kinds of businesses have different profit margins you can reasonably expect.  I once worked for a major food manufacturer in a distribution center it had bought.  The facility sold and distributed bulk food to food service operations like restaurants and school and hospital cafeterias.

The net profit in distribution is usually just a few percent, which was simply astounding to the manufacturing types at headquarters, who are used to much higher profit margins.  They made our lives miserable trying to get us to squeeze the last penny out of every dollar, and eventually had to sell the distribution business.  They just never got it.  Return on sales was the only measure they understood, and it had to be as high as that for manufacturing, or they weren’t interested.  See below for the results of the same kind of thinking in media.

O’Shea: Why public regard for journalists is so low
“I suspect the lack of regard for our profession has something to do with the way we have operated as a business,” writes former Los Angeles Times editor James O’Shea. “Newspapers did all sort of things to live up to Wall Street expectations over the years. They cut expenses, cut staff, eliminated sections of the paper and, like the Tribune Company, acquired other more profitable assets such as television stations. Soon Tribune journalists, many only too willingly, started preening for the TV cameras and spouting their opinions and becoming minor celebrities. I really wonder how much that sort of thing, not only at Tribune Company but all over the nation, undermined our most precious asset, the integrity of our news reports.”

My ‘Crisis’ Advice to Newspaper Company CEOs: 11 Points to Ponder (by Steve Outing, Editor & Publisher)
I, along with a sizable group of new media pundits, have been proposing recommendations for turning around the newspaper industry for some time. The CEOs can plow back through our collective writing and speeches and find at least some of the answers. But knowing how busy all those guys and gals are, this column is the executive summary: my game plan for bringing the newspaper industry out of its steepening nose dive, with ideas of my own mixed in with those of other new media gurus that I endorse…

1. Issue an edict: Digital is first! …
2. Consolidate print and online editing functions…
3. Print edition: Don’t bother chasing young people …
4. Print edition: Focus on the core demographic…
5. Guide older print loyalists to a life online…
6. Reduce the number of print editions…
7. Online: Broaden definition of news to include micro-personal…
8. Hire a social VP…  A more appropriate title: vice president for social media…
9. Experiment, fail, experiment more…
10. Leverage your remaining staffers, and augment them.
11. Consider retirement… If you can’t fathom a radical reinvention of your newspaper company, consider handing the reins over to someone who can.

No more alphabet-soup news (by Jeff Jarvis)
The syndication model is dying. As the content economy is supplanted by the link economy, reselling the same story over and over again becomes increasingly impossible. What’s needed instead is an infrastructure to share and link to original journalism. Newspapers in Ohio are doing that now. Newspapers in the New York area have said they’re working on something similar. That network could have been created years ago when newspapers created the doomed New Century Network but it died because they wouldn’t give up control or get along. But today, they’re desperate, absolutely desperate, to save any penny by using someone else’s stuff… CNN is holding a meeting of newspapers editors in Atlanta this week to sell them on the new wire. If I were there, I’d gather my colleagues over drinks and form my own wire service, for free.

McClatchy, Christian Science Monitor to exchange stories
McClatchy and the Christian Science Monitor announced Monday that they have begun exchanging news stories from their bureaus in South Asia, Africa and Latin America.

3 Top Florida Papers Extend Content Sharing — With News Produced by FIU J-School Students
South Florida’s three largest daily newspapers are about to announce a new initiative in their three-month-old content-sharing arrangement, the launching of a news service with print and digital articles produced by Florida International University journalism students. This may “energize our own staffs,” says Earl Maucker.

Huffington Post More Valuable Than Some Newspaper Cos.
News Blog’s Infusion of Cash Sets It Apart From Rivals Like Drudge

Newspaper Ad Revenue Falls Nearly $2 Billion
Second Quarter of Decline for Online

A flood of Chapter 11s is unlikely.
Nearly one of every two radio stocks now trades below $1 a share and yesterday’s fourth-worst drop of the Dow did little to help. Investors may say that equates to bankruptcy but it’s not likely there will be a rush to court for Chapter 11 protection. Brokers say banks don’t want to own radio and are more likely to work out restructuring deals.

Redstone Sells Control of Midway to Ease Debt
Sumner Redstone has sold his controlling stake in videogame company Midway Games Inc. to a private investor. Redstone’s holding company, National Amusements Inc., is expected to announce Monday that it sold its 87% stake in Midway to investor Mark Thomas, a move that represents a significant loss on the media mogul’s investment but secures a hefty tax benefit as he negotiates other asset sales.

NLRB Dismisses Claim of Anti-Union Layoff at MediaNews Group
The “evidence was insufficient to establish that but for these three employees’ union activities, they would not have been selected for layoff,” an NLRB regional director wrote in his dismissal of the claim by former Bay Area Newspaper Group guild unit chair Sara Steffens and two others.

Wolff’s claim about NYT’s Murdoch series is called “nonsense”
In his new book, Michael Wolff claims the Times canceled its series on Rupert Murdoch after hearing from a News Corp. veep. Times managing editor Jill Abramson says that’s “nonsense” and that “there were not more than two pieces scheduled to run.” || Read the Times’ review of Wolff’s “star-struck portrait” of Murdoch.

News Corp.’s Murdoch: Mired as Ever in Newspapers (by Jon Fine at Business Week)
The question for News Corp. has always been who, besides Rupert, could run it successfully. But given this moment and its proprietor’s inclinations, perhaps we should be asking if even Murdoch can. The overwhelming impression left by The Man Who Owns the News is that it’s good indeed to be Rupert Murdoch, but under no circumstances should you try it at home.

Celebrating Luxury in the Time of Melancholia
Buying all the items listed in the luxury-themed winter issue of Time Style & Design would cost more than $51 million, or about 340 times the annual income of its average reader. It is a problem many luxury magazines are facing these days: how do you promote expensive goods without seeming out of touch with economic realities?

Music going the way of the Web
Digital music sales account for 18 percent of the U.S. music market and that figure will grow to 41 percent in five years, Forrester Research said in a report released on Monday.

View: Looks leads the list of requirements for female TV reporters
Most here know of the lawsuit filed recently by three of the most prominent female TV reporters in Kansas City. Maria Antonia, Peggy Breit and Kelly Eckerman have sued KMBC, alleging age and gender discrimination. It seems broadcast journalism views women as aging products, rather than highly experienced and therefore valuable talent.

Koppel Takes Stock
Ted Koppel, who anchored the ground-breaking Nightline each weeknight on ABC for a quarter-century, is not completely free of professional obligations. He’s still under contract as a contributing analyst for BBC World News America and as senior news analyst for National Public Radio. In an interview he explained the whys and wherefores of his Discovery exit.
No one seems to be worried about Koppel’s age.

With Cuts Looming, CNBC Is Out to Prove It’s Still Money
CNBC is understandably seeing record ratings, thanks to everyone from anxious office drones to stay-at-home moms tuning in to monitor the nation’s financial meltdown. CNBC isn’t exactly laughing all the way to the bank, though. Despite the huge numbers, the network is now in the process of slashing as much as 10% from its budget. People at the network, says one staffer, “are scared s—less.”
Aren’t those the people who fanned the flames of the internet bubble?  And aren’t they the people who fanned the flames of the mortgage speculation bubble?  Why on earth would anyone listen to them?

Fox Plays Up ‘Idol’ Emotion
From relentless on-air spots to shopping mall takeovers, Fox is readying a marketing push the size of Simon Cowell’s ego to make sure viewers know “Idol” will return on Jan. 13… The changes to the marketing, which come in the wake of a 9% decline in the show’s ratings in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic last season, are in part a reflection of some of the expected tweaks to “Idol” next season… Mike Darnell, Fox’s president-alternative programming, said … that “Idol” would be “more intimate” and “more raw” than last year. ”It’s going back to letting the kids be more emotional and seeing more of their reality,” he said.

Rosie O’Donnell Scraps Future Variety Shows
Rosie Live will live no more. Rosie O’Donnell writes on her blog that her NBC variety show — her first TV gig since leaving The View – won’t being continuing. The Wednesday night show attracted just 5 million viewers, down even from the previous week’s low-rated Knight Rider.

A SAG Strike Won’t Cripple TV (by Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times)
Dark clouds of labor trouble are again closing in on Hollywood. But the environment for the TV industry looks considerably different than it did when the writers strike began a little more than a year ago, scuttling much of the networks’ 2007-08 season. That’s because a larger number of shows this time around simply wouldn’t be affected.

Recession Fears Blitzing Superbowl Ads
The turmoil on Madison Avenue has crept into television’s biggest showcase for advertising: the Super Bowl. Far from being recession-proof, the big game is contending with sluggish ad sales, automotive woes, and the loss of game mainstays FedEx and General Motors. Even ad stalwarts Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch are going through significant shake-ups that could affect their usual buzz-getting fare.

Social Net Aimed At The Rich Gets $1 Million In Funding, New CEO (Paid Content)
Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of Total Prestige—you may not have made the cut. The NY-based, invitation-only social net is geared toward millionaires (boasting both Saudi Arabian oil magnates and former soap stars among its roughly 650 members); and it’s about to get a $1 million cash injection from private investor Frank DeRose. According to the NY Post, DeRose is backing Total Prestige in the hopes of transforming it from a mere social site into a hub for affluent types to actually broker business deals: “This is a place you can come for trusted networking with established professionals–and sure, you might make a new friend along the way, but that’s not our focus,” he said. DeRose, a founding partner of NY-based PE firm Ferrata Capital, is expected to be named CEO of the site as well.

Live, From Carnegie Hall: It’s the YouTube Symphony Orchestra
YouTube, one of the most popular and populist media platforms, announced Monday that it is taking its first step toward generating content by launching a symphony orchestra. The YouTube Symphony Orchestra revolves around two main goals: the creation of a mash-up performance of a symphony from video submissions; and second, a live performance of the same symphony at Carnegie Hall on April 15.

Reports Conflict Over Microsoft Buying Yahoo Search
News reports offered conflicting accounts Sunday as to whether Microsoft Corp. was in talks to buy Yahoo Inc.’s search business for $20 billion. The Sunday Times of London first reported the prospective deal, saying Microsoft would also support new management for Yahoo. A subsequent article quoted one one key player as saying the deal was “total fiction.”

Internet Start-Ups Going Cheap, Says MySpace’s Chris DeWolfe
MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe has highlighted an upside to the economic downturn for anyone left standing – digital media start-ups are on the market at knock-down prices. DeWolfe, speaking to the Reuters Media Summit in New York late yesterday via video link, said he may look to strike some deals — but not to buy micro-blogging service Twitter.

Nielsen Lands Data Deal
For years, marketers have been calling for the second-by-second TV-viewing data that cable boxes can collect. Now, Nielsen is answering that call, securing its first customer for a new service that draws on hundreds of thousands of set-top boxes. The deal, with National Geographic Channel partly reflects the growing competition Nielsen faces in the TV industry.

Texts Used To Tackle South Africa HIV Crisis
One million free text messages will be sent every day for 12 months from Monday in South Africa in a bid to raise HIV awareness and encourage testing for the disease.

Hot Food, and Air, at Bus Stops
Heated air will warm 10 Chicago bus shelters, courtesy of the Stove Top brand of stuffing. Such marketing is meant to entice consumers to experience products tangibly.
This might be the situation to use scents along with the print ad.  Did I really say that?  Most of us don’t need to be tempted to eat more.

Adobe Rules in Web Video
Eighty-one per cent of worldwide online videos are viewed using Adobe Flash technology, making it the number one format for video on the Web. This is according to the independent research firm comScore.

FCC Floating A Free Wireless Internet Plan As Part Of New Auction (Paid Content)
Kevin Martin, the outgoing FCC chairman, is pushing for a controversial free wireless internet plan, as part of the agency’s plan for the next slate of spectrum auction, reports the WSJ. At its December meeting, the FCC wants to put forth a plan to offer free, adult-material-free wireless Internet service to all Americans, despite objections from the wireless industry and some consumer advocacy groups. The plan calls for the winning spectrum bidder to set aside a quarter of the airwaves for this free service, and would also allow it to charge for a faster wireless Internet connection.