Canadian magazine Adbusters did not start Occupy Wall Street, but its editor, Kalle Lasn, did create the #occupywallstreet hashtag and feed the cultural message of the movement. [NY Times]
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This is just the tip of an oppo iceberg that would make Herman Cain’s look like a pebble. With the prospects of a vulnerable president and a Senate that’s clearly within reach, I just can’t imagine Republicans nominating someone so noxious among independents, someone with so much baggage. But Newt’s boomlet is yet another sign of the fact that this was really Rick Perry’s nomination to lose – something Perry’s worked diligently to do almost since the day he entered. Every day this media-manufactured boomlet persists is another day that some enterprising journalist will dig a little deeper into Newt’s past. Like Cain, he’ll claim that the liberal media is trying to bring him down, when in reality, it will be his own pattern of reckless personal, political, and profit-seeking behavior that will do the trick. (Cross-posted, with author’s permission, from Politico’s Arena) Two media legends in one article? Jerry Seinfield interviews Regis Philbin as the morning host nears retirement. [Newsweek] Here’s a surefire sign newspapers aren’t what they used to be. As less people are subscribing to newspapers, more resources are being put into the publications’ Sunday editions. [Poynter Institute] Did CBS give Michele Bachmann the short end of the stick in last week’s Republican presidential debate in South Carolina? She seems to think so. [CNN] Speaking of CBS, the network is revitalizing their morning Early Show program… with Gayle King and Charlie Rose? [NY Magazine] New findings from the Pew Research Center shows that mainstream news outlets are using Twitter… to promote their own content, and not to interact with readers. [Pew Research Center]
(Cross-posted, with author’s permission, from Politico’s Arena) I flipped through my reporter’s notebook, looking over my notes from the weekend’s journalism conference as I waited for my next session to start. I had been looking forward to the upcoming session since I got my program, a seminar on time management for magazine editors. As the speaker took the stage, I put down my Starbucks and got my pen and paper ready. The session quickly took an unexpected turn. The speaker addressed the room full of student editors, leaders at their respective publications, in a condescending manner. Instead of discussing tips for time management, he went into a tirade about the things young journalists do that irritated him. “Now ladies, here’s something that you all do that really isn’t good,” he said. I did a double take, noticing that all the student editors in the session with me were female.
“You should never bring more than one bag into an interview or a meeting with an editor. It’s unprofessional. And I know how you ladies are.” Excuse me? I thought. Number one, who takes multiple bags to an interview? Number two, why did you feel the need to point that out? Read the rest of… More women than ever are entering the blogosphere. Although more men blog than women, according to the “State of the Blogosphere 2011” survey, the gap between the genders is closing fast. [CNN] In reaction to new of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ divorce after 72 days of marriage, a group set up an ironic vigil outside Kardashian’s store, Dash, in Soho. Is this the beginning of a bigger trend? [NY Magazine] A Swedish lingerie chain is in trouble for requiring its employees to display their cup sizes on their badges while working. [Jezebel] Could you avoid mirrors for an entire year? Would you ever want to? One woman’s quest focuses in on body image issues created by the media. [Time] Ladiaes, read these stats for a reality check and a confidence boost. [Mom Grind] Prediction: Herman Cain will make it through this week, and those coming, without losing ground in the polls because of his past inappropriate advances. And he won’t even have to give out free slices of pizza to remain near the top of the Republic field. Now, please realize that I make this prediction without condoning Cain’s behavior. If he did it, it was wrong. Seriously, who are these guys’ mothers? Power corrupts, I guess. But back to my thoughts on Cain’s polling position. Here are the reasons why I think the Hurri-Cain will weather this storm.
1) The Right’s Undying Mistrust of the Left: I don’t think a Republican would trust a Democrat to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich these days. What, you put the jelly on first? Preposterous! All kidding aside, as bad as the Cain campaign has been at responding to these sexual harassment stories, the crew has been GOP-good at blaming it on the mainstream media (read: Politico, Washington Post, and the rest of the liberal elite). If Cain can continue to frame this issue as a left-wing media attack on a rising, serious Republican challenger to President Obama, expect the money to keep pouring in to the Cain coffers. Plus, Gloria Allred got involved. As good as Allred is at getting women a soapbox, she is just as bad at preserving her “clients’” credibility. Again, Allred’s participation makes for the perfect fundraising e-mail and speech line. 2) We are Still in Primary Season: If this was 4 months before the general election, I wouldn’t be making this prediction (note: I don’t think Cain will win the Republican nomination anyway. But, I don’t think these harassment issues will be dispositive. . .Cain’s candidacy is plagued by other problems that I’ll try to address in a later column.). But, as we haven’t had our first primary yet, Cain can rest easier. Yesterday’s announcement about sexual harassment from 1997 – 14 years ago – is highly unlikely to push any Cain supporters away. I think it is just as unlikely that these reports are the straw that breaks the Independent voter’s back (that is, the Independent voter voting in a Republican primary). They’ll vote for someone other than Cain for a different reason, not because of this. With Democrats still sitting on the sidelines waiting for November 2012, Cain’s poll numbers won’t suffer at their hands. If these stories had to come out at all, this is a good time. 3) Cain’s Malfeasance Pales in Comparison to Some of his Republican Counterparts’ Bugaboos: Conservatives still don’t trust Mitt Romney. The GOP wants health care to be a keystone of its general election attack on President Obama. Obamacare will still be relevant if Romney wins the nomination, but the attacks won’t be as biting because of Mitt’s Massachusetts’ Plan. Plus, nobody knows what he’s going to do about abortion. That scares a lot of Republicans. Rick Perry is as unpredictable a candidate since Howard Dean…and things didn’t turn out too well for him. Newt Gingrich cannot deny his moral missteps. In a lesser-evils look at the GOP front-runners’ personal problems, Cain slips by. 4) Cain is a Black Republican: His fellow candidates won’t hit him on these harassment stories. Fox News and other Conservative media outposts want to be the cool kids embracing the new cool thing, so they will lay off, too. And Republican voters are looking for a demographic answer to not only President Obama, but also to the race and national origin gaps between the two parties. Marco Rubio is that answer, but Cain is the fill-in for this election cycle. 5) Cain has Nothing to Lose: Think about it. Cain is running for President of the United States. His poll numbers show him right up there in the top-tier of GOP candidates seeking their party’s nomination (note: We all know that national poll numbers aren’t the gospel during primary season. Still, Cain’s numbers are good signs for him.). He is in his mid-60s and likely won’t be running for national office again. He is still trying to sell his book. And each extra week he spends on the campaign trail, he may be able to raise his speaking fee by a few thousand dollars. Wouldn’t you fight through this week, too? Former Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina is reinventing his career… as a paid contributor on Fox News. Call it the Spitzer Effect. [NY Times] A new level of experiential journalism: The Daily paid for one of its reporters to take Oxytocin for a week so she could report on its, ahem, affects. [The Daily] How do the presidential candidates compare when it comes to their use of Twitter? [Time] The debate continues on whether or not journalists should conceal their political views from the public. [The Atlantic] Look at how different media organizations decided whether or not to reveal the names of the jurors in the Casey Anthony case. [Poynter Institute] Forty years ago today, a group of feminist leaders (including Gloria Steinem) started an empowering magazine for women. Take a look back at Ms. magazine, a publication that changed history. [NY Magazine] Yesterday, the RP took the airwaves at Fox News to spread the gospel about No Labels’ plans to introduce a comprehensive government reform package in December. To learn more about No Labels, click here. And watch the RP below: |
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