In this edition: On media coverage of Obama; faux balance; meanwhile in Crazytown; spotlight on Scott Pelley; pundits on attorneys firings; Chris Matthews interview; what The Daily Show can do for book sales; presidential campaign media strategy; ratings; and so much more...
Thoughts, and Then, the News
Time for the old "balancing real GOP scandals with fake Dem ones" routine from the press. Steve Benen has the best roundup. Scroll to the bottom for more.
Now for the news:
Attention Aspiring Journalists
Cool CBS News contest for you to enter
A word or two about media coverage of Obama
Obama’s life story is fascinating. It gets to a point, IMHO, where some media types are working overtime to be critical and finding faults with Obama’s life story or his recollection of it that just don’t seem to be as big of a deal in the grand scheme of things (what did you read when you were 9 years old?). Obama’s story is unique and would merit more coverage than others’ life stories, but what other presidential candidate is having his/her childhood as investigated as Obama’s? It’s not like he’s the only one who’s written about or discussed his childhood. However, I’ve got a cynical theory on why the media likes covering Obama’s story and why some of the coverage ends up being ridiculous: They want to travel. Seriously. How often to political reporters get to travel to Cambodia, Hawaii and Africa? (It’s better than going to Crawford, TX for the millionth time.) And a news org that spends all that money to send a reporter or two to these "faraway" places will want a story... hence some of the "Some people don’t remember what happened when Obama was 6 years old, the way that Obama remember it" stuff that we’re seeing.
Hope this gets fixed
Advocate attributes quotes to John Aravosis, but he didn’t actually say some of those things
James Carville’s Ethics Problem
And really, CNN’s problem. CNN should be taking a pro-active step to identify Carville as a Hillary fundraiser and not just a Dem strategist. Also, kudos to Bay Buchanan for doing the right thing and resigning from CNN when she went to work for the Tancredo campaign.
Glenn Beck Is A Douchebag Item(s) of the Week
Link
Meanwhile, in crazytown...
(more here) Link
Winners of the quirky ''DisHonor Awards'' given out at Media Research Center's 20th Anniversary Gala held Thursday evening at the Grand Hyatt Washington:
-Puppy Love Award: Charles Gibson
-Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis: Katie Couric
-God, I Hate America Award: Arthur Sulzberger
-Tin Foil Hat Award for Crazy Conspiracy Theories: Jack Cafferty
-The I’m Not a Political Genius But I Play One on TV Award: Rosie O'Donnell
VIPs at the event included Brent Bozell, Rush Limbaugh, Cal Thomas, Mary Matalin, Michael Steele, Pat Sajak, G. Gordon Liddy and Neal Boortz.
RWCM Watch
Credit Where It’s Due
Media People & In the Field
News & Notes on Media orgs, Programming, Specials, etc.
State of the Media, Trends, Research Reports, Innovations
The Audience: Ratings, Circulation, & Ad Rates, etc.
Newsie’s Media News Report is a compilation of recent media news; it was formerly known as Media News Monday. If you have any media news to add, please do so. I don’t often post Media Matters stuff, because almost everyone already either links to or visits that site. Same with Greg Sargent’s The Horse’s Mouth at Talking Points Memo. I’ll post only if I’ve got something to add. For more RWCM watch & Media News: Penndit's News, Media News, and RWCM Watch Links. I get the advertising, public relations, targeting voters information, and media research from a variety of sources. Cross-posted at Penndit. For previous editions, search my diaries or Penndit.
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