Editors’ Note o’ the Day (Ryan Holiday Victory Edition)

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From yesterday’s New York Times:

Editors’ Note

An article on April 19 about how to buy a record turntable quoted Ryan Holiday of New Orleans The reporter reached Mr. Holiday through a Web site that connects reporters to sources on various topics.

Mr. Holiday, who has written a book about media manipulation, now acknowledges that he lied to the Times reporter and to other journalists on a variety of subjects, fabricating responses to their online queries. (He says he does not own a turntable.)

For smart recountings of this textbook journalism scam, see 1) JimRomenesko.com:

A MEDIA MANIPULATOR STRIKES AGAIN!

Forbes.com posted a piece this morning with the headline, “How this guy lied his way into MSNBC, ABC News, New York Times and others.”

“This guy” is Ryan Holiday and he tells Romenesko readers:

I wanted to prove that HelpAReporterOutembodies so much that is wrong with online journalism. Reverse engineering stories from search times, not fact checking, not caring about self promotion etc. So I went out and tricked close to 2 dozen reporters — and was shocked to also find the NYTimes, Reuters, Today Show, everyone fell for it. In some cases, I didn’t even do it. I just had an assistant pretend to be me on the phone or over email. Not ONE person bothered to notice that I have a book out about media manipulation.

A bit stuntish? Yes but I felt like it was the only way anyone would pay attention.

Or 2) Poynter:

NY Times, CBS, others fix stories that featured fake expert Ryan Holiday

Corrections machines at various outlets got a workout after Ryan Holiday burned multiple news organizations by posing as an expert on various topics.

On Reuters, he became the poster child for “Generation Yikes.” On ABC News, he was one of a new breed of long-suffering insomniacs. At CBS, he made up an embarrassing office story, at MSNBC he pretended someone sneezed on him while working at Burger King. At Manitouboats.com, he offered helpful tips for winterizing your boat. The capstone came in the form of a New York Times piece on vinyl records — naturally, Holiday doesn’t collect vinyl records.

Pick up egg. Smash on face. Repeat.

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Bald-Faced Lies o’ the Day (Bipartisan Presidential Campaign Edition)

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins Jr.’s latest offering:

Reflecting the political profession’s contempt for the public it’s trying to influence, Team Obama has been shouting through the cognoscenti media that now is the time to “define Romney before he can define himself.” Hence its $100 million swing-state advertising barrage. Hence a campaign manager calling Mr. Romney a “felon.”

Not to get technical about it, but here’s what Obama mouthpiece Stephanie Cutter actually said (via Politico):

Deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter laid out the issue as the Obama team sees it: “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony.”

“Or,” she said, “he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments,” including layoffs and the outsourcing of jobs.

A small distinction, but a significant one.

Meanwhile, AlterNet posts this:

Loose translation of Mitt Romney’s message to Republicans calling for him to release his tax returns: “Guys, trust me, if I release my returns it’ll be even worse than it already is.”

Actual Romney statement:

Oh, I think people in my party just say, “Look, this is a non-issue. Just release the returns and it will go away.” My experience is that the Democratic Party these days has approached taxes in a very different way than in the past. Their opposition people look for anything they can find to distort, to twist, and to try and make negative.

As the hardworking staff has said before, these guys are creating their own realities. All that matters is which one you believe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Grand Old Potemkin Pillage

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

You can set your election-year calendar by this House Republican budget kabuki (via the Boston Globe):

Republican bill aims ax at NPR, public TV

WASHINGTON — House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday to get rid of AmeriCorps, the national service program championed by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and cut off federal funding for National Public Radio, public television, and Planned Parenthood.

The moves would come in a controversial spending bill that pays for labor, health, and education programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

The measure is dead on arrival with Democrats but contains many provisions to please Tea Party conservatives.

For a more extensive history of this shadowplay, see here.

That’s not to say that PBS and NPR shouldn’t be worried about their financial future. It’s just to say voters should be dismissive of the Republicans’ Grand Old Pantomime.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rick Santorum: Barack Obama = Benito Mussolini

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Utterly failed former GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (R-Empty Sweater Vest) has been trying to get back into the political conversation with statements like this (via ABC’s The Note):

OBAMA SOUNDS LIKE A ‘TWO-BIT DICTATOR.’ Santorum railed against Obama’s use of executive power: “Going out and saying, ‘I’m gonna change the law on welfare. I’m gonna change the work requirement.’ … probably the single greatest accomplishment social-welfare-wise of the last 20 years, and President Obama gets up and says, ‘Nope, I’m gonna change the law by speaking.’ This sounds like a two-bit dictator, not a president of the United States. … [Romney] also has to talk about this imperial presidency. My grandfather left El Duce in Italy, who could get up and change the law by giving a speech … He is abusing power like I’ve never seen a president do.”

WATCH: http://yhoo.it/Ny6WxJ

So does this make Santorum El Douche? Just wondering.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Call It NBCNoose.com

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

This week NBC/Universal/Comcast/Whatever converted its msnbc.com website to NBCNews.com, the better to distinguish its ideologically driven Lean Forward MSNBC brand from its traditionally oriented Lean Backward NBC News brand.

Problem is, it’s gonna lean on you.

From the Nieman Journalism Lab:

For NBCNews.com, a new website comes with new privacy standards

It’s unlikely that many news consumers will read the fine print that comes with the splashy rebranding from MSNBC.com to NBCNews.com.

The new website’s privacy policy was adopted to “align with NBC Universal standards in privacy,” the network’s chief digital officer, Vivian Schiller, told me. “If you go through it with a fine-toothed comb, I don’t think you’ll find it much different,” she said.

But there are a few key things about the changing privacy policy that you should know.

Among them: No longer being able to opt out of targeted advertising.

There are lots of nooks and crannies in the new arrangement, so you should read the Nieman piece in full.

But it’s hard to escape this conclusion:

The NBCNoose.com is tightening.

Originally posted at the in restauro (thisclose!) Sneak AdTack.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Correction Correction o’ the Day (Boston Globe Edition)

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From yesterday’s Boston Globe:

■ Correction: A correction in Sunday’s paper incorrectly stated the mileage scale on a graphic of bike routes in and around Boston that was published in the July 8 Globe Magazine. The bar represented a distance of 4 miles.

We’ve come a long way from the original piece, eh?

Bar graph, anyone?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Bob Schieffer Supports Mitt Romney

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From Politico’s Morning Score:

“HOPE AND CHANGE?” [Mitt] Romney rolled out a new attack on the Sunday shows featuring clips of Bob Schieffer, David Brooks and Mark Halperin noting how negative a campaign Obama is running.

The spot:

 

The fallout:

Schieffer and Halperin publicly objected, but Romney is within his rights to use the footage.

So, wait – David Brooks didn’t object?

Apparently not.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Will The Obama Campaign Raffle Off Next?

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Yesterday the hardworking staff received this email from Michelle Obama:

Friend —

Barack turns 51 next month, and there will be a little celebration at our house in Chicago.

We’d like to give grassroots supporters an opportunity to join in the fun. You guys deserve it, and I know Barack would personally love to see you there.

Donate $3 or whatever you can today, and you’ll be automatically entered to get your name added to the guest list.

Barack’s birthday is one of the last opportunities he’ll get for a little downtime before the final weeks of the election.

That won’t stop me from teasing him about all those new gray hairs he has — though I think it’s fair to say he’s earned every one.

So if you’re standing with Barack for the final months of his final campaign, there’s no better way to show it than by making a donation to build this grassroots organization today.

If you do, you’ll be automatically entered for the chance to join him for his birthday celebration in Chicago. We’ll also fly you out and take care of all the travel arrangements.

Enter today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Birthday

Thank you,

Michelle

Both presidential campaigns are pimping out their candidates to lure donations, but the hardworking staff has to wonder: Where does it all end?

With this email from Michelle?

Friend —

Barack and I made a promise to one another that we’d have a “date night” at least every other week while we were in the White House.

We’d like to give grassroots supporters an opportunity to join in the fun. You guys deserve it, and I know Barack would personally love to see you there.

Donate $3 or whatever you can today, and you’ll be automatically entered to get your name added to the date night list.

Our next date night is one of the last opportunities we’ll get for a little downtime before the final weeks of the election.

That won’t stop me from teasing him about . . . well, you’ll see.

So if you’re standing (so to speak) with Barack for the final months of his final campaign, there’s no better way to show it than by making a donation to build this grassroots organization today.

If you do, you’ll be automatically entered for the chance to join us for date night. We’ll also fly you out and take care of all the travel arrangements.

Enter today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/DateNight

Thank you,

Michelle

No, thank you, Michelle.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

SNAP President Responds To Campaign Outsider’s Questions

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Yesterday the hardworking staff sent this email to Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP:

Dear Ms. Blaine:

My name is John Carroll. I’m a media analyst for WBUR-FM in Boston and I produce the Campaign Outsider blog.

Last week I wrote about SNAP’s full-page ad in the New York Times:

http://bit.ly/L7Mtwr

Now that almost a week has gone by, I was hoping you might answer a few questions for me.

€ Have you run ads in the Times before?

€ How much did the ad cost?

€ How much has it generated in donations so far?

€ Did you received much other response/publicity from it?

I appreciate your taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck in the future.

Ms. Blaine was kind enough to send this response:

Hi John:

Thanks for your interest in our ad!

We ran the ad at the suggestion of a new (anonymous) donor who felt strongly about what we try to do and offered to provide and pay for the ad.  It was, of course, expensive; it’s the New York Times, after all.  But it was a gift.

It’s been a real shot in the arm to our often discouraged and still suffering leaders and members, b/c it’s the first time in our 24 year history we’ve been given the chance to lay out, in a major media outlet, our view of this ongoing and devastating crisis. Usually, victims’ perspective is relegated to one or two sentences at the end of a news story about some promise or excuse by some bishop in some clergy sex case.

But through this ad, for the first time ever, we’ve been able to clearly stress that most complicit bishops are still in office and some predator priests are still in pulpits.  On July 27-29 more than 200 SNAP members – survivors of priest abuse and their friends and family – will gather in Chicago to work on next steps to try to make kids safer and help heal victims, in the church and other institutions.

All the best,
Barbara

Okay. So that enlightened us . . . not at all.

But it’s nice not to be ignored.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Zippying Us Back To 89th & Third

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

The hardworking staff is a longtime fan of Bill Griffith’s (pin)headscratching Zippy comic strip, and today’s installment is especially welcome.

We grew up in the shadow of the Third Avenue El, not to mention downwind of the venerable Ruppert Brewery. (Currently being memorialized in an exhibit at the New-York Historical Society.)

The brewery was demolished in the mid-’60s; the El came down in the late ‘5os. The hardyouthing staff was stunned when it did – it created an entire new vista, almost like when the Wizard of Oz goes from black-and-white to color.

Anyway, it was good to see the El again. Thanks, funny little pinhead.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment