Before the news, some questions & thoughts...
International consensus: Bush terrorism strategy failing. Will the national media cover this extensively? It's an important question. We can't afford to lose any more ground in the, what are we calling it now? Global Struggle Against Extremism. Is money being spent in the right way? Is any real progress being made or are we just going backwards? There's a theme for Democrats in 06 and in 08. Republicans = moving backwards; Democrats = moving forward.
Gallup: Bush favorability rating below 50%. This isn't job approval. It's about Bush as a person. Now, I have qualms with Gallup, so what I'd like to talk about is the trend. It can get very technical looking at the numbers, so it's often a better idea when you have to rely on public polls to look at the trend. The trend on Bush's personal favorability ratings is on the decline. The question now is whether or not the media will recognize this and stop thinking as if they have to bend over backwards for BushCo.
Now for the news from the past week posted today, August 1, 2005:
Note: I'm going to put a %%% next to things that are more interesting or go into things more in-depth. Those links/stories that get singled out before the media personalities section are obviously must-reads, so I don't bother with the %%%.
Applause!
Debut of Current TV today
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Lengthy article on Current TV and its debut 8/1/05 Good luck, Al Gore!
100% Inappropriate
* Why was Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez hosting CNBC's "Squawk Box"?
Go back to journalism school.
* I'm sure everyone is familiar with one-sided stories by GOP decree, but in case you missed it...
Shocking! Non-whites disappear mysteriously, too!
Kudos to cnn.com for putting a link to a story about a missing woman who isn't white! They were the first major national network to pick up on the story.
Must read: About Radio
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Calling Baton Rouge: A Kossack's Insider Guide to Radio, by kineticdissent
Jackasses
* MSNBC's Tucker Carlson and Co. laugh at missing pregnant woman who is not white and isn't from the suburbs. I hope Tucker Carlson rots in hell.
Plame, Cooper, Miller, Rove
People in the Media
RWCM Watch
- Roger Ailes About to Take Over All Local Fox TV Stations? By pontificator
- I caught part of a promo for Rita Crosby's new show on MSNBC. There are a bunch of photos in it, and the last one is a personal photo of her and Bush. I wonder if MSNBC did it on purpose because a blogger would notice it, and ask C&L to put a video clip of it, which would, of course, give Crosby's new show free pub.
- National Urban League notes the lack of diversity of guests on Sunday morning talk shows
- Media's Iraq Fatigue? Nah, they're just too lazy to do any real work.
- Cincinnati Enquirer endorsement of GOP candidate in OH-02 is riddled with factual errors. Diary by Chris Bowers.
- NYT: "Intentional and Outrageous" Conduct %%% It's being sued by Stephen Hatfill.
- WMAL/Disney suspends right-wing DC radio host, by Rock Strongo
- I'm assisting Bill Keller as New York Times editor, by westegg
- Newspapers React Differently to 'Poo' in 'Prickly City' than 'Turd Blossom' in 'Doonesbury' Props to E&P writer Dave Astor for a very funny lede.
- Fire CPB Chair Ken Tomlinson!
- WaPo leaves out really offensive remarks by a pastor
- THE SOURCE for the "Air America stole from poor children" claim, by maha
- Paula Zahn Now covers gay conversion story poorly Luckily, Zahn's show did a follow up story which was more accurate.
- GMA's gay conversion story is better, but still there are signs of hack-ness all over it.
- WaPo won't include Democratic quotes. Balanced? I think not.
- AUDIO: Ann Coulter says that the right-wing had the media now.
- Kevin Drum asks why Hotline editors call Andrew Sullivan a centrist. Just because the meaning of conservative is manipulated by the right, doesn't mean that all conservatives move with the goalposts.
- CJR: FoxNews goes overboard on the terror coverage %%%. Not every bus crash is a terrorist threat.
- Statement-gate. I almost wasn't going to even include it, because it's just the dumbest controversy. Nonetheless, I figured some would want to see just how lame O'Reilly can be and get a laugh out of it.
- NYT's Nicholas D. Kristof wants media to cover Darfur more
- Newspaper editors shoot back at Kristof's Darfur coverage complaint. Low reader interest, budget cuts, and the importance of Iraq and terrorism are the excuses cited.
- Eric Boehlert criticize weeklies for fawning coverage of John Roberts.
- Some newspaper editors pull or edit Doonesbury strip. It has Bush calling Rove "Turd Blossom." Apparently, these editors didn't know that "Turd Blossom" is actually the nickname Bush gave Rove.
- Conflict of interest for new FNC WH Correspondent?
- Larry King calls a Blackberry, a "crackberry." This begs the question...is Larry King on crack? Let's get with the new millennium, please.
- Daniel Pearl's killing suspect arrested
Notes & News on Programming & Specials
8. COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
It might not have the hip factor of The Daily Show, but MSNBC's newscast is every bit as topical and bitingly hilarious.
State of the Media, Trends, Research Reports, Innovations
Democratic political consultant Michael Bassik adds that many political campaigns are purchasing variations of their candidates' names. "It's common for campaigns to not only purchase up every permutation of their own campaign's name, but also negative URLs as well," said Democratic political consultant Michael Bassik.
[...]
Bassik said that the cost of purchasing the domains is so low that campaigns place themselves at a disadvantage if they do not do it as early as possible.
[...]
Bassik said it's possible to run afoul of cybersquatting laws when purchasing domain names that would be used by political opponents, but added that campaigns can reap a PR windfall by purchasing them nonetheless. "You can purchase a domain hoping that your opponent will send a cease and desist letter requiring you to remove your Web site, or that they'll sue you, and the two of those activities wind up being fantastic press stories," he said.
Ratings, Circulation, & Ad Revenue Strength
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Media News Monday is a compilation of media news from the past week posted on Monday. Media is an integral part of politics, and I think that it's important to get to know media and media innovation in order to forecast future ways of campaigning, targeting voters, and disseminating information. If any of you are interested in campaigning, this weekly diary may help you with ideas. It is also important to keep up with right wing corporate media (RWCM) news. If you have any media news to add, please do so.
Previous edition: July 25, 2005 For more previous editions, search Penndit.
For more RWCM watch & Media News: Penndit's News, Media News, and RWCM Watch Links. I get the advertising, public relations, targetting voters information, and media research from a variety of sources other than the links listed there.
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Cross-posted at Penndit.