The Sherrod story is a reminder — much like the 2004 assault on John Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — that the old media are often swayed by controversies pushed by the conservative new media. In many quarters of the old media, there is concern about not appearing liberally biased, so stories emanating from the right are given more weight and less scrutiny. Additionally, the conservative new media, particularly Fox News Channel and talk radio, are commercially successful, so the implicit logic followed by old-media decisionmakers is that if something is gaining currency in those precincts, it is a phenomenon that must be given attention. Most dangerously, conservative new media will often produce content that is so provocative and incendiary that the old media find it irresistible.
This was good too:
the Sherrod story may be the low point of this phenomenon because of its illegitimate origins. Andrew Breitbart, a conservative firebrand with a record of selectively editing video for partisan advantage, used a misleading snippet to produce a chain reaction that embarrassed the old media, the NAACP and the President of the United States.
"Illegitimate". "Misleading". "Selective editing". A few months ago, Breitbart claimed on some Fox show that he would destroy the "institutional left" in three weeks. We spent the next three weeks mocking him on Twitter, pretending to freak out over the #breitbartocalypse. Funny that instead of taking us out, he effectively took himself out instead.
Among the changes: Newspapers that publish so-called “branded editions” -- products a paper publishes under a different name such as commuter dailies or Spanish-language newspapers – can now include them in their total average circulation. And papers that publish in many forms -- print, mobile, e-readers, etc. -- may be able to count one subscriber multiple times.
Problem is, the industry isn't in trouble because of accurate accounting, and it won't be fixed by accounting smoke and mirrors.
The last time he ran for re-election, Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, a white guy who'd been rejected for membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, saw the caucus endorse his challenger. This time around, the caucus is sending Cohen money to help him run against a well-known black politician in that majority-black district. Bartholomew Sullivan reports in the Commercial Appeal that the caucus's political action committee gave $5,000 to Cohen's campaign. "With almost $1 million in his campaign account, the amount is immaterial, but its symbolic value is significant," writes Sullivan. " His opponent, Willie Herenton, has argued that the district should elect the former Memphis mayor so that one of the 11-member Tennessee Congressional delegation is an African-American."
The last time he ran for re-election, Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, a white guy who'd been rejected for membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, saw the caucus endorse his challenger. This time around, the caucus is sending Cohen money to help him run against a well-known black politician in that majority-black district.
Bartholomew Sullivan reports in the Commercial Appeal that the caucus's political action committee gave $5,000 to Cohen's campaign.
"With almost $1 million in his campaign account, the amount is immaterial, but its symbolic value is significant," writes Sullivan. " His opponent, Willie Herenton, has argued that the district should elect the former Memphis mayor so that one of the 11-member Tennessee Congressional delegation is an African-American."
A thousand physicists working at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., reported in Paris on Monday that they had not found the “God particle,” yet. But they are beginning to figure out where it is not.